2/10/2020—this week marks the 151st birth anniversary of India’s great Mahatma Gandhi’s.
Since I was a child, I have heard that Gandhiji is a great leader who attained independence for India, without raising a hand.
Quite contrastingly, I learnt that another Indian freedom fighter—Shubhash Chandra Bose, was a leader who raised arms and according to the TV show, The Forgotten Army, failed in his tracks. But today I ask: is this perception of Gandhi’s contribution the truth or is it the image that we, as a nation, want to believe?
Mahatma Gandhi is known for his revolutionary Quit India movement, whereas Shubhash Chandra Bose revived the Indian National Army. The show, The Forgotten Army, is fairly accurate in showing the struggle of the soldiers trying to enter India. In the show, and in real life, the army was stopped in its tracks by the British and several soldiers were put to trial in the infamous red fort trials.
The trials gained significant attention from the Indian media especially because of three involved officers—one Muslim, one Hindu and one Sikh. The three were put on trial together and became a symbol of unity between the different religions. Ironically, all of the British’s efforts to divide and rule India were ruined by their own actions of putting the three men on trial together.
As the trial went on, the country erupted in protests and several mutinies were seen in the British armed forces. Indian soldiers changed allegiance from the British to the now-deceased Netaji. This acted as a huge blow to the British because the British-Indian army was a cornerstone of their rule in India. To put it in the words of Babasaheb Ambedkar, “The British had been ruling the country in the firm belief that whatever may happen in the country or whatever the politicians do, they will never be able to change the loyalty of soldiers.” This loyalty of the soldiers, of all religions, was changed after the red fort trials, caused by the INA.
This amassing pressure caused by the protests and mutinies after the red fort trials combined with the “exhausting” world war was a key reason for Indian independence. In fact, the then British Prime Minister Clement Attlee even said to justice PB Chakraborty—“The erosion of loyalty to the British crown among the Indian Army and Navy personnel as a result of the military activities of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose”. When further asked, he even said Gandhi’s impact was “m-i-n-i-m-a-l”.
Regardless of this, I still do believe that the image of unity, and nonviolence projected by Mahatma Gandhi was significant. However, the immeasurable contributions of Netaji and the INA should not be forgotten—independence may not have been attainable without either one of them.
So, I think the time has come to celebrate Netaji’s birthday just as much as we celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s.
Written by Rishi Thakker
Designed by Anoushka Chaudhuri
Images taken from The Nation and The Better India
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