Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (1897–1945) was an Indian freedom fighter, and author of Indian Struggle. Although Bose sided with the Axis Powers during World War 2, he despised Nazi ideology and racism.

Facts[edit]

• Bose met Hitler in 1942, but found out that the Nazis were in no position to help him drive the British out of India.

• Bose founded the Free India Legion (FIL) made up of troops captured by Nazi Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps.

• The FIL swore an oath to Hitler and was under SS command.

• Bose went by U-boat to Burma where he joined up with the Indian National Army led at the time by Rash Behari Bose. Rash Behari Bose handed over the INA to Subhas Chandra Bose.

• Bose was an admirer of the USSR and sought to implement its authoritarian practices in India.

Legacy[edit]

Bose is featured on various Indian stamps.^[1] On August 23 2007, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the Subhas Chandra Bose memorial Hall in Kolkata. Abe stated that, "The Japanese are deeply moved by Bose's strong will to have led the Indian independence movement from British rule. Netaji is a much respected name in Japan."^[2]

References[edit]

• The Essential Writings of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Edited by Sisir K. Bose & Sugata Bose (Delhi: Oxford University Press) 1997 p. 155
• Hauner, M (1981), India in Axis Strategy: Germany, Japan, and Indian Nationalists in the Second World War, Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta