🇮🇳“He Deserved More Credit”: The Untold Saga of Netaji and the INA

History often reserves its glory for a chosen few, repeating their stories until they become legend. Yet, some heroes—despite reshaping the destiny of a nation—remain pushed to the margins of our collective memory. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is one such hero, a man whose courage shook an empire but whose legacy still waits for the recognition it deserves.

In the vast canvas of India’s freedom struggle, Bose’s path was unlike any other. He didn’t believe in politely requesting liberty. He believed in demanding it—fearlessly, and if necessary, by force. His journey was one of vision, defiance, and strategy, crossing borders and ideologies to create one of the most formidable armed movements in India’s history.

From Rebel Politician to Revolutionary Commander

Subhas Chandra Bose was once a rising star in the Indian National Congress, even serving as its president. But his impatience with the Congress leadership’s cautious approach put him at odds with figures like Mahatma Gandhi. Bose wanted swift, decisive action against the British Raj—something he knew would not come from petitions or peaceful protests alone.

Frustrated yet unbroken, he formed the Forward Bloc in 1939 to unite anti-British forces under a more radical vision. When the Second World War broke out, he saw a strategic opening—an opportunity to use Britain’s vulnerabilities to India’s advantage.

Escape, Alliances and the Birth of the INA

In 1941, under British surveillance in India, Bose staged a daring escape from Calcutta. Disguised and moving across hostile territories, he reached Germany, where he sought Axis support for India’s liberation. But it was in Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia that his mission found its true momentum.

Taking over the reins of the Indian National Army (INA) from Rash Behari Bose in 1943, Netaji transformed it into a disciplined, motivated fighting force. His call—“Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom”—was not empty rhetoric. It was a binding oath that inspired thousands of Indian expatriates, prisoners of war, and civilians to join his cause.

The INA’s March and the Trials of Loyalty

Under Netaji’s command, the INA fought alongside Japanese forces, advancing through Burma and even reaching the borders of India in Manipur and Nagaland. The battles of Imphal and Kohima became fierce tests of endurance. Despite incredible bravery, the INA faced crushing logistical shortages, disease, and the sheer weight of the Allied war machine.

Some within the ranks faced the moral dilemma of siding with Axis powers, and after Japan’s defeat in 1945, betrayal by circumstance became inevitable. The INA surrendered—but their fight was far from meaningless.

The Trial That Shook British Rule

The British decided to try captured INA officers at the Red Fort in 1945, hoping to discredit the movement. Instead, the trials ignited a firestorm of public outrage across India. Leaders from all political factions, including those who had once disagreed with Bose, rallied behind the INA soldiers.
It became clear to the British that their moral authority in India was crumbling. The INA, though defeated militarily, had struck a psychological blow from which the Empire would not recover.

Legacy and the Unfinished Recognition

Today, Bose is remembered in fragments—his portraits in Parliament, his slogans in speeches, his name on streets and institutions. But his full story—of courage, exile, alliances, and battlefield leadership—still lacks the space it deserves in our mainstream history.

Netaji did not live to see India’s tricolour rise over the Red Fort. His mysterious death in 1945 remains unresolved, wrapped in controversy and speculation. Yet his spirit, and that of the INA, left an imprint so deep that even the British military acknowledged their role in hastening the end of colonial rule.

This Independence Day, remembering Netaji is not just about honouring a leader. It is about reclaiming a chapter of our history that refuses to fade—no matter how long it has been kept in the shadows.