I love the blend of spirituality and revolutionary patriotism as manifest in the personality of that eternal celibate, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, whose sole concern was the attainment of political freedom of his motherland from the colonial masters then sucking the life-blood of the nation.
An ardent follower of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda, Netaji, to my mind, has been the greatest devotee or disciple, whatever label you may give him, of the divine duo whose every word he expressed in his life and works instead of only preaching the softer principles before a wide-eyed audience and shirking from the more revolutionary elements of their message as has been the wont of the weaker followers who have dared not express the prophet of Dakshineshwar and his protege fully. As such, I believe that Ramakrishna-Vivekananda have been badly failed by their followers and were best followed, although imperfectly here as well, by the revolutionaries who won us freedom. The choice and master spirits of the age, they all expressed the Avatar in their own limited ways but the ones that liberated the motherland from colonial clutches, my heart goes out to them. And Rash Behari Bose and Netaji top the list among these seminal beings.
It is difficult to write on Rash Behari Bose for the data available is limited but on Netaji much fact and more fiction have been published. We have to be discerning in our study of such a plethora of information and misinformation on Netaji and sift truth from untruth to be able to arrive at the correct narrative about the liberator of our motherland.
Rash Behari Bose's contribution to India's freedom struggle is simply not known to the Indian public much. His life was an epic saga of revolutionary struggle through the first half of the 20th century unmatched by any other revolutionary except, perhaps, his successor, Netaji, and I greatly hesitate to say so for fear of thus devaluing Rash Behari's contribution and stating an untruth, for Rash Behari clearly was the revolutionary nonpareil.
Between the two, they routed the British during the Second World War and it was only the world historical circumstance that stood in the way of their ultimate success. But even in defeat they created the conditions for freedom in India and the British, fearing another Revolt of 1857, were prudent enough to leave the shores of India so long as ships were still available. Any further delay, they reckoned, would lead to them being butchered by the masses who were inflamed by the fire of patriotism consequent on the INA Trials in New Delhi in 1945-46.
These are my random thoughts on these revolutionaries that are being penned in the early hours as dawn breaks upon the eastern horizon. As such they are of not much consequence save to ignite interest in the revolutionary phases of the freedom struggle. As more knowledge dawns on me, I shall come before you and serve you with increasing information gleaned from diverse sources. Till then bear with me and keep reading my posts which will bring you tidings from a not so distant past about the bravest children of Mother India. May Mother bless us all that we may not traitorous lie in self-oblivion of our national past and of the sacrifices of our formidable forefathers who did better than to spin yarn or get honey trapped by way of attempting freedom !
Written by Sugata Bose
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