Azad Hind Formation Anniversary

• The Azad Hind Fauj was initiated during World War II to secure complete Indian independence from British rule.
• Every year on 21 October, the anniversary of the formation of Azad Hind Government is celebrated across the country.
• First established in 1942 by Mohan Singh, Azad Hind Fauj or the Indian National Army (INA) was revived by Subhas Chandra Bose on 21 October 1943.
• Countries including Japan, Croatia, Indonesia, Germany, Italy, and Burma along with a few others had given recognition to the Azad Hind Government.

About Subhas Chandra Bose

• Bose was born on 23 January 1897 in Cuttack (part of Bengal Province’s Orissa division during that time).
• He completed his school education and studied at Presidency College for a short time.
• Later he went on to study philosophy from Scottish Church College, University of Calcutta, and then shifted to Britain for higher studies.
• As he was a brilliant student, Bose qualified the prestigious Indian Civil Services Examination (ICS). But, Bose soon quit as he did not want to work under the British government. He played an important role in India’s independence struggle.
• As Bose was not interested in working with the Britishers, he joined the Independence movement and became a member of the Congress party.
• Despite working with leading personalities like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawahar Lal Nehru, Bose had major ideological differences.
• Being a radical leader in Congress, Bose became the President of the party in 1938.
• He was later ousted after having differences in opinion with Gandhi and the party’s high command.
• Bose wanted to wage war against our colonial rulers as he differed from Gandhi’s methods of non-violence.
• Captain-General Mohan Singh was the first to establish the Azad Hind Fauj in 1942 in Singapore with Indian prisoners of war of the British Indian army, but it later got disbanded. Bose with the help of Indians living in Southeast Asia, formed the INA again and proudly took charge of it.
• In 1944, his fauj clashed with the British forces around Kohima and Imphal. Britain’s struggle to repel Japan during World War II and Netaji-led INA’s combined force was declared to be the ‘greatest ever battle involving British forces in a contest by the National Army Museum situated in London.

Slogans by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose 

• “Jai Hind “
• “Give me blood, I will give you freedom”
• “Freedom is not given – it is taken.”
• “It is our duty to pay for our liberty with our own blood. The freedom that we shall win through our sacrifice and exertions, we shall be able to preserve with our own strength.”
• “One individual may die but that idea will, after his earth, incarnate itself in a thousand lives.”
• “Soldiers who always remain faithful to their nation, who are always prepared to sacrifice their lives, are invincible.”