Netaji's Tragic End

Meeting with the then Japanese PM Hideki Tojo.

“His proud, importunate and violent spirit was a flaming sword forever unsheathed in defense of the land he worshipped with such unsurpassed devotion. A greater love hath not man than this that he lay down his life for his country and his people.”
– Sarojini Naidu

On March 18, 1944, 80 thousand Japanese troops and 20 thousand troops of the Indian National Army (INA) crossed the Brahmaputra River from Burma, which was occupied by the Japanese in 1942. With “Chalo Delhi” on their lips, the INA carried the armed struggle onto Indian soil. The immediate aim was to occupy two strategically important towns of Imphal and Kohima in Assam in British India.

The British were heavily aided by United States, particularly the US Air Force. At that juncture of the war, the Japanese, who had nearly lost its air-power, were being attacked in many fronts by the US and the Japanese mainland was being regularly bombarded. However, the combined Japanese and INA assault on Indian soil generated a lot of enthusiasm and pride among the INA, whose soldiers were ecstatic. Netaji Subhas Bose, in his headquarters in Rangoon, was hoping that with the expected fall of Imphal and Kohima, there would be a general uprising against the British in eastern India, particularly in Calcutta. Netaji was so optimistic of success of the operations that he selected AC Chatterjee, the Finance Minister in his government, as the chief administrator of the territories to be liberated. Declaring that India's last war of independence had begun, Subhas, through a radio appeal to Gandhi, addressed him as the Father of the nation and called upon him to bless Indians who were shedding their blood fighting on Indian soil for its liberation. Gandhi, the preacher of non-violence, chose not to respond.

INA troops faced untimely beginning of the monsoon, inadequate supplies from the Japanese and bombardment by the British and the US air forces. Depleted by heavy losses in their Assam fighting, the INA had to retreat to Rangoon, where a dejected Netaji had already planned a move from Rangoon to Singapore, where, with the help of the local Indians, he had hoped to carry on his fight against the British. He accompanied the troops including the women members of the Rani of Jhansi Brigade, appointing Mohammad Zaman Kiani as the commander to lead the retreat on foot. He was subject to all the privations and discipline and declined transport or any other privileges that the Japanese were eager to provide him.

Subhas Bose with Adolf Hitler in Berlin in 1943.

One of the two INA Divisions in the battle on Indian soil was led by Kiani. His forces had surrounded Imphal.  I had the good fortune of meeting and working with him in 1967-68 in Rawalpindi where we both worked in the President's Secretariat, spending many days recounting the accounts of Kiani's INA days. After World War II, Kiani fought against the Indians in Kashmir and later given a civilian job in the Pakistan Government.  He was very devoted to Netaji and full of praise of his leadership qualities, secularism and selfless dedication to the cause of India's freedom.  Kiani told me that the INA had one kitchen and mess for all INA members, whether one was a Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh or a Christian. As one of his close followers, Abid Hasan, later wrote, "We had our different faiths and we had our different languages, but in our purpose and our political belief we were all a well-knit, determined and indivisible whole.” Subhas Bose would not discriminate against anyone. Kiani was convinced that if Netaji was alive and in India in 1947, there would not have been any partition of India. It may be noted that before taking off for his last flight, Netaji Subhas Bose designated Kiani as the acting chief of all INA forces during his absence.

Accompanied by Brigadier Habibur Rahman, his chief of staff, Bose left in a Japanese military aircraft on August 17, 1945 from Saigon for Tokyo via Manchuria. The plane crashed on the tarmac of Taipei's military airport on transit while it was taking off on August 18, 1945. Netaji suffered third-degree burns all over his body and facial injuries and died after a few hours in the Japanese field hospital in Taipei.  Netaji Subhas Bose was cremated in Taipei, placed in an urn, which was later flown with Habibur Rahman to Tokyo. Though there are controversies about the fact and the circumstances of Subhas Bose's death, particularly in Bengal, there is a general consensus of his death as testified by Rahman, who was an eye-witness.

The Last Photo of Subhas Chandra Bose, August 1945.

Talking to me in 1968, Rahman, who was also injured and lay in the hospital bed next to Bose, vividly remembered Netaji softly calling him Habib Bhai and hoping that the latter was not injured severely. Sugata Bose, in his 2011 book “His Majesty's Opponent” reports that Subhas Bose further told Brigadier Rahman in Hindustani that his end was coming very soon. He had fought for his country's freedom till his last breath and his countrymen should be told to continue the fight for India's freedom and that India would be free.  Habibur Rahman recovered from his injuries and later fought in Kashmir on the Pakistan side. Subsequently, he was given a government job and when we met in Rawalpindi in 1968-69, he was the Political Agent in Gilgit. Because of his close association with Subhas Bose and my great admiration for Bose, we met a number of times in the office and at my home to discuss his eventful INA years, the fateful air journey and the circumstances of Bose's tragic death. Like Kiani, Habibur Rahman was a great admirer of Bose and his leadership and human qualities.

Note: This account is based on the writings of Netaji's nephew, Dr Sisir Kumar Bose and the latter's son Dr Sugata Bose and my personal conversations with Brigadier Habibur Rahman and Colonel MZ Kiani, both senior officers of the Indian National Army.