His Majesty’s Opponent: Subhas Chandra Bose and India’s Struggle against Empire

THIS IS A BIOGRAPHY OF THE REAL LIBERATOR OF INDIA SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE BY SUGATA BOSE. SINCE THE EARLY TWENTIES BOSE FOUGHT UNCOMPROMISINGLY AGAINST BRITISH COLONIALISM, HE WAS A MILITANT OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS; FROM THE THIRTIES HE HAD SOCIALIST LEANINGS HOWEVER UNLIKE THE SECULARIST AND PRO-SOVIET NEHRU BOSE BELIEVED IN A MULTIRELIGIOUS STATE IN WHICH THE THREE MAJOR RELIGIONS HINDUISM, ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY COEXISTED IN HARMONY, HIS ROLE MODELS WERE DE VALERA'S IRELAND AND ATTATURK'S TURKEY. WHEN WORLD WAR TWO BROKE OUT BOSE DID NOT SUPPORT BRITAIN FOR THAT REASON HE WAS JAILED, THE BOOK NARRATED HIS EPIC ESCAPE FROM INDIA TO AFGHANISTAN ACROSS THE SOVIET UNION (STILL ALLIED WITH GERMANY BECAUSE OF THE MOLOTOV-RIBBENTROP PACT), FINALLY HE ARRIVED IN EUROPE AND MET WITH THE FUHRER AND THE DUCE IN ORDER TO OBTAIN SUPPORT FOR THE FIGHT AGAINST BRITISH COLONIALISM, BOTH OF THEM WERE LUKEWARM WITH BOSE, HOWEVER HE GOT ALONG WITH RIBBENTROP AS A MATTER OF FACT AN INDIAN LEGION WAS RAISED IN GERMANY TO FIGHT AGAINST BRITAIN; BOSE HOWEVER KNEW THAT THE REAL FIGHT WAS IN ASIA SO HE DEPARTED IN A GERMAN SUBMARINE IN WHICH HE WAS WELL TREATED, AFTER CROSSING THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE IT MADE A RENDEZVOUS WITH A JAPANESE SUBMARINE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE INDIAN OCEAN AND FINALLY HE ARRIVED IN MALAYA WHERE HE RAISED THE INDIAN NATIONAL ARMY (INA) THAT FOUGHT ALONSIDE THE JAPANESE ARMY AGAINST BRITISH IMPERIALISM ACROSS SOUTHEAST ASIA WITH THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF LIBERATE INDIA. HE WAS RESPECTED BY THE JAPANESE WHO TREATED HIM AS AN EQUAL UNLIKE THE CONDESCENDING AND ARROGANT WAYS OF THE BRITISH. ON NOVEMBER 1943 BOSE ASSISTED TO A PAN-ASIAN MEETING IN TOKIO PRESIDED BY THE PRIME MINISTER HIDEKI TOJO IN ORDER TO DELINEATE THE NEW ORDER IN ASIA KNOWN AS THE GREAT EAST ASIAN CO-PROSPERITY SPHERE WHICH WAS AN ALTERNATIVE TO BOTH THE PREDATORY CAPITALISM OF THE WEST AND THE OPPRESIVE AND TOTALITARIAN COMMUNISM OF THE SOVIET UNION. BOSE AND THE INA FOUGHT VALIANTLY AND CORAGEOUSLY UNTIL THE VERY END OF THE WAR, THE BATTLES OF IMPHAL AND KOHIMA ARE EXAMPLES OF THE DEDICATION AND RESILIANCE OF BOTH THE INA AND THE JAPANESE. BOSE DIED IN A PLANE CRASH IN SAIGON IN AUGUST 1945 ALMOST AT THE END OF THE WAR, TWO YEARS LATER IN 1947 INDIA BECAME INDEPENDENT. TODAY BOSE IS REVERED IN INDIA AS A REAL PATRIOT AND LIBERATOR ACROSS THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM FROM THE HINDUIST RIGHT TO THE SOCIALIST LEFT. BUT BOSE IS NOT ONLY ABOUT INDIA BUT A SHINING GUIDING LIGHT FOR ALL THE OPPRESED NATIONS LIKE CUBA WHICH FROM 1959 IS UNDER A TOTALITARIAN COMMUNIST TYRANNY THE MOST OPPRESIVE REGIME THAT THE AMERICAN CONTINENT (NORTH, CENTRAL AND SOUTH) HAS EVER HAD, ALL WHAT WE NEED IS A LEADER LIKE BOSE AND AN ALLY LIKE TOJO.

Brilliant biography. Required reading for any body interested in knowing what really happened to a very noble patriot. I highly recommend it. Author has done a wonderful service to plug a major gap in Indian struggle for independency.

Using it for academic UIL

This needs to be read by the generations so that they do not forget that British imperialism was a nasty game. Kind of like our Wall Street friends, a sham.

Subhas Chandra Bose is revered in India, but virtually unknown in the U.S. At least, my friends and I had never heard of him! He was an important figure in the effort to gain independence from Britain. I encourage those interested in understanding India to read this book!

Impressive overview of the life and thought process of one of the greatest and the most inspirational leader of Indian independence struggle!

Good attempt by the author who is interested in pleasing the ruling party to extract sops. Thanks Dr Bose for exemplifying that we can forget the hardships of our ancestors if the ruling party is not interested.

A wonderful presentation of the life and times of Subhash. It brings to us the real Bose as no other works,

A very well-written account of his life. Clarifies a lot of the misconceptions surrounding Bose while shedding light on some of the missteps along the way for India's independence.

子供ながらに、１９６７年のインドの共和国記念日や独立記念日の式典のページェントに参加したことがあります。ちょうどそのころからでしょうか？東京の寺に葬られているこの人物の伝記に興味を持つようになりました。そして時々思い出したように読みたくなります。もとはといえば、少年向けの太平洋戦争の歴史シリーズ、そしてその中でのインド国民軍の不思議な存在への興味がその端緒でした。でもどこまで、１９６７年のその時点からこの人物への理解が深まったのでしょうか？ 今回はboseの係累でもある学者による作品です。さまざまな英文の歴史的な資料がその根幹をなしています。boseのICS任官拒否の経緯はある程度わかりました。そして従来あまり語られることのなかったboseの中欧との個人的なかかわりやドイツでの戦時中の活動についても、その女性関係も含めて、理解は深まりました。ドイツへの脱出そしてそこでの宣伝活動、そしてドイツと日本の潜水艦のリレーによるシンガポールへの移動の部分はたしかに迫力のある部分です。 しかし、どうもわかりにくいのが、boseのINC（india national congress)での役割なのです。本書でもガンディーやネールとのかかわりの中で、たしかにboseの活動は取り上げられています。しかしその取扱いは国民議会の左派としての孤立という従来の平坦なものです。本書でも、戦後のインドでのボースの取り扱いは、そのミステリアスな死亡（台湾の飛行場での事故死）の経緯への関心以外の観点からは取り上げられていません。 もしかするとboseというのはインド人ののどに突き刺さった骨のようなものなのかもしれません。その本質を克明にたどっていくことは、インドの独立運動の明と暗を再経験することであり、新しい正史と神話（ネール王朝神話？）が作られた後の戦後のインドでは、それは許されない作業なのかもしれません。 またシンガポールや東南アジアのindian diasporaをベースとした政治運動も、戦後の勢力図の中では、刺激的な潜在的な意味合いを持ち、なかなか表立っては取り上げにくいテーマなのかもしれません。

NICE READ ,READ WITH AN OPEN MIND

Good quality paper. A good read to understand the journey of the courageous intellectual leader, to say the least.