Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was one of the foremost leaders of the Indian freedom movement. Unlike other popular leaders of the movement, he dreamt of freedom of the country by waging a war against the British and thus formed the Indian National Army. This concise biography first time published during the centenary celebrations of the Indian National Congress-presents in a simple and lucid language an authentic account of the life of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in the background of our freedom struggle.

Dr Sisir Kumar Bose (1920-2000), a nephew of Netaji, participated in the freedom struggle and helped in organising an underground network for the INA. He was imprisoned in Lyallpur Jail, Lahore. A pediatrician by profession, he served Institute of Child Health, Calcutta as Director for twenty years. In the post-independence period, he founded the Netaji Research Bureau and for more than four decades carried on studies and researches on Netaji. He wrote and edited a number of publications on Netaji.

This work was first published in Calcutta in 1986. Even though the edition had an enthusiastic readership, it was not possible to get it across to the much wider circle of potential readers around the country who were looking for a concise and authentic biography of Netaji in the English language. Thanks to the National Book Trust, India, this will now be possible. Translations of this work in major Indian languages have already been published by the Trust during the last years.

The biography is meant for the general reader with an inquiring mind, particularly of the new generation who have no direct knowledge or experience of the national struggle for freedom. Even for those interested in advanced studies and research on Netaji and his times, the book may well serve as a guide and a source of reliable information.

In around only one hundred and thirty nine pages, I have endeavoured to present in broad outline, but taking care not to omit any important event or circumstance, the lineaments of the life and work of a unique personality in contemporary Indian history. I have also endeavoured to be entirely faithful to historical events and record Netaji's reactions to and interpretations of them, instead of imposing on the reader my own opinions and interpretations. There is a very special and pressing reason why this work should be brought to the notice of readers in India and abroad. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has not been a favourite with the Indian Establishment at any point of time since independence. The academia in India and the captive bureaucracy found it convenient in their own interest to come to terms with the Establishment and overlook and ignore the only alternative leadership to Mahatma Gandhi in the crucial last twenty five years of our freedom struggle. Regardless, Subhas Chandra Bose has been the most popular national hero in the minds and hearts of Indian masses through several generations since independence. Being an advocate of freedom of thought, judgement and expression, I do believe, however, that scholars and readers should be free to have their own perceptions of historical events and controversies of the time including the one involving Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji over Tripuri and its aftermath.

For the convenience of the reader, the account has been split up on a thematic basis into sixteen sections and the short bibliography of the first edition updated. The Index is the other useful addition to this edition.

I sincerely thank the National Book Trust, India, for their interest and cooperation. I have no doubt the book will be welcomed in India and abroad by all those interested in the true story of the Indian independence movement.