SUBHASH DADA: TALE OF A REVOLUTIONARY
"ONE INDIVIDUAL MAY DIE FOR AN IDEA, BUT THAT IDEA WILL, AFTER HIS/HER DEATH, INCARNATE ITSELF IN A THOUSAND LIVES"
Since childhood, Subhash Dada was keen on how and why things happened just like every other kid. At the age of 10, the deadly partition of Bengal(1907) proved to be the starting point where he was introduced and somewhat got to know about what the people were protesting for. Supposedly, that was a turning point in his life. If you might have read about Bhagat Singh, you might even relate that both these personalities are somewhat similar in many aspects. Bhagat Singh was also driven towards the struggle of freedom during the post Jallianwala bagh massacre- non-cooperation movement when he was around 12-13 years old.
Subhash dada was an intelligent person since childhood. His motivation towards the country was such that he cleared the Indian Civil Services exam, but refused to join the service. Back then, it was not expected by an Indian to clear the ICS exam as we were assumed/portrayed as illiterate and backward who cannot excel in academics. Thereafter, he wanted to step into the mainstream revolution. There was a wave of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi which was flowing all over the country back then. Bose dada was highly influenced by Gandhiji and was later guided by him to work under Chittaranjan Das, a well-known Bengal politician.
Bose and Gandhi:
During the early years of the struggle, Bose dada worked under the guidance and believed in the philosophies of Gandhiji. He followed and believed in the Truth and Satyagraha principles of him but had somewhat different views with respect to the non-violence strategy. Bose worked actively with Congress and was elected as the president in the Haripura Session of INC, 1938, and again in the Tripuri Session of 1939. This is a point where many historians have debated a lot whether who was right, Gandhi or Bose. But if we see the bigger picture, India might not have got independence if either of them haven't been a part of the struggle. Here's an example for the same. In 1939 when India was taken for granted to be part of the allied powers in the second world war, everyone in the country was shocked. It came as a shock because we were not consulted or asked before naming us on their side. And India in 1939 was not the same as it was in 1915 during WW1, a lot had changed, because now there was also an elected government in the provinces too.
Congress at this stage was actually divided into two halves one who were aligned with Gandhiji and one who visioned Dada's methods as hope to actual independence. The Bose camp believed that Indians must use this time as an opportunity and take help from the Germans to overthrow the Raj whereas the Gandhian camp believed that it wasn't right to exploit this ill time and it could turn out to be a disaster delaying the process of independence. This was known as one of the biggest rifts between Gandhi and Bose. But thereafter, Bose resigned from the President post of Congress and created his own All India Forward Block and eventually led to the setting up of the famous Azad Hind Fauj.
Here, both the factions contributed equally. On the one side, the Gandhian camp was building pressure on the government to agree for complete independence from the Indian soil whereas the Azad Hind Fauj(AHF) had captured the Andaman and Nicobar islands and was building international pressure too. The axis powers were actually winning the war but then pearl harbor happened and the rest is history. The troops of AHF were captured and Netaji had to escape. But these sequence of parallel events had developed a huge pressure and eventually the things peddeled towards the process of independence.
Even after separating from congress, Dada never disrespected Gandhiji. During his all-India radio broadcast from Rangoon, he even stated him as a symbol of Indian nationalism and addressed him as Father of our Nation.
What can one learn from Bose Dada?
Self Belief: Dada's life teaches us to believe in our principles and act confidently over them.
Respecting other's opinions and thoughts: Even though he had few idealogical differences with Gandhiji, he never devalued his principles or him as a personality.
Fearless and Risk-taking attitude: Every human works hard to achieve his/her aspirations but on the top of that, the fearless attitude acts as a booster and help us achieve a little more than what we had actually thought of.
Everything can be achieved but at a certain cost: His famous slogan "TUM MUJHE KHOON DO, MAIN TUMHE AZAADI DUNGA" means that nothing comes for free, you have to put in all that you can in whichever form to achieve what you want.
Gender Equality: Dada's Azad Hind Fauj had a RANI LAKSHMI BAI Regiment which was lead by Lakshmi Swaminathan. He believed that when it comes to blood, its color is the same be it male or female.
Non-Communal: One of the most vital aspect of the AHF was the diversity it had within itself. Dada had united Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians in his army. He never believed that the nation needs to be divided on the communal basis.
Leadership: Every organization or group is represented by a leader and we are also part of it in some way or the other. So one can actually look for the qualities as those of Netaji while choosing their leaders among themselves.
Subash Dada is one such person, I can admire and relate at almost every instance. It's not that he did not have any weaknesses. Just like every human does, he too had a few. But there's still a lot to learn from him. How to be a true patriot, how to serve the people, how to bond with others, etc. He was such a personality that many historians have marked him as a perfect blend of Gandhi and Hitler.
Today we as a country owe a lot to him. It has been more than a year and we are still fighting covid and have a long way to go. All we need to do is stick together just the way Dada had dreamt of. I would like to end with Bose Dada's one famous quote. "ONE INDIVIDUAL MAY DIE FOR AN IDEA, BUT THAT IDEA WILL, AFTER HIS/HER DEATH, INCARNATE ITSELF IN A THOUSAND LIVES". We, especially the youth can apply this in our lives so that we work hard and with full dedication to convert all our ideas into realities so that "HUM RAHEIN YA NA RAHEIN, HUMARA IDEA SABME KAHI NA KAHI BAKI RAHEGA".😊😊
