Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The First Prime Minister and Supreme Commander of Free India (Azad Hind)

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is India's tallest leader in modern times. As the Supreme Commander, he formed and led the anti-imperial Indian National Army (INA or Azad Hind Fauj) for India's liberation from the British rule. The propaganda effect of INA was tremendous; it caused serious damage to the backbone of British Raj by generating disaffection and rebellion in the British Indian Army and thereby forcing the British to leave India in a hurry in 1947. This was acknowledged by none other than the British PM Clement Attlee who oversaw the Transfer of Power to India in August 1947. The same Clement Attlee disdainfully described Mahatma Gandhi's impact on the British decision to leave India in one word: "minimal."

The Provisional Government of Free India or the Azad Hind government was established in October 1943 by Netaji Subhas Bose, who headed the Government. It was recognized by a dozen countries, had its own federal bank, currency and army. Hence in effect, Netaji was the first Prime Minister of modern India.

Subhas Bose had rebelled against the slow, long-drawn and inconclusive Gandhian methods to attain India's freedom, resulting in him having to resign not only the post of the President of Congress party but the party itself and starting his own political outfit to be followed by the military outfit outside India.

Because India's modern history has been written Gandhian and Nehruvian scholars, the contribution of Subhas Chandra Bose and INA has been purposely sidelined in official narratives. Richard Attenborough, who made the Oscar winning epic movie 'Gandhi', did not show Subhas Bose even in a single scene because the movie was funded in part by Government of India, under Indira Gandhi, the daughter of Jawahar Lal Nehru.

The INA was one of the first modern armies in the world to have an all women combat unit named "Rani (Queen) of Jhansi Regiment."



Swami Vivekananda was an inspiration to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

The slogan "Jai Hind" was coined at Netaji's behest and he was instrumental in popularizing it.

Music in this video is A R Rahman's adaption of INA war songs from the 2005 movie "Bose: The forgotten Hero."