Transcription
Hello friends, on February 9, 1943, a German submarine departs from the German city of Kiel. Although all the soldiers on board are from Nazi Germany, among them is an Indian named Masuda. This submarine is given a mission to travel south, pass by Africa, and transfer Mr. Masuda to a Japanese submarine. This task sounds easy, but it is not without its dangers, as the sea is filled with British ships, and this is the time of World War II, when Germany and Japan are both fighting against the British.
On April 26, 1943, after a journey of about two and a half months, when this German submarine reaches near the coast of Madagascar, a Japanese submarine is spotted. However, the sea was so stormy that it could have been very dangerous for these two submarines to come near each other. So, for the next two days, these two submarines travel parallel to each other. Finally, when the weather clears, Mr. Matsura emerges from the submarine and paddles in a small raft, wet, to reach the Japanese submarine, where Captain Masao Rao welcomes him.
A question might arise in your mind: why were German and Japanese submarines helping an Indian during World War II? This is because Mr. Masuda is none other than our Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Unknowingly, during this historic journey, he also becomes the first Indian in history to travel in a submarine. Subhas Chandra Bose is one of India's greatest freedom fighters, and his entire story is filled with such amazing anecdotes. How he tricked the British government and fled India, went to Germany, met Hitler, went to Russia, went to Japan, met the Japanese Prime Minister, went to Singapore, formed his own army, and fought the biggest war against British rule from outside India. "We want to take power from India, we have to fight the enemy with his own weapon." Let's understand his entire story in today's video.
Let's begin our story from the year 1939, the year when World War II began. The Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, declared war on behalf of India without consulting any Indians. This was a great embarrassment for the Congress, and under the Government of India Act, Congress controlled some ministries. So, Congress resigned from all those positions. During this time, Subhas Chandra Bose was organizing his own party, The Forward Bloc. Although this party emerged from within Congress, by 1940, it was separated from the main Congress organization. There were two reasons for this: first, Subhas Chandra Bose was too much of a leftist (I have discussed this in detail in the Gandhi vs. Bose video, the link is in the description if you haven't seen it), and the second reason was that Bose wanted to use the Second World War for India's benefit. He wanted to take action quickly, and separating from Congress became a necessity for him.
In July 1940, Bose was leading a march in Calcutta, due to which he was arrested by the British government. While in jail, he challenged the government's authority by launching a hunger strike. "Release me, and I shall refuse to live." He made a direct announcement: "In 1940, he was languishing in prison, so he gave an ultimatum to the British government and undertook a fast."
His health began to deteriorate rapidly, and within a week, the government decided to release him from jail and place him under house arrest. The government did not want to be blamed if Subhas Chandra Bose died in prison. So, they thought of keeping him under house arrest as long as his health was poor, and as soon as his health improved, they would put him back in jail. But Netaji had other plans. His plan was to go to Germany and seek help from the Germans to fight against the British. But how to reach Germany? Bose contacted a communist organization in Punjab to find out if there was a way to secretly cross the border and reach Germany. He was told that there was indeed a way: if he entered through Afghanistan, went to the Soviet Union from there, he could then go to Germany.
On January 16, 1941, around 1:30 AM, when the entire city was asleep, Netaji secretly left his house with his nephew, Sisir Kumar Bose. He was in disguise, pretending to be an insurance agent named Mohammad Ziauddin. He and Sisir drove through the night, and by about 8:30 AM the next morning, they reached Dhanbad. Here, they spent one night at the house of Sisir's brother, Ashok, and the next day, they boarded the Kalka Mail train from the nearby Gomoh station. This train first reached Delhi, and from there, they changed trains towards Peshawar, boarding the next train named The Frontier Mail. Upon reaching Peshawar, they were received by Mian Akbar Shah, the provincial leader of the Forward Bloc.
The next step was to completely get out of British Raj territories. To do this, he changed his appearance again. From Mohammad Ziauddin, he became a mute and deaf Pathan. Being mute and deaf was necessary here because Bose did not know how to speak Pashto. "If anyone at the border checks them, the Pathan accompanying them would say that the Pathan next to him is mute and deaf." He traveled with another Forward Bloc leader, Bhagatram Talwar, and both pretended to be going to the shrine of Adda Sharif in Afghanistan to pray.
