Bose

Subhash Bose is a much debated figure. Was he a hero, or was he an opportunist who teamed up with Fascists?

I get asked about Bose.

It is assumed that since I am a Bengali, I am an automatic expert on Bose. I am not. My knowledge of Bose is approximately equal to my knowledge of Bal Gangadhar Tilak or Chandrasekhar Azad. But I do know some.

The concerns expressed are:

1. Why did he ally with Imperial Japan and seek the help of Nazi Germany? That would make him an imperialist Fascist.

I have a couple of close friends who are Americans, Indophiles, and history buffs. This question comes mostly from them, and there is an undertone of horror. He was a Nazi! The horror! There is rich irony here, because that sort of logic also leads to the inescapable conclusion that the United States is, at this point in time, a military dictatorship. Don't get it? Well, the United States collaborates with Pakistan, and if Pakistan is a military dictatorship, then...

I do not know if Subhash Bose was a Fascist. I don't think so, but I may be wrong. I do not know if his political views would have aligned with mine. Or even, clearly, what his political views were. I have a vague idea that he admired authoritarian forms of government like in Soviet Union and Germany. I think that he was a military leader first. He did not get a chance to become a political leader. My belief is that India would not be a democracy (for what that's worth) if Subhash Bose had kicked out the English and then taken control of independent India. I think he would have been dictator. Whether he would have been an enlightened one, we'll never know.

2. Wouldn't the Japanese have grabbed India if the British were defeated by the alliance of the Japanese and INA? How was Bose planning to deal with the Japanese in the long term?

I don't know. My belief is that history would have run this course. If Subhash Bose had won, either he (or the Japanese) would have taken control. After the defeat of Japan by the Allied forces, Britain would have attacked India to regain control, possibly with covert American support. This would have been very similar to the French attack on Vietnam after World War II, with possibly similar results.

We'll never know the true course of history for sure of course, but I am almost sure that were I alive then, I would have joined the army. Just to see the sumbitch J. Nehru in fatigues and actually doing something useful for the country for a change. I would risk life and limb to see that.

I would also have liked to see Mohandas Gandhi faced with this delicate choice: Either stick to non-violence in the face of British attack and, in effect, advocate a reversion of free India to British rule, OR take up arms and renounce his cherished notion of non-violence under all conditions. What would he have chosen to become? A violent patriot, or a non-violent traitor? An interesting choice indeed.