The order of the British Government to Col. Hugh Toye, MI 2 officer or, perhaps, MI 5 agent, was to capture Bose and secure the treasures of the INA. He was to track down Bose and was sent on his trail in East Asia in 1943.
A point to be noted here is this that the British could never give up their business-mindedness despite global pretensions to imperial glory. Though their prime concern was the elimination of Bose, a gluttonous people that they are, they could never for an instant forget that there was the INA treasure chest worth a fortune that they could loot as well in the bargain. The plunder of the colonies at every level was their original and principal aim for which they brought about the ruin of so many nations of the world, subverted civilisations, and, yet, had the temerity to speak of their intent at civilising the barbaric peoples of the world. No wonder Napoleon had called the British 'a nation of shopkeepers' and, only the other day, Indira Gandhi said, "Britain has neither friend nor enemy, only interest."
The sequel to the story of the Netaji hunter, Toye, was that he died at the ripe old age of 95, frustrated in his attempts at making his big catch. Netaji was too soaring a personality for a small fish like Toye to even come within the ambit of the great man.
P.S : To be fair to him in retrospect, as @Madhuri Bose has graciously and in all fairness pointed out, Colonel Hugh Toye went on to become a great admirer of Netaji and wrote one of the earliest books on him entitled 'The Springing Tiger' which was the fruit of his passionate pursuit of Netaji and his research on him thereof. We must be thankful to him for his painstaking researched work on our leader nonpareil even if and when we differ with him on some of his understanding of the psychology and intent of his subject (Netaji). Netaji, thus, manifests here his ability to win over even his direst opponent, and that is the hallmark of a great man.
A point to be noted here is this that the British could never give up their business-mindedness despite global pretensions to imperial glory. Though their prime concern was the elimination of Bose, a gluttonous people that they are, they could never for an instant forget that there was the INA treasure chest worth a fortune that they could loot as well in the bargain. The plunder of the colonies at every level was their original and principal aim for which they brought about the ruin of so many nations of the world, subverted civilisations, and, yet, had the temerity to speak of their intent at civilising the barbaric peoples of the world. No wonder Napoleon had called the British 'a nation of shopkeepers' and, only the other day, Indira Gandhi said, "Britain has neither friend nor enemy, only interest."
The sequel to the story of the Netaji hunter, Toye, was that he died at the ripe old age of 95, frustrated in his attempts at making his big catch. Netaji was too soaring a personality for a small fish like Toye to even come within the ambit of the great man.
P.S : To be fair to him in retrospect, as @Madhuri Bose has graciously and in all fairness pointed out, Colonel Hugh Toye went on to become a great admirer of Netaji and wrote one of the earliest books on him entitled 'The Springing Tiger' which was the fruit of his passionate pursuit of Netaji and his research on him thereof. We must be thankful to him for his painstaking researched work on our leader nonpareil even if and when we differ with him on some of his understanding of the psychology and intent of his subject (Netaji). Netaji, thus, manifests here his ability to win over even his direst opponent, and that is the hallmark of a great man.
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