Indian National Army – Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller

“A Prince Among The Patriots” by Maj. Gen. M K. Paul (Retd)

Often books are referred to as labours of love considering the huge amounts of work that go into writing them and the unbridled passion with which they are written. Knowing the author as I do, I can say with certainty that, “A Prince Among The Patriots: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose” by Maj. Gen. M. K. Paul (Retd) is definitely one such book. This “labour of love” has been recently published by Heritage Publishers, New Delhi.

Over the decades since India became a free nation, there have been many books on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, whom I consider to be the most heroic Indian of the 20 th century. You might well ask, ” Why then should there be one more?”. To my mind, the advent of social media, the explosion of information available and a renewed interest in knowing how India won freedom from the British are factors that have propelled the writing of this book. I need hardly add that the author’s passion for the subject of the book has been a key driver.

As a keen student of literature in general and biography in particular for the last six decades, I believe a biography rests on two central pillars. The first pillar is about the subject of the biography. This addresses questions like: Who was the person the book is about? What kind of person was he/she? What characteristics and behaviours did he/she exhibit that set them apart from others?

The second pillar is about their achievements and contributions which make them worthy of being written about. How did their actions impact society around them? What were the results of their endeavours? To what extent did they succeed in achieving the outcomes they worked for?

Seen through this prism, “A Prince Amongst The Patriots” elaborates upon Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s personality and character and his stellar contributions towards winning freedom from the British. The latest available literature and accounts point out to how it was the fear of a large scale mutiny by the British Indian Army, The Navy and the Air Force that was the proverbial last nail in the coffin of the British Empire. Towards this end, the valiant actions of Netaji’s Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army) which actively battled the British had a big influence on the minds of ordinary Indians serving in the British Indian Forces. It was Bose’s war cry of “Give Me Blood and I will Give you Freedom” that sent a chill down the backs of the British.This was a very different approach from one they had been used to for decades: Gandhiji’s non-violent cry of “Quit India” which they had ignored.

Netaji was an extraordinary leader who led from the front. His exploits in escaping from British India in disguise in 1941 and coming back by German and Japanese submarines to take charge of the INA in 1943 speaks volumes about his personal courage. His is a very different story than that of his more famous contemporaries in Indian history who exhorted crowds to face lathis while they never faced attacks by the police themselves. Even when they were imprisoned, Nehru and Gandhi spent time in relatively comfortable prisons as distinct from the terrible experiences Netaji had to go through when imprisoned by the British in the early years of the Second World War.

Apart from Netaji’s interactions with Gandhi and Nehru in India, the book dwells upon Netaji’s interactions with Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo in Germany, Italy and Japan. His mind was set only on one goal – freedom for his motherland. He was ready to take anybody’s help to achieve his dream. He was a man of principles, with a steadfast commitment to his cause, and a born leader with a flair for being different. Sadly, for decades after India became independent, Netaji did not get the recognition he richly deserved –

Hats off to Gen Paul for his work on Netaji Bose. I think the book could have seen better editing, but considering the author is 91, it is remarkable that he achieved one of his dearest ambitions: to write an interesting and informative book about his hero!

Highly recommended for those – especially amongst our youth – who are interested in Indian history, military history and biography.

In The News, My Take

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Statue in New Delhi!

On January 23, 2021, I wrote a blog post here titled, ” Salute To Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose” . One more year has gone past and I see far greater interest in the life of this iconic Indian leader than ever before. This is evidenced by a recent event that took place in New Delhi, which I consider momentous.

On January 23, 2022, Netaji’s 125 th birth anniversary , Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that Netaji’s statue would be built at a prominent spot near India Gate in our capital city of New Delhi. Netaji’s birth anniversary is being celebrated as Parakram Diwas honoring his courage and that of his troops- men and women- who fought for India’s independence. As many of you will know, Netaji was at the forefront of the war for independence and his Indian National Army or Azad Hind Fauz fought the British troops in important battles such as the one in Imphal in 1943. It is perhaps in the fitness of things that Netaji’s statue will be in the same spot where once stood the statue of the British King Emperor George V !