On January 26, 1941, they left Peshawar by train, and by evening, they had crossed the border of the British Empire. By the morning of January 29, they reached Adda Sharif and completed the journey to Kabul with the help of trucks and tanks. [Music] It took Netaji 15 days to travel from Calcutta to Kabul, but the British government found out about his escape only 12 days after he fled. This was because the people at home constantly delivered food to his room, and his other nephews ate his food. People thought that Subhas ji was still in the room, food was being delivered for him, and this was kept so secret that even Subhas ji's mother did not know he had fled home. It was only on January 27 that a case against Subhas Chandra Bose was to be heard in court, and when he did not appear in court, his two nephews informed the police. Anand Bazar Patrika and Hindustan Herald then picked it up, and Reuters also reported it, spreading the news worldwide.
British intelligence received several reports. One report stated that he was on a ship going to Japan, another suggested something else, but no report was true. A ship going from Calcutta to Japan was also searched by the British, but there was no trace of Bose. Subhas had told his nephew Sisir that if the news of his escape remained suppressed for four to five days, then it would be impossible to catch him, and this was true because the British government could never catch him again after that.
After reaching Kabul, Netaji went to the Soviet Embassy seeking help, but he received no help from there because the Russians suspected he was a British agent trying to infiltrate the Soviet Union. Then he tried to contact the German Embassy. Hans Pilger, a German minister present at the embassy at the time, sent a telegram to the German Foreign Minister on February 5, stating that after meeting Subhas, he had advised him to hide in the market with his Indian friends, and he would contact the Russian ambassador on his behalf. A few days later, Netaji received a message that if he wanted to proceed beyond Afghanistan, he should meet the Italian Ambassador. This meeting took place on February 22, 1941. On March 10, Bose was told to get a new Italian passport. Bose was given a new Italian passport with a new Italian identity. This was the photo on his Italian passport, and now his name was Orlando Mazzo.
Meanwhile, the British government had intercepted an Italian diplomatic communication and learned that Bose was in Kabul. They also learned that he was planning to go to Germany via the Middle East. Two officers from the British intelligence's Special Operations Executive were assigned the task of finding Bose in Turkey and killing him before he reached Germany. But Netaji was one step ahead. He never took the route through the Middle East. Instead, he reached Moscow with his new Italian identity. After reaching Moscow, he finally boarded a train to Berlin and arrived in the German capital, Berlin, on April 2, 1941.
Here, Netaji had three objectives: first, to set up an Indian government in exile; second, to find a way to convey his message to the people; and third, to establish an army composed of Indians who were prisoners of war. Let's look one by one at how Netaji worked on these things and how he met Germany's dictator, Hitler. The biggest struggle here was for Germany to give diplomatic recognition to India. He wanted Germany and other Axis powers to officially declare that India was an independent country and make India's independence one of their aims. But Germany never made such a declaration because Hitler was not comfortable with this idea. In his infamous book Mein Kampf, Hitler expressed his opinion on India. He wrote that he admired the British government for how they had dominated and administered India, and despite being of German blood, he wrote that he wanted to see India under British rule. Not only that, but Hitler also mocked Indian freedom fighters, calling them "Asia jugglers." For him, India's entire freedom struggle was a joke.
However, Hitler still wanted to use Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in this war against the British. Netaji also knew that the relationship between him and Nazi Germany was a transactional one. Both saw their own benefit here, which is why this relationship existed; otherwise, it would not. With this thought, he got to work. He made plans on how India could collaborate with the Axis powers. He established the Free India Centre in Berlin and then submitted a memorandum to Hitler, suggesting that Hitler attack India with his army to remove the British from there, and that this would be like attacking the heart of the British Empire. He tried to twist things a bit to provoke Hitler to take his army to fight against the British in India, but there was no positive result. The main reason was that Hitler did not care about India's independence.
