Subhas Chandra Bose was an assertive nationalist who believed in taking aggressive steps to gain independence. He entered politics at the age of twenty-four. Although he was not a great supporter of the Gandhian ideology, he actively participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement. Subhas Chandra Bose formed the Forward Bloc and announced that the party would work within Congress.
Aims and Objectives of the Forward Bloc
- Bose formed the Forward Bloc and announced that the party would work within Congress. However, the Congress Working Committee passed a resolution by which he was disqualified to be a member of any Congress Committee for three years.
- The immediate objective of the Forward Bloc was to liberate India with the help and support of the workers, peasants, youth, and all the other radical organizations.
- It was laid down that after attaining independence, the party would work for establishing a socialist society in the country by adopting some measures.
Measures adopted by the Forward Bloc
- Abolishing the zamindari system
- Making the right to work the fundamental right of citizens
- Providing several medical and economic benefits to workers
- Introducing a new monetary and credit system.
Arrest of Subhas Chandra Bose
- Bose was arrested by the government because of his radical ideas and for propagating anti-government feelings among the masses.
- While being in prison, he went on a hunger strike. On the seventh day of his fast, the government released him and put him under house arrest at Kolkata.
- In January 1941, he managed to escape house arrest by dressing in disguise. He crossed the Indian border and reached Russia via Afghanistan. He then flew from Moscow to Berlin in March 1941. There he met Adolf Hitler and expressed his desire to free India from British rule.
- From Berlin, he ran propaganda against British rule in India. A Free India Centre was set up in Berlin in November 1941. He also became the Editor-in-Chief of the English monthly Azad Hind.
- Bose also founded a Free India Centre in Rome.
Also, Read The First War of Independence, 1857