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When differences arose between the Mahatma and Bose over the formation of the ‘Cabinet’ – as the Congress Working Committee (CWC) was then called – Bose sought advice from Jawaharlal and wrote to him on 15 April 1939: “Is it for you Would it be possible to run here for a few hours? Then we can talk, and I can get your advice on how to proceed?”
Jawaharlal not only traveled from Allahabad to Manbhum in Bihar to meet the bed-ridden Bose, but also wrote a letter to Gandhi on 17 April:
But despite Jawaharlal’s best efforts, the differences between the Mahatma and Bose could not be resolved. Under the circumstances of the time, it became difficult for Gandhiji to reject the advice of his other colleagues in the right-wing faction led by Sardar Patel, who were determined not to compromise with Bose.
Ultimately, Bose resigned the presidency in April 1939 and formed his own party, the Forward Bloc, within the Congress to unite all radical and progressive forces under one banner. Bose and key leaders of the Forward Bloc were arrested in July 1940 after launching a civil disobedience campaign during National Week (6–13 April – the anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre).
But before going to jail, Bose held long meetings with Muslim League President Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Hindu Mahasabha President Veer Savarkar.
He recorded in his autobiography:
Bose considered both these parties to be pro-British.
In an article for a German magazine after his ‘Great Escape’, Bose countered British propaganda against nationalist Muslims.
He wrote: “The truth is that in the nationalist movement, there is a large percentage of Muslims. Today the President of the Indian National Congress is a Muslim, Maulana Azad. The vast majority of Indian Muslims are anti-British and want to see India independent. There is no doubt about this. There are pro-British parties among both Muslims and Hindus who are organized as religious parties.”
He was clearly referring to the Muslim League and the Hindu Mahasabha. As early as 1923 he had called the Hindu Mahasabha a ‘communal organisation’ of Hindus, which had started the organization and purification movement among the Hindus.
Friendship continued…
When Bose took command of Azad Hind Fauj, he named a brigade as Nehru Brigade. Other brigades were named after Gandhi, Azad and Bose – including one women’s unit named the Rani Jhansi Regiment.
After his death in an air crash on 18 August 1945, Jawaharlal Nehru ensured that his widow Emily was financially supported by the Congress Party throughout her life. His daughter, Anita Bose, also received financial assistance from the Government of India until her marriage in 1965. Unfortunately, his repeated appeals to the government to bring back his father’s ashes from Japan fell on deaf ears. Conclusively established that Netaji had died in an air crash two years before independence.
(The author is a retired military officer and author Freedom struggle and beyondThis is an opinionated article and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint Neither endorses nor is responsible for it.)
