Subhas Chandra Bose Jayanti Held on 23rd January

In the north-eastern states of India like Assam, Odisha, West Bengal, Tripura the celebration of this day is remarkable. Many government bodies are closed on this day in the state of West Bengal. In India’s struggle for freedom, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is seen as a prominent figure.

History of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

He was born in the city Currack, in the state of Orissa which is now known as Odisha. He was born into a wealthy family. He went to Calcutta now is known as Kolkata for completing his degree in Philosophy. And after finishing his degree he was sent to England for the Civil Services exam. He returned to India in the late 1920s and was involved in many movements going on to free the country. In the late 1920s only he was made a leader of the youth wing of the Indian National Congress. And in the later years, he had become the president of the Congress in the year 1938 and 1939.  His views and future plans for the country did not match with the Congress high command. There used to be a lot of difference between Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji so he finally decided to left the position. And in late 1939 he resigns from his position. Till that time he was treated as a rebel to the British Raj and so he was subsequently placed under house arrest by the British.

He escaped from India in mid 1940. It is believed that every member from his house helped him to escape from India as there used to be tight security on him inside his own home by the British people. He traveled to many different countries before reaching to Germany in April 1941. He wants to meet Hitler to join hands with him so that with the help of Nazi Army and Indian Soldiers which are fighting in British army they both together attack the British army and free India. Bose meet Hitler in May 1942 at his residence. As Netaji arrived at Hitler’s residence, he was welcomed by Hitler’s staff and was told to wait outside his office. He was also informed that the Fuhrer was busy in some important meeting and he will come to see you as the meeting is over.

So Netaji agreed to wait outside his office. To pass his time Netaji had decided to read newspapers. Netaji waited outside of his office for a long time but Hitler did not come out. After a few hours Hitler came outside of his office and saw Netaji but did not meet him. Neither did Netaji went up to him. And then Hitler went away. Again after some time Hitler Passed by Netaji but did not meet him. The same gesture was repeated by Netaji. The same thing went on several times. Few more hours passed like this. Then at last Hitler came, walked up to Netaji and stood their silently. Netaji did not gave any attention and did not look up and keep reading the newspaper. After seeing this, Hitler went behind Netaji and placed his arms on Netaji shoulders. At this gesture, Netaji looks up to him and says “Hitler”. Hitler asked back “How can you be so sure?” To this Netaji replied, “No one except the Real Hitler has the audacity to place his arms on my shoulders”. Hearing this Hitler was quite impressed. To fool his enemies, Hitler had kept many look-alikes but he could not fool Netaji.

Hitler was quite impressed when he meets Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose because of the incident that took place. Definitely, Hilter will not give his army assistance for free. Netaji also demanded to release of Indian Prisoners who were arrested in North Africa. Hitler didn’t agree at first but after Netaji insisted many times Hitler finally agreed to his condition. In Germany, an army of around 1000 men was built to liberate India from the British rule. This army was called as Tiger Legion or Azad Hind Fauj or Indian Legion. In Andaman Nicobar Netaji also established a provisional government of Azad Hind or Free India.

On 18^th of August 1945, it is said that Netaji had died in Taiwan from third-degree burns sustained after his plane crashed. But many believed that the Netaji did not die and was underground to be safe and to carry the operation to free India. Many numbers of committees and officers are appointed for this but that effort is all in vain. The people who were present on the plane with Netaji were called to tell exactly what had happened in the plane on August 18^th. Each prospect told a different story of the incident and all that story ends on the death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Many also believed that no plane was flied on 18^th August. The death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is still a mystery.

The Life of Subhas Chandra Bose is an inspiration to generations of young Indians. The Chief Minister of West Bengal had written a letter in January 2018 to Prime Minister to declare a national holiday on the birthday of Netaji. She also tweeted that “Swami Vivekananda and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose are national and international icons. I have written a letter to the PM urging the GOI to declare both their birthdays as national holidays.”