The Indian National Army and Japan

7. Subhas Chandra Bose, Hitler, and Tojo

102 CHAPTER฀SEVEN Subhas฀Chandra฀Bose,฀฀ Hitler,฀and฀Töjö I฀ THE฀MAKING฀OF฀A฀REVOLUTIONARY ON฀ 23฀ January฀ 1897฀ at฀ Cuttack,฀ Orissa,฀ was฀ born฀ Subhas฀ Chandra฀ Bose,฀ ninth฀ child฀ of฀ Janakinath฀ and฀ Prabhavati฀ Bose.฀ Janakinath฀ was฀a฀lawyer฀of฀a฀Kayastha฀family,฀and฀was฀wealthy฀enough฀to฀educate ฀all฀his฀children฀well.฀By฀Indian฀standards฀this฀family฀of฀Bengali฀ origin฀ was฀ well-to-do.฀ Janakinath฀ was฀ raised฀ in฀ the฀ atmosphere฀ of฀ the฀ nineteenth฀ century฀ reform฀ movements฀ of฀ Bengal฀ through฀ which฀ English฀ social฀ reformist฀ thought฀ filtered฀ into฀ India.฀ He฀ had฀ resigned฀ posts฀ within฀ the฀ bureaucracy฀ of฀ the฀ British฀ Raj฀ in฀ protest฀ against฀ its฀ repressive฀policies.฀Bengal฀was฀at฀the฀same฀time฀the฀funnel฀for฀new฀ ideas฀ from฀ the฀ West฀ and฀ the฀ province฀ which฀ felt฀ most฀ keenly฀ the฀ oppressive฀ hand฀ of฀ the฀ British.฀ It฀ was฀ natural฀ that฀ Bengal฀ nurtured฀ leaders฀ of฀ the฀ stature฀ of฀ Rammohan฀ Roy,฀ Keshab฀ Chandra฀ Sen,฀ Rabindranath฀ and฀ Debendranath฀ Tagore,฀ and฀ Bankim฀ Chandra฀ ฀ Chatterji. At฀ the฀ age฀ of฀ five฀ Subhas฀ was฀ enrolled฀ in฀ a฀ school฀ for฀ European฀ and฀Anglo-Indian฀ boys฀ run฀ by฀ the฀ Baptist฀ Mission.฀ Subhas฀ and฀ his฀ brothers฀ and฀ sisters฀ were฀ all฀ admitted฀ as฀ part฀ of฀ a฀ small฀ quota฀ for฀ Indians.฀ For฀ a฀ Bengali฀ child฀ of฀ the฀ late฀ nineteenth฀ century฀ learning฀ English฀ was฀ one฀ of฀ the฀ first฀ requisites฀ of฀ life.฀ The฀ curriculum฀ also฀ included฀ Latin฀ and฀ the฀ Bible.฀ The฀ school฀ might฀ almost฀ have฀ been฀ in฀ London฀ rather฀ than฀ Cuttack,฀ for฀ the฀ teachers฀ were฀ also฀ British.฀ Sanskrit,฀ India’s฀ classical฀ language,฀ and฀ Bengali,฀ the฀ language฀ of฀ ฀ Bose’s฀ family,฀ were฀ neglected.฀ Subhas฀ spent฀ seven฀ years฀ of฀ his฀ life฀ ฀ in฀this฀English฀public฀school.฀ 07฀IndNatArmy.indd฀฀฀102 4/11/08฀฀฀10:29:00฀AM 103 In฀ 1909฀ Subhas฀ entered฀ a฀ public฀ school฀ in฀ Cuttack,฀ Ravenshaw฀ Collegiate฀ School.฀ Here฀ he฀ recalls฀ being฀ laughed฀ at฀ by฀ his฀ fellow฀ students฀because฀he฀knew฀so฀little฀Bengali.฀At฀the฀age฀of฀fifteen฀Subhas ฀ first฀ read฀ the฀ works฀ of฀ Vivekananda฀ and฀ found฀ a฀ goal฀ for฀ his฀ life฀—spiritual฀salvation฀for฀oneself฀and฀service฀to฀humanity.฀Subhas฀ began฀ to฀ practise฀ yoga.฀ From฀Vivekananda฀ Subhas’s฀ quest฀ took฀ him฀ to฀ Ramakrishna฀ and฀ the฀ ideal฀ of฀ renunciation.฀ He฀ continued฀ his฀ meditations.