Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

News: A statue of Subhas Chandra Bose was unveiled by PM Modi at India Gate, inaugurated along with the
Kartavya Path that was earlier known as Rajpath.

About:
• In 1919, Bose was selected to be in Indian Civil Services (ICS) however, resigned, as he believed he could not side with the British.
• He was highly influenced by Vivekananda’s teachings and considered him his spiritual Guru. His political guru was C.R. Das.
• During the mid-1930s, Bose travelled in Europe. He researched and wrote the first part of his book, The Indian Struggle.
• Bose took over as the elected President of the Indian National Congress in 1938 (Haripur) and stood for unqualified Swaraj (self-governance). He was re-elected in 1939 (Tripuri) but soon resigned from the presidency and formed the All-India Forward Bloc.
• To commemorate his contribution to India’s struggle for independence, every year on 23rd January, Subhas Chandra Bose’s birthday is celebrated as Parakram Diwas across the country.

Contribution to India’s Freedom struggle:
• He espoused the idea of economic planning and himself led the way in this regard.
• The Indian national army earlier known as Azad Hind Fauj was revived by Netaji. Initially formed by Rash Behari Bose in 1942 the INA significantly increased the pressure on the British to leave India.
• A women’s regiment of Azad Hind Fauj was formed, which was under the command of Captain Lakshmi. It was called the Rani Jhansi regiment.
• The Azad Hind Fauj became the symbol of unity and heroism to the people of India. Bose motivated the troops with his fiery speeches.

Some facts about the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose statue at India Gate:
• A 100-ft-long truck with 140 wheels was specially designed for this giant granite stone to travel 1,665 km from Khammam in Telangana to New Delhi.
• The statue is completely “hand sculpted using traditional techniques and modern tools”.
• The team of sculptors was led by Arun Yogiraj.
• It took around 26,000 hours to complete the statue.
Some of the books authored by Netaji are as follows – An Indian Pilgrim, Dreams of a Youth, Letters to Emilie Schenkl (1934-1942), Azad Hind, On to Delhi, A beacon across Asia, Ideas of a Nation, The Indian Struggle and Jaruri Kichu Lekha.