Triveni Journal

1927 | 11,233,916 words

Triveni is a journal dedicated to ancient Indian culture, history, philosophy, art, spirituality, music and all sorts of literature. Triveni was founded at Madras in 1927 and since that time various authors have donated their creativity in the form of articles, covering many aspects of public life....

Netaji’s Vision of India

D. Anjaneyulu

Legends tend to grow about the lives of great men and the real facts are sometimes clouded or embellished, if not altogether distorted. The popular image of public men is difficult to correct once it takes a recognisable shape be it however incorrect or incomplete. That of Gladstone as an upright man of moral fervour, of Disraeli as a consummate actor, of Esenhower as a soldier, and, nearer home, of Nehru as the Hamlet of Indian politics, these are accepted with little scrutiny, and on trust, as it were.

In the same manner, the average newspaper reader in this country is apt to think of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (born on January 23, 1897), as the ill-fated leader of the Indian National Army and as the unsuccessful rebel President of the Indian National Congress. Public memory being proverbially short, nothing was heard of him for long except when a swami near Calcutta was mistaken for the lost leader. And, of course, in 1997 in connection with his birth centenary celebrations.

Even among the intrepid youth of an earlier generation, who used to swear by the name of Subhas Bose, little attention is paid to his ideas on national reorganisation and economic reconstruction. It is, of course, generally true that his political idealism was, at times, rather foggy, less clearly defined than that of Mr. Nehru, less original and scientific than that of M.N. Roy, less lofty than that of J.P. Narayan.

His actions, especially towards the end, gave the impression of his being pragmatic to the point of being cynical, and had the effect, in certain quarters, of branding him as an adventurer and an “opportunist” (though not in the usual, derogatory sense), Malicious critics, however, used to run him down as leader of the Indian “fascists”, a protege of Hitler and an agent of Tojo. Those who did not doubt his patriotism doubted his discretion and judgement.

While we associate the inception of all Congress ideas on economic planning and industrialisation with Prime Minister Nehru, and rightly so to some extent, we should not forget that the earliest origins in this respect, go to 1938 when Subhas Bose was Congress President. Addressing the Industries Ministers Conference (convened by himself) Bose outlined the following points in a discussion of the principles of national planning:­

1)      National autonomy in our principal needs and requirements, though from the industrial point of view the world is to be taken as one unit.

2)      Need to adopt a policy aiming at the growth and development of the mother industries, viz., power supply, metal production, machine and tools manufacture, manufacture of essential chemicals, transport and communication industries.

3)      Emphasis on technical education and technical research. For technical education, Indian students to be sent abroad for training in accordance with a clear and definite plan so that as soon as they return home they may proceed straightway to build up new industries. As for technical research it should be free of government control of every kind.

4)      There should be a permanent national research council.

5)      As a preliminary step towards national planning there should be an economic survey of the present industrial position to secure the necessary data for the National Planning Commission.

It was not long after this that the National Planning Committee under Congress auspices was set up as a kind of follow-up to the earlier conference. Of this committee Mr. Nehru was for some time convenor (or Chairman) and Prof. K.T. Shah, Secretary. Inaugurating the first meeting of this committee on December 17, 1938, Bose struck a note of realism at the close of his brief address:­

“...We will have to consider the most important problem of finding the necessary capital and credit for our plan of industrialisation. Unless this problem is solved, all our plans will remain mere paper schemes and we shall not make any headway in our industrial progress”.

Subhas Bose believed firmly (perhaps Nehru was with him on this, but not the out-and-out Gandhittes in the Congress High Command) that planned industrialization would take us to all-round prosperity. He was fairly eclectic in his models in this respect and was all praise for the Soviet example. He observed that “the marvelous progress in Russia in a very short period deserves our careful study and attention, irrespective of the political theories on which this state is based”.

In his basic approach to this vital problem Bose took care not to be too dogmatic or doctrinaire, for which the temptation must have been strong enough then as now. He saw no conflict between cottage industries and large-scale industries. He envisaged a scheme of things in which both of them could be developed side by side, on the Japanese model, and cottage industries could be modernised with the aid of electric power. On the main problem, however, he had absolutely no doubts. He would stress on more occasions than one that “the problem we have to face is not industrial recovery, but industrialisation, as India is still in the pre-industrial stage of evolution”.

