When one thinks of the Indian independence movement in the 1930s and early 1940s, two figures most readily come to mind: Mahatma Gandhi, the immensely popular and "saintly" frail pacifist, and his highly respected, Fabian Socialist acolyte, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Less familiar to Westerners is Subhas Chandra Bose, a man of comparable stature who admired Gandhi but despaired at his aims and methods, and who became a bitter rival of Nehru. Bose played a very active and prominent role in India's political life during most of the 1930s. For example, he was twice (1938 and 1939) elected President of the Indian National Congress, the country's most important political force for freedom from the Raj, or British rule.
While his memory is still held in high esteem in India, in the West Bose is much less revered, largely because of his wartime collaboration with the Axis powers. Both before and during the Second World War, Bose worked tirelessly to secure German and Japanese support in freeing his beloved homeland of foreign rule. During the final two years of the war, Bose -- with considerable Japanese backing -- led the forces of the Indian National Army into battle against the British.
First, his ideology and actions were not the result of any extreme neurotic or pathological psychosocial impulses. He was not a megalomaniac, nor did he display any of the pathological traits often attributed (rightly or wrongly) to fascist leaders, such as hostile aggression, obsessive hatred or delusions. Moreover, while he was an ardent patriot and nationalist, Bose's nationalism was cultural, not racialist.
Second, his radical political ideology was shaped by a consuming frustration with the unsuccessful efforts of others to gain independence for India. His "fascist" outlook did not come from a drive for personal power or social elevation. While he was ambitious, and clearly enjoyed the devotion of his followers, his obsession was not adulation or power, but rather freedom for his beloved Motherland -- a goal for which he was willing to suffer and sacrifice, even at the cost of his life.
Bose was favorably impressed with the discipline and organizational strength of fascism as early as 1930, when he first expressed support for a synthesis of fascism and socialism. During his stays in Europe during the 1930s, he was deeply moved by the dynamism of the two major "fascist" powers, Italy and Germany. After observing these regimes first-hand, he developed a political ideology of his own that, he was convinced, could bring about the liberation of India and the total reconstruction of Indian society along vaguely authoritarian-socialist lines.
Bose's lack of success in his life-long effort to liberate India from alien rule was certainly not due to any lack of effort. From 1921, when he became the first Indian to resign formally from the Indian Civil Service, until his death in 1945 as leader of an Indian government in exile, Subhas Chandra Bose struggled ceaselessly to achieve freedom and prosperity for his beloved homeland.
Notes
1. From Bose's inaugural speech of Sept. 24, 1930. Quoted in: Leonard A. Gordon, Brothers Against the Raj: A Biography of Indian Nationalists Sarat and Subhas Chandra Bose (New York: 1990), p. 234.
2. Speech of November 22, 1944, in S.C. Bose, Fundamental Questions of Indian Revolution(Calcutta: Netaji Research Bureau, 1970), pp. 403-4.
3. Mihir Bose, The Lost Hero: A Biography of Subhas Chandra Bose (London/Melbourne/New York: Quartet Books, 1982), p. x.
4. Harijan, Feb. 24, 1946, in Mohandas K. Gandhi, The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi(Ahmedabad: The Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, Navajivan Trust, 1972-78), Volume LXXXIII, p. 135. Gandhi wrote in the present tense, because at the time he still felt that Bose was alive, but hiding somewhere so that he could appear at the right moment. (See: Speech at Prayer Meeting, Jan. 10, 1946, The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Volume LXXXII, p. 391.).
5. Talk with Deb Nath Das, Feb. 25, 1947, The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Volume LXXXVII, p. 19.
6. Calcutta Municipal Gazette, Jan. 24, 1970. Cited in: M. Bose, The Lost Hero (1982), p. 277, n. 76
Second, his radical political ideology was shaped by a consuming frustration with the unsuccessful efforts of others to gain independence for India. His "fascist" outlook did not come from a drive for personal power or social elevation. While he was ambitious, and clearly enjoyed the devotion of his followers, his obsession was not adulation or power, but rather freedom for his beloved Motherland -- a goal for which he was willing to suffer and sacrifice, even at the cost of his life.
Bose was favorably impressed with the discipline and organizational strength of fascism as early as 1930, when he first expressed support for a synthesis of fascism and socialism. During his stays in Europe during the 1930s, he was deeply moved by the dynamism of the two major "fascist" powers, Italy and Germany. After observing these regimes first-hand, he developed a political ideology of his own that, he was convinced, could bring about the liberation of India and the total reconstruction of Indian society along vaguely authoritarian-socialist lines.
Bose's lack of success in his life-long effort to liberate India from alien rule was certainly not due to any lack of effort. From 1921, when he became the first Indian to resign formally from the Indian Civil Service, until his death in 1945 as leader of an Indian government in exile, Subhas Chandra Bose struggled ceaselessly to achieve freedom and prosperity for his beloved homeland.
Notes
1. From Bose's inaugural speech of Sept. 24, 1930. Quoted in: Leonard A. Gordon, Brothers Against the Raj: A Biography of Indian Nationalists Sarat and Subhas Chandra Bose (New York: 1990), p. 234.
2. Speech of November 22, 1944, in S.C. Bose, Fundamental Questions of Indian Revolution(Calcutta: Netaji Research Bureau, 1970), pp. 403-4.
3. Mihir Bose, The Lost Hero: A Biography of Subhas Chandra Bose (London/Melbourne/New York: Quartet Books, 1982), p. x.
4. Harijan, Feb. 24, 1946, in Mohandas K. Gandhi, The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi(Ahmedabad: The Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, Navajivan Trust, 1972-78), Volume LXXXIII, p. 135. Gandhi wrote in the present tense, because at the time he still felt that Bose was alive, but hiding somewhere so that he could appear at the right moment. (See: Speech at Prayer Meeting, Jan. 10, 1946, The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Volume LXXXII, p. 391.).
5. Talk with Deb Nath Das, Feb. 25, 1947, The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Volume LXXXVII, p. 19.
6. Calcutta Municipal Gazette, Jan. 24, 1970. Cited in: M. Bose, The Lost Hero (1982), p. 277, n. 76
No comments:
Post a Comment