Remembering heroes of Indian freedom struggle: Rash Behari Bose

New Delhi: The master of disguise, the great revolutionary Rash Behari Bose was born on May 25, 1886 in Burdwan district of West Bengal.He was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar (insurrection) conspiracy and later, the Indian National Army (later Azad Hind Fauj). Rash Behari Bose was initially educated at Subaldaha under the supervision of his grandfather, Kalicharan, and later in Dupleix College at Chandernagore. At the time Chandernagore was under French rule. Thus, Rash Behari was influenced both by British and French cultures. The French Revolution of 1789 had a deep impact on Rash Behari. Rash Behari Bose did not get a chance to complete college because his uncle got him a job at Fort Williams. From there he was transferred to the Government press in Shimla on his father's wish. The partition of Bengal in 1905 and the events that followed in its wake drew Rash Behari Bose headlong into revolutionary activities. Rash Behari concluded that the British rulers would not yield without revolutionary action on the part of the patriots. He started gearing up his revolutionary activities under the guidance of Jatin Banerjee, an eminent revolutionary leader. Rash Behari Bose suddenly came in to prominence after 23rd December 1912 when bombs were thrown at Lord Hardinge, the then Viceroy of India. The planning for it was ingenious. At a conclave in Chandan Nagar, the suggestion for an attack on Lord Hardinge emanated from Shreesh Ghosh, a daredevil friend of Rash Behari. Though Lord Hardinge escaped death, Rash Behari's efforts continued unabated. Actually, it was a larger area of operation, a sort of an all India revolution concentrating mainly on various cantonments. Rash Behari Bose left Calcutta on May 12, 1915. He went to Japan as Raja P.N.T. Tagore, a distant relative of Rabindranath Tagore. Some historians say that Rabindranath Tagore was aware of this impersonation. Between 1915 and 1918, Rash Behari lived almost like a fugitive, changing his residence 17 times. During this period he met Herambalal Gupta and Bhagwan Singh of the Ghadar Party. Rash Behari ended his hide and seek by becoming a Japanese citizen. He married Tosiko, daughter of the Soma family who were sympathetic toward Rash Behari's efforts. The couple had two children, a boy, Masahide, and a girl, Tetaku. Tosiko died in March 1928 at the age of 28. Following a conference held in Tokyo on 28th March 1942, it was decided to establish the Indian Independence League. After a few days it was decided to make Subhash Chandra Bose as its president. The Indian prisoners that were captured by the Japanese in Malaya and Burma were encouraged to join the Indian Independence League and the Indian National Army. It was the efforts of Rash Behari, along with Captain Mohan Singh and Sardar Pritam Singh, due to which Indian National Army came into existence on September 1, 1942. It was also known as Azad Hind Fauz. It was on 21st January 1945 that Rash Bihari Bose died in Tokyo before the end of World War II. The Japanese government honoured him with the highest title given to a foreigner - The Second Order of Merit of the Rising Sun.Read More......Remembering India's first war of Independence: Revolt of 1857Remembering heroes of Indian Independence: Frontier GandhiRemembering India's freedom fighters: Lala Lajpat RaiUnsung heroes of Indian independence: Know more about Udham SinghKnow more about Khudiram Bose the unsung hero of Indian IndependenceRemembering India's freedom fighters: Shaheed Bhagat SinghRemembering heroes of Indian Independence: Subhash Chandra BoseUnsung heroes of India's freedom movement: Ram Prasad Bismil