He knew that there was no escape from an industrial revolution. “We can at best determine whether this revolution will be a comparatively gradual one, as in Great Britain, or a forced march as in Soviet Russia”, he said. Adding “I am afraid that it has to be a forced march in this country”. Economic planning for India, he maintained, should mean largely planning for the industrialisation of India. “And industrialisation does not mean the promotion of industries for manufacturing ‘umbrella handless and bell-metal plates.”.

On the question of organising the Congress party itself, Subhas Bose took a radical stand. Referring to the collective affiliation of ‘workers and peasants’ organisations, he said in his address to the Haripura Congress: “Personally, I hold the view that the day will come when we shall have to grant this affiliation in order to bring all progressive and anti-imperialist organisations under the influence and control of the Congress”. He was strongly of the view that Congress workers, should, in large numbers, participate in trade union and peasant organisations. It is well known that Left consolidation was one of his political planks, and while presiding over the Congress he favoured the idea that all the Leftist elements in the Congress itself could be consolidated into one party, within the broader framework of the national party.

If Gandhiji was the greatest force in this century in rousing national consciousness among the Indian people, Mr. Nehru was responsible more than any other single individual in creating a lively awareness of world affairs in recent times. Apart from Mr. Nehru, Subhas Bose was possibly the only leader of national stature who was ever watchful of the significance of political events abroad and their possible repercussions on India’s prospect of freedom. In his periodical articles in “The Modem Review” (of Calcutta), he used to analyse the political situation in Europe. Discussing Japan’s role in the Far East, he foresaw the dangers to the peace of Asia flowing from the high birth-rate and heavy industrialisation of that country. His long stay in Europe and wide travels abroad had helped him in gaining a broader perspective.

In the early Thirties of this century, Bose under the guidance of V.J. Patel, mooted the proposal for a foreign wing of the Congress to canvass the case for Indian freedom to Europe. “For good or for ill”, he said, “we are forced by modem circumstances to share the common life of humanity. We cannot, therefore, be indifferent to what the outside world thinks of us....History further teaches us that for enslaved and suppressed nations ­especially for those that eschew the path of violence-the sympathy of the civilised world is absolutely necessary and in order to win that sympathy propaganda has to be undertaken”...Unfortunately, however, at that time the great leaders who really mattered, including the Mahatma and those closest to him were not too enthusiastic about this, though Bose himself never tired of foreign propaganda through personal contacts abroad.

He said in the Haripura Congress address: “I attach great importance to this work for evolving a foreign policy for India and of developing international contacts because I believe that in the years to come, international developments will favour our struggle in India. But we must have a correct appreciation of the world situation at every step and should know how to take advantage of it”. But, he was careful to add that “we should not be influenced by the internal politics of any country or the form of its state.”

He suggested the creation and development of “a nucleus of men and women in every country who feel sympathetic towards India” by means of propaganda through the foreign press, through Indian-made films, through art exhibitions and, above all, personal contacts. Indian students and Indian residents in other countries, who are “like our non-official ambassadors”, could do a lot in this direction, provided they are properly guided and encouraged.

Some of these observations have not lost their validity in free India. Actually, they may have gained some urgency. One sometimes hears from discerning critics of India’s external publicity being the weakest link in the chain of our general mobilisation. Insisting that we should make India and her culture known to the world, Bose said in 1938: “I am aware that such efforts will be welcomed in every country in Europe and America. If we go ahead with this work, we shall be preparing the basis for our future embassies and legations in different lands”. He urged that the Congress (and the country) should have its trusted agents in Europe, Asia, Africa and in North, Central and South America.

To counter malicious propaganda against India, Bose urged that “we have only to let the world know what we are and what our culture is like”. If we could do that, he hoped, we should be able to create such a volume of international sympathy in our favour that “India’s case will become irresistible before that bar of world opinion”. This is true as much after as before freedom, in times of peace as in times of war.

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