On Saturday, June 17, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval said that if Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had been alive, India would not have been partitioned. He added that Netaji would not have settled for anything less than complete freedom and independence.
NSA Doval was speaking at the first Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Memorial lecture in Delhi. The event was hosted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).
Ajit Doval stated, “The idea that came to his (Subhas Chandra Bose’s) mind was ‘I will fight the British, I will not beg for freedom. It is my right, and I will have to get it’. India would not have been partitioned in Subhas Bose was there. Jinnah said I can accept only one leader, and that is Subhas Bose”.
NSA Ajit Doval hails Subhas Chandra Bose for showing the audacity to challenge MK Gandhi
During his address, Doval lauded Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s valour and audaciousness saying that he had courage throughout his life. He hailed Bose’s tenacity in his commitment to the country. Doval hailed Subhas Chandra Bose for showing the audacity to challenge MK Gandhi.
“I am not saying good or bad, but there are very few parallels in Indian history and the world history of people who had the audacity to sail against the current and not an easy current,” Ajit Doval said.
Doval talked about when Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi backed Pattabhi Sitharamayya to become Congress President contesting against Subhash Chandra Bose. He recalled that despite having overwhelming support, Bose decided to resign due to his respect for Gandhi.
“But Gandhi was at the prime of his political career. When Gandhi wanted to support Pattabhi Sithamrayya to become Congress president and Subhash Bose had overwhelming support and the majority of people. But then he resigned and when he came out of the Congress he started his struggle afresh. He decided to escape from India. Getting into the attire of Afghan, quite difficult for a Bengali to do, he left for Kabul. He then moved to Russia, Germany where he met (Adolf) Hitler. He wasn’t very comfortable with his policies; he got 4000 Indians released who were jailed in Germany by Hitler. He then formed the Indian National Army,” Doval said.
NSA Ajit Doval stated when former British Prime Minister Clement Atlee, under whom the Indian Independence Act was signed, came to India in 1956, he stayed at Raj Bhavan in Kolkata. He added that the ideas of nationalism disseminated by Bose scared the British even after his death.
“The then Governor asked Atlee why the British agreed to Independence in 1947 when there was no pressure. Gandhi had given up on the Quit India movement in 1942. There was no immediate pressure to leave. Just see how history has been unkind to Netaji. Atlee replied that it was because of Netaji. He said even though Netaji had died in 1945 in a plane crash in Taipei. Even after his death, they were afraid of the ideas of nationalism that it created, many Indians would have gone down that path,” the National Security Advisor said.
Doval further delved into Netaji Bose’s religious side as he said that Bose had a secular outlook but deep down he was a highly religious person.
“He believed in a strong economic framework for India, he supported planning. He was a highly religious man, and always carried Gita with him. Bose was secular in his outlook, but deep inside he was pious and devoted and did not make a display out of it,” Doval said.
Subhas Chandra Bose and his ouster from the Congress
Bose had been elected as the president in the Haripura session of Congress in 1938. Bose had been advocating opposition to the British government’s federal scheme as per the Government of India Act 1935. He had been proposing a mass movement for ‘Purna Swaraj’, unlike other elements within the party which were in favour of accepting the new concessions from the British. However, the old guard, including Mahatma Gandhi, refused to heed his words. Therefore he contested for re-election to the presidency of the next annual Congress session that was to be held in Tripuri.
Unlike today’s Congress party, there were real elections for the post of president during that time. He won against Gandhi’s candidate Pattabhi Sitarammayya (1,575 to 1,376 votes). In response, the entire CWC (Congress working committee) resigned. Thereafter, he was shunted out of the Congress party because he had the charisma and ability to win an election against the wishes of Mahatma Gandhi.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose mysteriously disappeared after a Japanese plane allegedly carrying him crashed in Taiwan on 18th August 1945. It is believed he died of third-degree burns. However, it was never confirmed.