฀ Subhas฀ felt฀ his฀ religious฀ life฀ was฀ more฀ important฀ than฀ ฀ his฀studies.1 At฀the฀age฀of฀sixteen฀Subhas฀was฀sent฀off฀to฀the฀Presidency฀College฀ in฀ Calcutta฀ and฀ began฀ to฀ make฀ decisions฀ apart฀ from฀ his฀ family.฀ He฀ joined฀ a฀ group฀ of฀ students฀ who฀ wanted฀ to฀ bring฀ about฀ a฀ fusion฀ between ฀ religion฀ and฀ nationalism.฀ It฀ was฀ more฀ moderate฀ than฀ some฀ of฀ the฀ terrorist฀ student฀ groups฀ in฀ Bengal.฀ Bose’s฀ group฀ talked฀ with฀ the฀ political฀ visionary฀ Aurobindo฀ Ghosh฀ and฀ with฀ Surendra฀ Nath฀ Bannerji,฀one฀of฀the฀founders฀of฀the฀Indian฀National฀Congress.฀Bose฀ ฀ never฀forgot฀the฀words฀of฀Aurobindo:฀“I฀should฀like฀to฀see฀some฀of฀you฀ becoming฀great;฀great฀not฀for฀your฀own฀sake,฀but฀to฀make฀India฀great,฀ so฀ that฀ she฀ may฀ stand฀ up฀ with฀ head฀ erect฀ amongst฀ the฀ free฀ nations฀ of฀the฀world.”2 ฀Though฀Bose฀the฀college฀student฀was฀more฀interested฀ in฀religion฀and฀social฀work฀than฀politics,฀Aurobindo’s฀words฀were฀to฀ return฀to฀him฀later฀with฀stunning฀impact. Two฀ things฀ began฀ to฀ make฀ Subhas฀ politically฀ aware.฀ One฀ was฀ the฀ behaviour฀of฀Britishers฀in฀Calcutta,฀whose฀insults฀to฀Indians฀in฀public฀ places฀ were฀ galling฀ and฀ offensive.฀ This฀ was฀ the฀ psychological฀ basis฀ of฀ the฀ revolutionary฀ movement฀ in฀ Bengal.฀ The฀ outbreak฀ of฀ World฀ War฀ I฀ wrought฀ another฀ change฀ in฀ Bose’s฀ thinking.฀ Political฀ emancipation ฀ was฀ a฀ desirable฀ goal฀ for฀ India,฀ but฀ without฀ military฀ power฀ India฀could฀not฀hope฀for฀independence.฀It฀was฀for฀Bose฀a฀significant฀ ฀ conclusion. In฀1916฀an฀incident฀occurred฀at฀the฀College฀which฀changed฀Bose’s฀ life.฀There฀were฀rumours฀that฀one฀of฀the฀teachers,฀an฀Englishman,฀had฀ manhandled฀some฀students.฀The฀teacher฀was฀attacked฀by฀a฀student฀in฀ reprisal.฀Bose฀was฀held฀responsible,฀and฀though฀he฀had฀only฀witnessed฀ the฀attack,฀his฀appeals฀were฀ignored฀and฀he฀was฀expelled.฀His฀family฀ called฀him฀home. For฀ a฀ while฀ Bose฀ studied฀ then฀ at฀ Scottish฀ Church฀ College฀ in฀ Calcutta .฀ Then฀ he฀ matriculated฀ at฀ Cambridge฀ and฀ prepared฀ for฀ the฀ Civil฀ Service฀ examinations฀ in฀ London.฀ At฀ Cambridge฀ there฀ were฀ again฀ cases฀ of฀ social฀ discrimination฀ against฀ Indian฀ students.฀ There฀ ฀ 07฀IndNatArmy.indd฀฀฀103 4/11/08฀฀฀10:29:00฀AM 104 was฀ also฀ discrimination฀ in฀ the฀ University฀ Officers’฀ Training฀ Corps฀ which฀carried฀over฀into฀the฀British฀Army.฀This฀was฀more฀serious฀and฀ was฀to฀have฀repercussions฀for฀the฀British฀in฀India...