However, there was another German who was actually very interested in helping Bose: Adam von Trott, head of the India section of the Foreign Office in Berlin. With his help, a special India Division was created in this Foreign Office. A few months later, on November 2, 1941, Bose established the Free India Centre here. In fact, the building you see on this street today was the office of the Free India Centre; today, there is just a cafe, with no trace that it was once an office. On the other side is the Spanish Embassy. At the first meeting held at this center, six decisions were taken: first, the name of this entire struggle would be Azad Hind or Free India; second, the name of this organization in Europe would be Azad Hind Centre; third, our country's national anthem would be Jan Gan Man; fourth, the emblem of our movement would be the tricolor with a springing tiger; fifth, Indians would greet each other with "Jai Hind"; and sixth, Subhas Chandra Bose would be given the title "Netaji." [Music]
On May 20, 1941, Netaji submitted a detailed plan to the German government on how propaganda could be used worldwide against British imperialism. A part of this plan was the Azad Hind Radio. On February 19, 1942, Netaji decided that the identity of Orlando Mazzo was enough and it was time to reveal his true self to the world. He delivered his first message to the world through Azad Hind Radio, which started broadcasting to the Indian people in February 1942. Subhas Chandra Bose gave his first address to his countrymen through this radio: "Continue your fight, Axis powers will soon help us in this mission, and we will fight against British imperialism. Sisters and brothers, we must continue the freedom struggle we have started until we achieve complete independence." Besides the radio, a monthly journal named Azad Hind was also created and rolled out in March 1942. Within a few days, 5,000 copies were circulated in Germany.
However, there were problems with the third objective. Bose wanted the army he was raising to be called the Indian National Army, but the Nazi regime refused to recognize a new independent army. Therefore, this military unit was named the Indian Legion. Bose met and spoke with more than 10,000 prisoners of war. He was convincing to all of them; there were about 5,000 people. Although this army was small, it was historic in many ways because Netaji succeeded in bringing together people of different religions and castes. Captain Walter Harb, who was in charge of the training camp at the time, noted: "His Excellency Netaji's goal was to paralyze the century-old antagonisms rooted in the Indian nationalities' religions and castes and to unite the members of both these units in one great common aim." On August 26, 1942, the Indian Legion took its oath, and with this, Netaji was almost completely successful in fulfilling all his objectives in Germany, except for one thing: the Axis powers were still not declaring India independent. The reason for this was Hitler's negative attitude towards Indians.
A few months earlier, in May 1942, Subhas Chandra Bose also met Adolf Hitler. After this meeting, Netaji became more interested in a decisive victory rather than actually winning militarily. Therefore, Netaji's attention turned towards Japan. By now, the news had already reached Japan that an army of Indians was being formed in Germany to drive the British out of India. Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo took note of this. He had been saying since early 1942 that it was time for Indians to stand up against British rule. In February 1942, Japan defeated the British in Singapore and occupied it. The Indian soldiers fighting on the side of the British became prisoners of war in the hands of Japan. Netaji saw another opportunity: why not include these people in his army?
Amidst all this, in August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi announced the Quit India Movement. Millions of people in India also rose up, ready for revolution against British rule. When this news reached Netaji, he was very happy to hear it. Through Azad Hind Radio, he sent his message: "All Indians should support Gandhiji. This movement is India's non-violent guerrilla warfare." Even though there had been some ideological differences between Gandhiji and Netaji a few years earlier, and their opinions did not align much, at this point, both stood in support of each other.
On August 31, 1942, when Netaji learned that leaders like Savarkar and Jinnah were against the Quit India Movement, he said something on Azad Hind Radio: "I would request Mr. Jinnah, Mr. Savarkar, and all those leaders who still think of a compromise with the Britishers to realize for once and for all that in the world of tomorrow, there would be no British Empire."
The last face-to-face meeting between Gandhiji and Netaji took place in 1940, and in this meeting, Gandhiji told Netaji, "If your methods are successful in bringing independence to India, then the first congratulatory telegram will come from me." Netaji himself wrote about this incident in his book, The Indian Struggle. So, although their ideas and methods were certainly different, they greatly respected each other. While some were struggling inside India, Netaji was struggling from outside India.
