8 Facts About The Forgotten Freedom Hero Of India – Rashbehari Bose

Today is the death anniversary of one of the lesser known freedom fighters of the country whose contributions to the struggle has been magnanimous. Rashbehari Bose, a revolutionary from Bengal was one brave son of a gun to have ever played on the soil of India. May the country never forget the heroic deeds of this brave son.

1.  Rashbehari was inspired by the French Revolution of 1789

At a very young age,  he had his mind preoccupied with ideas of revolution which were only fueled by the revolutionary novel called Ananda Math (The Abbey of Bliss) by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhay, a novelist from Bengal. His passion for revolution were furthered deepened by nationlistic speeches by Swami Vivekanand and Surendranath Banerjee and and his teacher, Charu Chand, moulded his mind with revolutionary ideas during Bose’s days of growing up in Chandannagar.
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2. It all started with the Alipore Bomb Case

Rashbehari, like any other Bengali, was deeply angered by the partition of Bengal. Grouped with revolutionary organisations like Yugantar, Rashbehari Bose contributed with his skills of preparing bombs to the mission of bombing Magistrate Kingsford. The two bombers, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki missed Kingsford, killed two British women instead and were hanged to death after the Alipore Bomb case trial of 1908. Rashbehari managed to escape Bengal for Dehradun met fellow revolutionaries of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
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3. The Delhi Conspiracy Case

In 1912, Rashbehari headed the plan of bombing the Viceroy of India at that time, Lord Hardinge. Although, it was yet another failed attempt, the incident shook down the British Raj to its roots. The British made every effort to pacify revolutionary activities of Punjabis and Bengalis as an aftermath of the attack and Rashbehari managed to escape once again. For the next three years, Rashbehari was seen as an active member of the Ghadar Movement.
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4. Rashbehari and the Ghadar Movement

It was a party founded by the Punjabis in U.S and Canada with a strong dream of a an independent India. By 1914, not only the Indians settled in America and Canada were coming back to India to join in the freedom struggle, but they were also bringing ammunition with them. The leadership of the revolution was entrusted with Rashbehari Bose who had planned for a an uprising against the British officers on February 21, 1915. However, the intelligence was leaked out and the plan had to be scrapped. Rashbehari, eventually left for Japan where a new chapter of his revolutions began.
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5. Rashbehari Bose and the Black Dragon Society

The Black Dragon Society was one of the most notoriously extremist group in Japan that was founded in 1901. Dr. San Yat-sen, the father of the Republic of China introduced Bose to the formidable leader chief of the Black Diamond Society, Toyama Mitsuru. Since Rashbehari believed in violent means to attain freedom just like the Black Dragon Society, the match in ideals led the Society to help Bose with protection during his refuge in Japan while he acquainted the Japanese extremists with the issues faced by the Indians back home.
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6. Persuaded Japanese authorities to support India

Rashbehari moved to Japan pretending to be a distant relative of Rabindranath Tagore. He married a Japanese woman, worked as a journalist and had a Japanese citizenship by 1923. He, along with A.M Nair, persuaded the Japanese authorities to support the Indian freedom movement outside India. It was during the conference in Tokyo held between 28th to 30th March, 1942, convened by Bose that the decision of establishing the Indian Independence League was taken.
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7. He handed over the leadership of Azand Hind Fauj to Subhash Chandra Bose

The second conference of the Indian Independence League in 1942 concluded with the decision of inviting Subhash Chandra Bose to the league. At the time of friction between Mahatma Gandhi and Subhash Chandra Bose, Rashbehari handed over the Azand Hind Fauj flag to Bose. Rashbehari was not in power anymore but it was his organisational structure which formed as the basis of the Indian National Army or the Azad Hind Fauj led by Subhash Chandra Bose.
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8. Rashbehari – a favourite in Japan

Established in 1875 by Japanese emperor, Meiji, Rashbehari Bose was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government. He was married to a daughter of restaurant owner in Tokyo where he introduced the famous Indian Curry in Japan which is still a delicacy in the country. The restaurant was called Nakamuraya and his famous recipe of the Indian curry earned him then nickname, “Bose of Nakamuraya”.
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It was on this day, 71 years ago, Bose took his last breath.

A fearless patriot who never never let the fire die down, Rashbehari Bose’s contribution to the Indian freedom movement was complex but crucial.

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