- Born in January 1897 in Cuttack (then the Bengal Province) to a wealthy family, Bose was a brilliant student.
- He even cleared the Indian Civil Services (ICS) examination conducted in England at that time, but did not join the service as he did not want to serve the British government.
- He returned to India in 1921 and joined the Indian National Congress.
- He was imprisoned and sent to Mandalay in 1925 and released in 1927.
- He became one of the young leaders of the party with an aggressive stance against colonialism. He stood for complete independence rather than just self-rule.
- He was also not averse to the use of force against the British. He was the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Congress Volunteer Corps.
- He took part in the civil disobedience movement and was again jailed.
- He became the Mayor of Calcutta in 1930.
- By 1938, he had become a national leader and was nominated for the post of the President of the Congress Party.
- However, his ideas were radical and very different from Mahatma Gandhi’s pacifist views and methods.
- He was forced to resign from the party presidency owing to these differences.
- He formed the All India Forward Bloc which became a faction within the Congress. It was an organization with leftist leanings.
- Bose had come to believe that an independent India would need an authoritative socialist government.
- When the 2nd World War broke out, Bose escaped to Germany via Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. He had been placed under house arrest by the British government.
- In Berlin, he founded the Free India Legion and the Azad Hind Radio.
- In 1943, he left Germany for Japan after accepting the leadership of the Indian National Army which was predominantly formed of British Indian POWs.
- The INA’s strength increased with many expatriate civilian Indians joining it inspired by Bose’s leadership. He proclaimed to the volunteers there, “Give me blood and I will give you freedom.”
- The INA declared war against Britain and the USA in October 1943. They allied with the Japanese in their offensive against the British in the North-East of India.
- But they were forced to retreat or surrender after the British were able to get back Burma from the Japanese. Bose then returned to Singapore.
- When Japan surrendered in 1945, Bose wished to go to Manchuria (in Japanese-occupied China) to contact the approaching Soviet troops. He took a Japanese bomber plane from Saigon in Vietnam to reach Manchuria. The plane made a stop at Taiwan for refueling. But, soon after take-off, it crashed ultimately leading to Bose’s death.
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