Subhash Chandra Bose remembered on his 120th birth anniversary

India on 23 January 2017 celebrated the 120th birth anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose, the Indian nationalist whose defiant patriotism made him a hero in India.

Observing the 120th birth anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a series of tweets hailed the revolutionary freedom fighter. On this occasion, the Prime Minister also made files related to him public on the internet, which can be accessed on netajipapers.gov.in. The first set of 100 files related to Bose was put in the public domain on 23 January 2016, the 119th birth anniversary of Netaji.

What Happened to Netaji? authored by former journalist Anuj Dhar released

PM Modi tweeted “I salute Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his birth anniversary. His valour played a major role in freeing India from colonialism.” In another tweet, he twitted, “Netaji Bose was a great intellectual who always thought about the interests & well being of the marginalised sections of society.”

Subhas Chandra Bose

• Born on 23 January 1897, Bose tried to rid India of British rule with the help of Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany but he failed in his attempt to do so.

• In 1938 and 1939, Netaji served the Indian National Congress as its President. But later, he was ousted from the party due to his differences with Mahatma Gandhi.

Book Titled Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Germany Presented to the President of India

• After expulsion from Congress, he was placed under house arrest by the British. Later in 1940, he escaped from India.

• In 1941, he went to Germany where he established Free India Centre and Free India Centre in Berlin. The two were established with German funds.

• During his stay in Germany, he formed a Free India Legion to aid in a possible future German land invasion of India. The group was formed with the participation of some 3000 people comprising of Indians who were captured Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps.

• Later in 1943, he moved to Japan and revamped the Indian National Army (INA) with Japanese support. INA was a group of Indian soldiers from the British-Indian army who were captured in the Battle of Singapore.

• As per reports, Bose died when his plane crashed in Taiwan. However, several Indians don’t believe that he died in the crash or the crash had occurred.

The Bose Brothers and Indian Independence – An Insider’s Account authored by Madhuri Bose

• Famous slogans/quotes formed by the charismatic Subhash Chandra Bose include

a) Jai Hind

b) Give me blood and I shall give you freedom! (Tum Mujhe Khoon Do, Mai Tumhe Azaadi Dunga)

c) Ittefaq, Etemad, Qurbani (Urdu for "Unity, Agreement, Sacrifice")

d) Dilli Chalo ("On to Delhi)!

• Film on Bose includes Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero (2004) directed by Shyam Benegal. The film was a biography of Bose and depicted his leadership in Nazi Germany (1941-43) and Japanese-occupied Asia (1943–1945).