48 SUBHAS BOSE: THE … BOSE THE SUBLIME... · Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was a great freedom...

Mere enumeration of rights will not serveany purpose. In order to safeguard theConstitution, it has set up an independent judi-ciary. According to noted ConstitutionalScholar, M P Jain, the Supreme Court of Indiahas wider powers than the highest Court inany other federation. The jurisdiction of theSupreme Court is very broad. It is the generalCourt of appeal from the High Courts, the ulti-mate arbiter in all Constitutional matters andalso enjoys an advisory jurisdiction. It can hearappeals from any court or tribunal in the coun-try and can issue writs for enforcing the funda-mental rights. Similarly, the High Courts arealso Constitutional Courts and are empoweredto issue writs for the purpose of violation of

fundamental rights or for any other purpose.American historian and a leading authori-

ty on the Indian Constitution, Granville Austinin his prologue to his book, "Working aDemocratic Constitution", says, "The IndianConstitution is a live document in a societyrapidly changing and almost frenetically polit-ical. The touchstone for public, and many pri-vate affairs, the Constitution is employeddaily, if not hourly, by citizens in pursuit oftheir personal interests or in their desire toserve the public good. The working of theConstitution so fully expresses the essential-ness of the seamless web and so complete-ly reveals the society that adopted it that itsstudy truly is a window into India." In thisclassic work, Austin also says, "TheConstitution and its seamless web have metIndia's needs. The inadequacies in fulfilling

its promises should be assigned to thoseworking it and to conditions and circum-stances that have defied greater economicand social reform during the short fifty yearssince Indians began governing themselves.The Country has achieved greatly againstgreater odds".

India as a Republic has stood the test oftime. We have had wars, insurgencies, com-munal riots, inter-state disputes and manyother issues. However, we have overcomeall of these and have only matured as ademocracy. The Constitution and its frame-work which laid down the blue print for theeffective functioning of a Republic must begiven credit for that.

As another Republic Day approaches, Iam reminded of the special message of Dr.

Rajendra Prasad, the first President of Indiato his countrymen, on the birth of the IndianRepublic. He said,"We must re-dedicateourselves on this day to the peaceful butsure realization of the dream that hadinspired the Father of our Nation and theother captains and soldiers of our freedomstruggle, the dream of establishing a class-less, co-operative, free and happy society in'his country'. We must remember that this ismore a day of dedications than of rejoicing -dedication to the glorious task of making thepeasants and workers the toilers and thethinkers fully free, happy and cultured."

The author is a journalist coveringthe country's judicial system. e mail :raghulsudheesh@gmail.com

THE INDIAN REPUBLIC...Continued from page 1

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Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was agreat freedom fighter, nation builder

and pragmatist. Born on 23 January, 1897in Cuttack (Orissa) to Janakinath Boseand Prabhavati Devi, he was the ninthchild among eight brothers and six sisters.His father, Janakinath Bose, was an afflu-ent and successful lawyer in Cuttack.Subhas was a very intelligent and sincerestudent. He passed his B.A. in Philosophyfrom the Presidency College in Calcutta.Since his early days, he plunged into thefreedom struggle.

Initially, Subhas Chandra Bose workedunder the leadership of Chittaranjan Das,an active member of Congress inCalcutta. He regarded Chittaranjan Das ashis political guru. Bose had been in civilianpolitics close to two decades (1921-1940),inclusive of his 11 imprisonments, workingfor India’s independence at home andabroad. He was essentially a politicalthinker and philosopher who put forth hisideas in numerous speeches, books,essays and letters.

A ‘faith philosophical’ was the anchor ofhis actions. He says, in his unfinishedautobiography “An Indian Pilgrim”, -‘Reality, therefore, is Spirit, the essence ofwhich is Love, gradually unfolding itself inan eternal play of conflicting forces andtheir solution’. It shows how his mind wasat a plane different from that of careerpoliticians of the day (he himself had beenthe Chief Executive Officer and laterMayor, Calcutta Corporation). He alsoidentifies the source of his inspiration. Hesays, ‘I was barely fifteen whenVivekananda entered my life. Then therefollowed a revolution within and everythingwas turned upside down”. Vivekananda,says Subhas Bose, gave him an ideal forwhich he could give his whole being.

A week before Subhas Bose was born,Swami Vivekananda had pronounced anew conception of India at Colombo, SriLanka (then Ceylon). To the contemporarypolitical leadership, India was an evolvingpolitical, constitutional and economic con-struct. But Vivekananda said that Indiancivilization had maintained its uninterrupt-ed continuity unlike other civilizations ofthe world because its soul lay in spirituali-ty not political institutions. He also saidthat India was a land of spirituality andrenunciation. Her mission is to conserve,preserve and accumulate her spiritualenergies and deluge the world with thatconcentrated energy.

If not moored to such a lofty ideal,Subhas Bose could not have given the

‘heaven born service’ after qualifying theICS examination in 1920. He was placedat No.4 in the merit list- the highest posi-tion secured by any Indian in the history ofthe ICS. But he chose to serve the moth-erland instead of colonial masters. He gotinto touch with C.R. Das (1867-1925) – hisfuture political men-tor- first through let-ters and then in per-son. Their associa-tion lasted for onlyfour years due tountimely death ofDas and imprison-ment of SubhasBose. But thosewere enough tolaunch him into con-stitutional politics.He was one of thenine members ofcommittee led byPt. Motilal Nehruthat produced the“Nehru Report” (1928) on dominion status.

