Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c14.s4.t36: Subhash Chandra Bose
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c14.s4.t36
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Subhash Chandra Bose
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Subhash Chandra Bose (January 23, 1897 – August 18, 1945) was an Indian nationalist and political leader in the first half of the 20th century. A prominent member of the Indian National Congress (INC) for most of his political life, he is best known as the fiery leader of the short-lived Indian Independence League (IIL) and its military wing, the Indian National Army (INA), both of which were formed abroad during the last years of World War II to fight for Indian independence from British rule. One of his most controversial acts was to ally himself with Japan in this endeavour. The role of Bose and his INA formed an important aspect of the complicated relations between India, China, Japan and Britain during the World War II.
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As his many speeches and writings show, Bose greatly respected the Chinese people and also sympathised with their predicament for much of his active political life. He was a great admirer of Sun Yat-sen, whom he considered a consistent anti-imperialist and supporter of the Indian struggle for independence. When Japan invaded first Manchuria and then the Chinese mainland, Bose openly expressed sympathy for the Chinese in the following words: “Our whole heart goes to China in her hour of trial. China must still live – for her own sake and for humanity. Out of this ashes of conflict she will once again rise phoenix-like as she has so often done in the past.” As President of INC in 1938, he played a key role in organising the dispatch of the Indian Medical Mission to help war-torn China. He also tried to visit Chongqing in 1939 but was not given a passport by the British. Placed
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*Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose*
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under house arrest by the British, Bose escaped in 1940 and fled India, eventually reaching Singapore in 1943. The collapse of British power in East and Southeast Asia at the hands of the Japanese by 1942 had convinced him, along with several other exiled Indian nationalists, that British power in India was doomed, and that the moment had come to strike a blow for Indian independence. The weapon was to be an INA, formed with Japanese help from among Indian prisoners of war in Southeast Asia. Bose was chosen to lead the INA and its political organisation, IIL. Although Bose did not consciously subordinate himself or his mission to Japanese objectives, he changed his opinion of the Japanese whom he had earlier denigrated as “the British of the East”. He now began to see them as the main force capable of defeating British power in Asia.
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Bose’s movement found strong support among Indians resident in the cities of eastern China, a large proportion of whom were policemen or ex-soldiers. He visited China twice. In November 1943, he visited Nanjing, and in December 1944 he visited Shanghai. On both occasions, he met members of the Indian community and interacted with officials of the Wang Jingwei regime in occupied China. In his numerous speeches he took pains to emphasise his affection for the Chinese people and also to explain his stand on Japan. However his views, as expected, did not go down well with the majority of Chinese. In the aftermath of the War, Indians in China who took part in the movement led by Bose were denounced as collaborators, jailed and deported. Bose himself died in a plane crash shortly before the end of the War.
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(*Madhavi Thampi*)