The warrior of Indian independence

A new book on Subhas Chandra Bose penned by his grand-nephew offers a detailed account of the revolutionary's personal and public lives. Sugata Bose's His Majesty's Opponent is a must-read for those who want an insight into the Bose's relationship with political leaders Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. An extract from the book

From the second week of June 1934, Bose settled down in Vienna, since he had a contract from the publishing company Wishart to write a book on the Indian struggle since 1920. In the course of looking for clerical help with preparing the manuscript, Subhas met a woman who would bring about a dramatic change in his personal life. Until then, he had been immersed in the freedom struggle and had taken little interest in relationships with women. "So many did love me before," he would write later, "but I never looked at them." Family elders, his political mentor C R Das, and Das's wife, Basanti Devi, had been inundated with marriage proposals for Subhas, all of which he had spurned. He was particularly indignant on one occasion when Das was offered a large political donation by a wealthy benefactor, if only the Deshbandhu would persuade Bose to marry his daughter.

Voyage to Europe: A signed photograph on board the SS Gange

Another aspiring father-in-law went further. On being told by Basanti Devi that Subhas would probably be sent to the gallows one day, he responded that his daughter would be proud to be Bose's widow. Basanti Devi, who discussed the subject of women with Subhas, always maintained that her adopted son never said he would not marry -- he simply gave precedence to the fight for his country's freedom. His more ardent followers thought he had taken a vow of celibacy and was determined to lead an ascetic life until Indian independence had been won. In Europe, Subhas managed to break free of the tyranny of these expectations.

It was June 24, 1934. A petite and pretty young woman named Emilie Schenkl arrived to be interviewed for the clerical job. Born on December 26, 1910, to an Austrian Catholic family, she knew English, could take dictation in shorthand, and had competent typing skills. Jobs were scarce during the Depression. Her father, a veterinarian, was initially somewhat reluctant to let his daughter work for a strange Indian man, but in time her whole familyu00a0-- father, mother, and sisteru00a0-- developed a warm relationship with Subhas. Emilie had a gentle, cheerful, straightforward, and unselfish nature, which Subhas found appealing. He came to respect her strength of will and affectionately called her "Baghini," meaning "Tigress" in Bengali. "He started it," Emilie stated categorically about the romantic turn in their relationship. Their intimacy grew as they spent time together in Austria and Czechoslovakia from mid-1934 to March 1936.

During the summer of 1934, Bose worked hard at his manuscript in his Vienna apartment. He did not have easy access to relevant books and papers, and consequently had to rely greatly on his memory of events. He either dictated or wrote in longhand, and Emilie typed up the pages. "I am getting on with my work," he wrote to Naomi Vetter in mid-August, "but do not feel satisfied with the quality of the stuff I am producing." He was still unwell, and had to choose between going to Karlsbad in Czechoslovakia for a cure or trying a gallbladder operation in Vienna. He went with his unfinished manuscript to Karlsbad in early September, accompanied by Emilie, and stayed at the Kurhaus K nigin Alexandra. He was worried about the looming deadline of September 30 given by his publisher, but managed to meet it with the help of Emilie and the thermal waters in the spa town. Emperor Charles IV had founded Karlsbad in 1349, and the resort became famous for the healing properties of its sixteen hot mineral springs. What made the place especially attractive to Subhas were "the lovely walks leading up to all the surrounding hill-tops."

Bose's manuscript was shaping up to be a major study of the movement for independence in which he himself was a leading participant. It provided a lucid, analytical narrative of the freedom struggle, from the gathering clouds of the noncooperation and Khilafat movements of 1920 to the stormy civil disobedience and revolutionary campaigns of the early 1930s. The dramatic story of the political upheavals during the inter-war period was enriched by Bose's own reflections on key themes in Indian history and a finely etched assessment of Mahatma Gandhi's role in it. In assessing the phenomenon that was Gandhi, he had fulsome praise for the Mahatma's "single-hearted devotion, his relentless will and his indefatigable labor." He was critical, however, of Gandhi's inability to comprehend the character of his opponents or to make use of international diplomacy in his efforts to win swaraj. Gandhi's efforts in reconciling capital and labor, landlord and peasant, had their limits. In the ultimate analysis, Mahatma Gandhi had failed, in Bose's view, because "the false unity of interests that are inherently opposed is not a source of strength but a source of weakness in political warfare."

In a penultimate chapter titled "A Glimpse of the Future," Bose made certain comments about communism and fascism that would be seized upon years later to make him the target of hostile criticism from various quarters. The context in which he made those remarks was an attempted answer to the question that was on everyone's lips in Europe: "What is the future of Communism in India?" Bose wanted to differentiate his own response from the emphatic one that Jawaharlal Nehru had given in December 1933. Nehru saw a stark choice before the world between "some form of Communism and some form of Fascism" and declared himself to be "all for" communism. "There is no middle road between Fascism and Communism," he asserted. "One has to choose between the two and I choose the Communist ideal." Bose believed Nehru's view to be "fundamentally wrong" and saw no reason to hold that the choice was "restricted to two alternatives."