Subhas Bose believed in a fine balanceof subjectivity and objectivity. While visit-ing Cairo for a single day in January 17,1935 he combined contemplation with apolitical meeting with Egyptian nationalistleader Mustapha El-Nahas Pasha of WafdParty. Pasha expressed confidence thatHindus and Muslims of India can worktogether in the best interest of the nationlike Muslims and Copts in Egypt. SubhasBose, standing at the base of thePyramids, realized the similarities and dif-ferences between Egypt and India. Theywere both very ancient civilizations. ‘Ouremphasis was not on civilization but onculture; not on material side of life but onthe intellectual and spiritual. Therein wehad our advantages, as well as our disad-vantages. Owing to our superior thoughtpower, we could hold our own againstinvaders from outside even when we werevanquished physically for the time being-and in course of time we could absorb theoutsider, while the ancient Egyptians wentdown before the Arab invaders and disap-peared altogether’.

But India, he felt, had neglected itsmaterial side while developing the spiritu-al side. This in the long run enervatedIndia spiritually as well. Therefore, he pre-ferred ‘the golden mean between thedemands of spirit and of matter, of the souland of the body- and thereby progresssimultaneously on both fronts’. His mus-

ings at Pyramids, therefore, sum up hispolitical vision for India. He wanted to seea modern India that is industrially self-suf-ficient and militarily self-reliant. Yet, itwould not be out of sync with India’s nativegenius.

His Presidential Speech at the 51st ses-sion of IndianNational Congress atHaripura (1938) con-cluded as-“We are,therefore, fighting notfor the cause of Indiaalone but for humani-ty as well. India freedmeans humanitysaved”. But his ideal-ism never got betterof his pragmatism.He was aware thatpolitical freedomwithout economicreconstruction washollow. He was thefirst to broach the

subject of national planning. He knewIndians sooner or later will have to assumethe political responsibility for India.

He said, “The very first thing that ourfuture national government will have to dois to set up a commission for drawing up acomprehensive plan for reconstruction”.His Presidential tenure saw the genesis ofa Planning Committee, despite the luke-warm attitude of the Congress. Twentynine subcommittees, formed into eightgroups, were set up with special terms ofreference to deal with all parts andaspects of the national life and workaccording to a pre-determined plan.Though the exit of Subhas Bose fromCongress, outbreak of the World War II in1939 and imprisonment of Nehru impededits work, it was revived by the efforts of KT Shah in 1945. The Planning Committeewas the forerunner of the PlanningCommission in independent India with sci-entist Dr. Meghnad Saha, an associate ofSubhas Bose, playing a major role.Though the Planning Commission hasbeen renamed as Niti Aayog (NationalInstitution for Transforming India) the ideaof national planning remains intact. Thetribute should go to the farsightedness ofSubhas Bose.

Subhas Bose recaptured thePresidential post in Congress at Tripuri(1939) through an election. He defeatedthe official candidate PattabhiSitaramayya. It was Subhas Bose’suncompromising attitude against the

British, which made him a misfit in theCongress. His political differences withGandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru made himto quit it completely. He set up “ForwardBlock” which was based on Leftist agen-da. The beginning of the World War IIupset his political plans. Interestingly hemet veteran revolutionary Veer Savarkarat Bombay in June, 1940. Savarkar wasthe first to tell him to go out of India, andbuild an army of resistance in Japan withRashbihari Bose, with whom Savarkarwas in touch.

It was in Germany (April 1941-Feburary,1943) that his Indian associates gaveSubhas Bose the title ‘Netaji’. A resolutionwas passed to make ‘Jana Gana Mana’ ofRabindranath Tagore the national anthemof free India. Subhas Bose had raised amini version of Indian National Army (INA)in Germany in 1941. It was called theIndian Legion. It was also in Germany thathe set up ‘Azad Hind Radio’ as broadcastarm of India’s overseas freedom move-ment. Its broadcast was receivable inIndia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in anedition of Mann Ki Baat, said SubhasBose exemplified the influence of radiobroadcast on public mind.

Subhas Bose was always a youth icon.He was perhaps the only political leader tobe in the forefront of both non-violent andrevolutionary forms of freedom struggle.His transition from civilian politics to mili-taristic role thus seemed very natural.

On his the 119th birth anniversary thisyear, focus of the nation is on the declassifi-cation and public release of the first batch‘Netaji files’ by the central government.Earlier, on September 19, 2015 WestBengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hadreleased the digitized version of 64 confi-dential files on Netaji in possession of thestate government. On October 14, 2015 thePrime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, whilehosting the extended family members ofNetaji and some public activists, at 7, RCRannounced to declassify the files on Netajiavailable with Government of India. It is esti-mated that there are as many as 130 fileson the subject. It is expected that thedeclassification of files will clear the myster-ies surrounding Netaji’s life and peoplewould be able to know whether Netaji sur-vived the alleged Taihoku air crash inAugust 1945.

The author is an independentresearcher based in New Delhi. He iscurrently a Consultant, Ministry of I&B.Views expressed are his personal.

SUBHAS BOSE: THE SUBLIME PRAGMATISTPriyadarshi Dutta