On February 8, 1943, Netaji appointed his friend A.C.N. Nambiar in charge of the Indian Legion and Azad Hind Centre, and he left Germany for Japan. This time, his route was not over land, but he plunged into the water, boarding a German submarine. The German submarine U-1880 once again changed its appearance and became Mr. Masuda. I spoke about this incident at the beginning of the video. By the way, he was not the only Indian on the submarine; another leader of the Indian Legion, Abid Hasan Safrani, was with him. Two and a half months later, near the coast of Madagascar, both changed submarines and were welcomed onto a Japanese submarine.
On May 8, 1943, this submarine reached Sabang, which is part of present-day Indonesia. From there, they boarded a flight to Tokyo and reached Japan on May 16. Netaji met with Japanese Prime Minister Tojo twice: first on June 10, and second on June 14. In their second meeting, Netaji openly asked him if Japan could provide unconditional help to the Indian independence movement. "I want to confirm that if Japan helps us, it will be help with no strings attached." Hitler had not agreed even after months of effort in Germany, but in Japan, this one question was enough. Tojo immediately agreed to help Netaji, and Japan's support was publicly shown to the world. Two days later, on June 16, Bose attended the 82nd extraordinary session of the Japanese Diet, and there, Prime Minister Tojo delivered a historic address: "India has remained under England's rule for centuries. We show complete independence aspirations here and say that Japan will do everything necessary to bring independence to India. I am confident that India's independence and prosperity are not far away." After this, Subhas Chandra Bose...
A statement is given from the side, which is recorded on video. Very few original video footages are on record. Netaji is one of them. See, India and Japan have in the past been bound by cultural ties that are about 20 centuries old. In recent times, cultural relations have been interrupted because of British domination of India. It is, however, certain that when India is free, relations will revive and will be destiny. In this connection, I should add that the statements made by Premier General Tojo on India since March 1942 and repeated by him before the Imperial Diet on June 16, 1943, have made a profound impression on India and have greatly helped the Indian independence movement.
In Japan, there was another freedom fighter who invited Subhas Chandra Bose, named Rash Behari Bose. I would like to share an interesting fact here that he was actually the leader of the Indian National Army. At this point in time, you might wonder how this is possible, as the INA was formed by Netaji. But no, the INA actually existed even before Netaji went to Japan. The first Indian National Army was actually formed by General Mohan Singh in February 1942, when Singapore fell to the Japanese. This INA operated until December 1942, after which Mohan Singh disbanded the army due to disagreements with the Japanese. The reason behind this was that the Japanese wanted the Indian National Army to fight their battles on their behalf in Southeast Asia, the same role that the British were playing. Many Indians refused to do this, so these units were shut down, and Mohan Singh was taken into custody by the Japanese.
This is where Rash Behari Bose enters. He acts as a leader and prevents the INA from being completely destroyed. Subhas Chandra Bose arrives in Singapore with Rash Behari Bose on July 2nd and is welcomed with garlands by Ram Singh Thakur. A beautiful song was played at that time when he descended from the plane. Here you can see another original video: "Kon Hind aa gaya, Subhash, Jai Hind hai, Subhash, Jai Hind hai, Subhash ji, Subhash ji, Jai." And here, the command of the remaining INA is handed over to Netaji. This was a great historical moment because many Indians had gathered in Singapore's Padang to listen to Netaji, and he delivered a very remarkable speech. A speech in which he raised the slogan "Chalo Delhi" (Let's go to Delhi).
The Indian National Army present in Singapore had about 13,000 soldiers. Netaji's plan was to first expand it, gather 500 soldiers first, and later build a strong army of three million people. The Japanese government was shocked to hear this plan. They said, "We cannot provide weapons to so many people; we can only provide weapons to about 300 people." But for Netaji, this fight was not just about fighting with weapons. He wanted the general public to eventually join their army and then together push the British out. The same thing was observed here as was seen in the Indian Legion in Germany. All the soldiers of the INA came from different religions, but not an iota of discrimination was seen among these people.