The target date for its inauguration has already been announced as August 15, 2022, India’s Independence Day. Till the statue is made ready, we will have a hologram of Netaji ‘s statue on display. This hologram is 28 feet high and will be powered by a 30,000 lumens projector.

For the youth of today who may not know much about Netaji as our history books have very little on him, a few facts are worth recounting. In October 1943, Netaji established the Provisional Government of Free India in Singapore which had fallen to the Japanese during World War 2. He was the Head of State and Prime Minster. Currency in the name of the Free India Government was also printed by the Azad Hind Bank. These were more by way of promissory notes that would become official currency once the British were driven away. “Subh Sukh Chain” was declared the national anthem of Netaji’s Free India and the Sher-e-Hind was the highest military honor instituted by Netaji for the troops of the Indian National Army.

Since the close of World War 2, the story of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has seen many twists and turns. There have been so many versions of his death. No one quite knows the truth. A new book will be published in February 2022 which promises to be interesting. This is “Bose: An Untold Story Of An Inconvenient Nationalist” by Chandrachur Ghose. I, for one, look forward eagerly to reading this.

In The News, My Take

Salute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose!

Today we remember with reverence one of India’s greatest sons on his 125th birth anniversary. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was born in Cuttack on January 23, 1897. I have no hesitation whatsoever in saying that for me, and millions like me, Netaji was the most charismatic and effective Indian leader in the period from 1935-1945. What makes his story all the more fascinating is not only what he achieved when he was alive but the speculations about his death which exists even till today!

I did a quick search in this blog and I find there are numerous blog posts about Netaji. They are summarized here for the benefit of those, especially among our youth in India, who may not know much about him and would be interested in knowing more:-

In “India’s Biggest Cover Up” by Anuj That, I review this extremely interesting book which talks of what actually happened to Netaji after he was supposedly killed following an air crash in the then Formosa on August 18, 1945.
In “The Indian Spy” , I review a book by Mihir Bose on Bhagat Ram Talwar, who escorted Bose out of India to Kabul in the early years of World War II.
In this post on “Our Super Patriotic Hindi Sir ‘, I write about Mr B L Singh, our Hindi teacher at The Lawrence School, Lovedale, who was the first person who told me and my classmates about Netaji. He instilled in us the keen interest to know more about this hero. This post also contains links to many more books about Netaji.

I guess we will never know for sure what actually happened to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. A recent article by Kingshuk Nag suggests he may have been living or imprisoned in Siberia after he went to Russia towards the end of World War II. Mr Nag is a well-known journalist who wrote a book, “ Netaji: Living Dangerously” in 2016.

Whether he died in Russia or in Formosa or in his motherland India is still uncertain. However what is most certain is that Netaji’s leadership galvanized a section of India’s youth during the crucial years when he chose to fight for freedom.

As the leader of the Indian National Army or Azad Hind Fauj he was the first to hoist the flag of an independent India on December 30, 1943 in the Andaman Islands, which he declared the first place to get freedom from the British.

Many were the memorable quotes attributed to Netaji but perhaps the most famous of his words were, ” It is blood alone that can pay the price of freedom. Give me blood and I will give you freedom.”

Let us today- and indeed everyday- remember with pride the man who was more responsible for the hasty retreat of the British from India in the post- World War II years than any other.

Jai Hind!!

Book Reviews

“India’s Biggest Cover-Up” by Anuj Dhar

The mystery surrounding Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has fascinated millions of Indians including me over the decades. It was with great interest therefore that I bought, “India’s Biggest Cover-Up” by Anuj Dhar. Considered Enemy No. 1 by the British Raj, Bose was branded a traitor for his links with Hitler ‘s Nazi Germany and the Japanese. His Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) founded in 1942 was portrayed as being a rag-tag bunch of losers, many of whom were Prisoners of War who changed sides to fight alongside Bose. This was the story propagated by the British but in reality they feared him more than any other prominent Indian leader of those times. We now know that Bose’s role in India getting independence with the end of the British Raj in 1947 was considerably underplayed.

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