"Tum mujhe khoon do, main tumhe Azadi doonga."
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose is known for his liberal ideology and his open approach towards socialism. Since his childhood, he has always been highly influenced by the Bhagwat Geeta and the teachings of Swami Vivekanand, religion and spirituality has deeply impacted his inner sentiments and has played a major role in shaping his personality. As a religious man, he totally opposed the idea of atheism and anarchy. Though he had firm belief in socialism, he found communism a demagogue approach towards weakening democracy and liberalism. He established the Indian National Army (INA) or the Azad Hind Fauj in the Japanese occupied Singapore during World War II in September 1942. The motto of this army was "Ittehad, Itmad and Qurbani" (unity, agreement and sacrifice). The INA gained an upper hand during the battle of Singapore and Imphal. When the troops reached Kohima, they had to face a severe setback and the aspirations of the INA ended with the capturing of the troops followed by the INA trials and the news of the death of Subhash Chandra Bose. But, how would the Indian picture turned out to be if Bose's INA had won the Battle of Kohima? Let's Decode.
To imagine the present of India with a Kohima victory in the past, we would first have to analyse Netaji's ideology. Bose and Gandhi were considered to have exactly opposite convictions from each other. While Gandhi believed in moral and non violent means to achieve freedom, Bose was deeply attracted to military discipline. He believed that a strong violent resistance could oust the alien imperialist rule from India. In his early writings, he expressed the opinion that democracy was the acceptable political system for India. But later, he seemed to have veered towards the idea that, at least in the beginning, a democratic system would not be adequate for the process of nation rebuilding and the eradication of poverty and social inequality. Bose also favoured large industrialization and a centralised economy for India. If the INA would have succeeded in the Battle of Kohima, it would have been easier for the INA and the Japanese troops to penetrate deeper inside the country but with the INA and Bose taking over India after throwing the British out of the picture, India could not have enjoyed the democracy she has today and, a stable political system that we put our faith on. When the means to achieve an objective is violent, then whatever follows that ends shapes into violence as well, because there is no end to violence, it keeps on taking different vicious forms and retains its true nature. To be more precise, violence can never bring peace and harmony. All the political regimes that have used violence to gain freedom, dominance and superiority have either fallen, struggled in the past or are still struggling in all domains resulting in what we call "failed states". The fall of the Nazi Regime, collapse of the Ottoman Empire, disintegration of the Soviet Union, formation of Pakistan and the struggle of Afghanistan are prime examples of this idea.
When the means to achieve an objective is violent, then whatever follows that end shapes into violence as well.
India fortunately did not turn out to be a failed state, she has kept a high esteem in regard to her martyred freedom fighters and aspirational leaders. Indeed Netaji's contribution to the freedom struggle and his fight against the British empire has been immense and cannot be compared with the contributions of other leaders. The vision that Bose kept and the decisions he made requires a lot of courage as well. Though, India has become what she is because of the aspirations that the leaders in her kept but Subhash Chandra Bose is and will always be remembered for his sacrifice and nationalism.