The motto of the Indian National Army was made up of three Urdu words: Ittefaq, Itmad, and Qurbani, which mean Unity, Faith, and Sacrifice. The INA was divided into a total of five regiments, and the names of these five regiments were kept after five freedom fighters: Gandhi, Nehru, Maulana Azad, Subhas, and the Rani of Jhansi. Even the INA campaign poster, which had "Chalo Delhi" written on it, featured photos of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. On another poster, quotes were written by both Subhas Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi. But today, there are some people who, on WhatsApp, spread misinformation.
In a radio address in 1942, Netaji clearly states that even though Gandhi supports non-violence, he is ready to give his full support to the Indian National Army. And even bigger than this is that Gandhi's followers will also support us. On October 2, 1943, Netaji gives another heartfelt message to Gandhi through the radio. "The services Mahatma Gandhi has rendered to India are so unique, so unparalleled, that his name should be written in gold in our national history forever. No single person could have achieved so much in their entire lifetime under these circumstances as he has achieved." Gandhi reciprocates Netaji's affection by giving him the title of "Prince of Patriots" on August 21, 1943.
Netaji provisionally sets up the Government of Azad Hind in Singapore. He becomes the head of this provisional government and says that this government is not a normal government. "Our mission is unique. We are a fighting organization, and we will declare war against the British rule." The skies reverberated with the full-throated shouts of "Jai Hind." Until now, Netaji did not have any territory, but all the Indian people living in Southeast Asia were officially under his jurisdiction. The government established in Singapore had the authority to collect taxes, enforce laws, and even recruit soldiers for the army.
Two months later, in December 1943, the Japanese army successfully drives the British out of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the Japanese government hands over complete control of this territory to Subhas Chandra Bose. This becomes the first Indian territory to be liberated from the British Empire. On December 30, 1943, the tricolor flag is also unfurled in Port Blair by Subhas Chandra Bose. His provisional government also enters into an Indo-Japanese loan agreement. In negotiations with Japan in 1944, he insists that India is not a client of Japan but temporarily a weak, equal government and army. Under this, Japan gives India a loan of 100 million yen, but Netaji uses only 10 million yen from it.
On January 7, 1944, Netaji moves the headquarters of the provisional government from Singapore to Rangoon, Burma. He was now very close to India. The next target was to capture Imphal and Kohima. An offensive begins here in March 1944, and one of the toughest land battles of World War II is fought on the ground. This battle lasts for four and a half months, from March 3, 1944, to July 18, 1944. About 100,000 INA and Japanese soldiers were fighting on one side, and on the other side, fighting for the British, were also Indians recruited into the British Indian Army. Initially, the INA is quite successful.
In Manipur's Moirangkhom, the monsoon season arrived early. Because of this, fighting in the rain and mud became difficult. On the other hand, in the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese army was suffering losses at the hands of America, so the INA forces did not have much air cover. The British had a big crucial advantage here. British ships attacked the supply lines, and food rations began to run out. The INA soldiers and Japanese soldiers present here were left with only grass and wild flowers to eat to survive.
On July 6, 1944, it had been about two years since Gandhi was released from jail. Netaji addresses on the radio, "Father of our Nation, in this holy war for India's liberation, we need your blessings." This was the first time anyone had called Gandhi "Father of the Nation." This title comes from here, friends. This title was given to Gandhi by none other than Subhas Chandra Bose himself.
On July 10, 1944, the Japanese inform Netaji that their military position can no longer be defended, and there is no option but to retreat. After the failure of the Imphal attack, the INA troops march back to Burma. On August 21, 1944, Netaji publicly acknowledges the failure of the Imphal campaign. He states that due to the early arrival of the monsoon and defects in the supply system, we had to face a setback here. Netaji then returns to Singapore and tries to rebuild the INA.
What happens next, how this movement is continued, what else Netaji does, and how the INA soldiers play another important role in India's independence later on – we will discuss all these things in the next part of this video because this video has become quite long. For now, if you liked the video, you can now go and watch the Quit India Movement video because this was the story entirely outside India, from 1942 to 1944. But what was happening in India during this time, and what other freedom fighters were doing, I have discussed all these things in that video. You can watch it by clicking here. Thank you very much. [Music]