Subhash Chandra Bose played a pivotal role in India’s freedom struggle. A great freedom fighter whose leadership skills motivated
men, women and youth across the country, was followed by the mass.

His speech and practices were enough to mobilise
people and are still remembered to date. So, on the occasion of his 125th
birth anniversary, let’s look at his contributions to India’s freedom
movement.

India’s liberation from British rule always
remained a major political goal for Subhash Chandra Bose, who contributed actively
towards India’s political life during the 1930s. It even led to his
imprisonment in 1921-1922. As soon as he
was released from jail, he organised the All-Bengal Young Men’s Conference.

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Bose was also elected twice as the President of the
Indian National Congress during 1938-1939 but later in 1939 he founded his own separate
political party, the All India Forward Bloc and continued to call for the full
and immediate independence of India from British rule.

He was so committed to free his homeland from foreign
rule that he worked really hard before and during the second world war to
strengthen support of Japanese and Germans in freeing India. In July 1943
in Singapore, Bose with the help of the Japanese, mobilised Indian war prisoners and
plantation workers from British Malaya, Singapore, and other Southeast Asian
countries against the British and reorganised the Indian National Army.

Later, he established the Azad Hind Government with
the monetary, political and military support of Japanese while staying in
exile.

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Bose also played a key role in mass mobilisation
and arousing the feeling of independence among people. He was a firm believer
of India’s greatest manpower resource, therefore he demonstrated all Indians to
actively participate in the fight for freedom.

He never differentiated between men and women for
freedom struggle as he always believed women were equal to men, so they should
also be trained to fight and sacrifice for India’s freedom. During the 1920s
and 1930s, he had continuously campaigned to bring women into the freedom
struggle of the nation.

After he returned to Asia in 1943 he invited women
to serve in the Indian National Army. He even started a women’s regiment called
“Rani of Jhansi Regiment” in 1943 with few women, that eventually grew to
1,000 soldiers.

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Bose, along with women, always wanted youth of the
country to join the freedom struggle as he always believed that young people are
idealistic, restless and open to new ideas. He always said that his goal of
India’s liberation can only be fulfilled if younger generation contributes,
which eventually resulted in the formation of the new Youth Leagues during the
1920’s where he motivated youth to join the cause of Indian freedom struggle.