The Forgotten Hero

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

GIVE ME YOUR BLOOD AND I WILL GIVE YOU YOUR FREEDOM!!!!!

Battlefield Song of Azad Hind Army of Netaji :

KADAM KADAM BADHAYE JA, KHUSHI KE GEET GAAYE JA
YE ZINDAGI HAI KAUM KI, TU KAUM PE LOOTYE JA

August 15th 2007, marks 60th Anniversary of Independence of India. Scores of patriots sacrificed to achieve Independence. So 60th Anniversary of Independence is an extremely joyous occasion for all the Indians across the globe. If you look at Indian Freedom History after Mahatma Gandhi, the name that stands out is of Subhas Chandra Bose or Netaji. Netaji is really one of the most influential and charismatic personalities of India. Netaji sacrificed everything for the sake of our beloved India. Finally, he even gave his life for the sake of our country.

Though Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru have garnered much of the credit for successful culmination of Indian freedom struggle, the contribution of Subash Chandra Bose, a man with a burning desire to excel, is no less. He has been denied his rightful place in the annals of Indian history.

Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897 in Cuttack, Orissa. His father Janaki Nath Bose was a very famous lawyer and his mother Prabhavati Devi was a religious and pious lady. Subhas Chandra Bose was the ninth child among fourteen siblings. Subhas Chandra Bose was a brilliant student right from the childhood. He topped the matriculation examination of Calcutta province and graduated with a First Class in Philosophy from the Scottish Churches College in Calcutta. He was strongly influenced by Swami Vivekananda's teachings.

In early years, he left the most lucrative post of ICS (Indian Civil Service) for entering into Freedom Struggle. Millions of Indians regard him as one of the Greatest Heroes of India’s Struggle for Independence.

He deferred completely with Mahatma Gandhi on method to achieve freedom from British colonial rule. Mahatma Gandhi as we all know followed non-violence method all along to achieve freedom whereas Netaji believed that British can be driven out of India only through armed struggle. Mahatma and Netaji both had highest regards for each other although their path was diametrically opposite. Ultimately, we did achieve Independence through non-violence led by Mahatma Gandhi. But this does not mean that we should ignore the sacrifices made by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, his Indian National Army during World War II and many other Freedom Fighters. 

It is important to understand first the concept of freedom as envisaged by Netaji - the ideal which motivated him to wrest it from the hands of the British by the force of arms. In his entire political career, Subhas Chandra Bose was guided by two cardinal principles in his search for his country's emancipation: that there could be no compromise with alien colonialists on this issue, and that on no account would the country be partitioned. The Indian geographical unity was to be maintained at all costs.