Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's 123rd birth anniversary, history and other facts

Image courtesy: Zee News file

New Delhi: Subhas Chandra Bose, who is popularly known as Netaji-, is one of the most celebrated freedom fighters of India. The country on Thursday (January 23) celebrates his 124th birth anniversary. Netaji was born on this day in 1897, in Cuttack, Odisha, which was then a division of Bengal Province under British India, to Prabhavati Dutt Bose and Janakinath Bose. 

The ninth of 14 children in his family, Subhas Chandra Bose earned BA in Philosophy from Scottish Church College, Calcutta. In 1919, Bose headed to London to take the Indian Civil Services (ICS) examination and stood at the fourth position, but he resigned citing the reason that he could not side with the British.

In 1921, Bose worked under Chittaranjan Das, a powerful politician in Bengal, and later started his own newspaper, Swaraj. In 1923, Bose was elected the President of the All India Youth Congress and also the Secretary of Bengal State Congress. 

During the mid-1930s, Bose visited Europe, where he met Indian students and European politicians, including Benito Mussolini. When he returned to India, he got elected as President of Congress party in 1938. Bose later resigned from the Congress party's top post due to differences with Mahatma Gandhi and formed All India Forward Bloc.

Bose gave a call for a mass civil disobedience after the then Viceroy of India Lord Linlithgow declared that India will join the Second World War aw part of the Allied Alliance without taking into confidence the Congress leaders. After Gandhiji decided against supporting Bose's agitation, he started protest in Kolkata (then Calcutta) for the 'Holwell Monument'. He was first jained by the British, but released after he wentr on a seven-day hunger strike. He wss the kept under surveillance by the CID.

However, he managed to escape to Germany via Afghanistan and the Soviet Union in 1941 after catching a train from Gomoh station in Jharkhand (then Bihar). In 1943, Netaji traveled to Tokyo, Japan via submarines and formed a trained army of about 40,000 troops as the Indian National Army, which was first formed under Mohan Singh and Japanese Major Iwaichi Fujiwara. The INA comprised Indian prisoners of war of the British-Indian Army captured by Japan in the Malayan campaign and in Singapore. 

In 1943, Netaji advanced to Rangoon, Myanmar after the capture of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, to make his way into India through Kohima and the plains of Imphal. The British Indian Army, however, retaliated to free Manipur, Kohima, and Imphal and killed almost half of the Japanese forces along with INA contingent in 1945.

The INA had to surrender and Netaji escaped to Manchuria. Bose is said to have died from severe burn injuries as his plane crashed in Taiwan on 18th August 1945. Netaji's death is considered to be a mystery as some still believe that he managed to escape, and did not die in the plane crash.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, whose ashes are stored at the Renkōji Temple in Tokyo, will always be remembered for his sacrifices.

Subhas Chandra Bose temple in Varanasi 

A temple built in the name of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose will be inaugurated by senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar at Subhash Bhawan on Azad Hind Marg, Varanasi on Thursday.

Citing sources, an IANS report said that the temple will have a Dalit woman as the chief priest and the morning `aarti` will be held with a prayer to Bharat Mata.

The temple is located in the front yard of the Subhas Bhawan and has a life-size black granite statue of Subhas Chandra Bose. The stairs around the temple are painted in red and white.

The significance of the Subhas temple in Varanasi lies in the fact that the holy city has a large Bengali population. 

Jharkhand declares Netaji birthday as public holiday 

The Jharkhand government has declared January 23 as a public holiday to mark the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, five years after it was dropped from the list of holidays in the state.

The day was removed from the list of holidays between 2015 and 2019, though 'Netaji Jayanti' had been a holiday till 2014, an official release said here.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren, during a review meeting on Tuesday, ordered that January 23 be declared a public holiday, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a press release.