Subhash Chandra Bose reached India by plane and hoisted the flag:
Netaji reached Port Blair as PM on December 1943, read the full story
Subhas Chandra Bose was imprisoned in the Presidency Jail in Calcutta. When his health deteriorated, he was sent home under the supervision of 14 spies. 16-17 January 1941, the time was around 1:30 in the night. Netaji disguised himself as a Muslim and Wanderer escaped in the car.
After that he returned to India only once. That day was 29 December 1943 and the place was Port Blair. Subhash was now the Prime Minister of the Azad Hind government. The next day, i.e. on 30 December, he unfurled the flag at Port Blair. This was the first time that an Indian had hoisted the flag as the Prime Minister on the land of India that was taken from the British.
'That's why I will tell in detail the interesting story of reaching Andaman, but before that go through these 4 scenes...
Subhas Chandra Bose addressed the soldiers of Azad Hind Fauj, ie INA, as Supreme Commander, at Padang near the present Connaught Drive in Singapore. They declare that the INA will be on Indian soil by the end of 1943. Exactly a month earlier, on July 5, Bose had informed the world about the presence of the INA. Then he had said, the purpose of INA is - let's go to Delhi.
Scene 2: Date 21 October 1943
In Singapore, Subhash Chandra Bose announced the formation of the Provisional Government of Free India PGFI, ie Arji Hukumat-e-Azad Hind, i.e. Azad Hind Government. The picture seen above is from that spot. There were 11 ministers in the government and 8 representatives of the INA. Subhash himself was the head of state, prime minister and minister of war. This government was recognized by Japan, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Burma, Thailand, the Philippines, Manchuria and China (Bang Jingwei's government).
Scene 3: Date 6 November 1943
Japan's PM Hideki Tojo announced the handover of Andaman-Nicobar to the Azad Hind government on the last day of the conference of Greater East Asia, ie Japanese-influenced countries, in Tokyo. Japan won these islands from Britain in 1942. The picture seen above is from the same conference. Right in the middle is the PM of Japan and on the far right is Subhash Chandra Bose.
In the conference, Bose announced...
"Just as political prisoners were freed in the French Revolution by liberating the Bastille in Paris first, in the freedom struggle of India, the Andaman will be the first to be freed, where our patriots were tortured."
(This was the time in World War II when America and its allies had started attacks on the Philippines, New Guiana and Malaya to attack Japan.)
Scene 4: Date 30 December 1943
On 29 December 1943, a Japanese army plane landed at the Port Blair airstrip. The President of the Azad Hind Government and Prime Minister Subhash Chandra Bose, Secretary with Minister Rank Anand Mohan Sahai, ADC Captain Rawat and Bose's doctor Col DS Raju disembark from the aircraft.
In the Governor of Azad Hind Government in Andaman. He was received by J. Arcot Doraiswami Loganandan and the Japanese Admiral of Port Blair. The picture above is from that time. The next day on 30 December, Bose unfurled his national flag at the Gymkhana Ground in Port Blair. In this way he had fulfilled the promise to deliver the INA to Indian soil by the end of 1943.
Where Netaji unfurled the flag, today the 150 feet high tricolor flutters with pride.
Today I am standing near the same Andaman Club and Gymkhana Ground, where Netaji had hoisted his flag for the first time. On 30 December 2018, its location was changed to Ross Island, near the sea. Here the 150 feet high tricolor is waving in the sky carrying the memories of Netaji. Some black and white photographs of that time are also present here.
Now this place has turned into a tourist spot. Every evening hundreds of tourists come here. On August 15 and January 26, those people are also honored here, who have done better work in one or the other field.
The name of the airport where Netaji landed in Andaman is Veer Savarkar Airport. At that time it was Port Blair Airport and used to be just an airstrip. Now it is undergoing a transformation. This international airport will be ready by July next year.
Historian Gauri Shankar Pandey has been a witness to that moment. They tell that when Bose reached here, the slogans of Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai were resonating all around. There was a festive atmosphere, cultural programs were taking place. 10 thousand rupees from the Indian Independence League and 5 thousand rupees from the women side and jewelery was received by Netaji as a gift for the war.
From here Netaji went to the Cellular Jail, but the Japanese soldiers cleverly showed him only empty bars. They could not see the revolutionaries who had been taken prisoner by the Japanese and committed various atrocities. Former IIL chairman Diwan Singh and his associates were tortured by the Japanese soldiers until they lost their lives. Saying this, Gauri Shankar pauses for a while, his eyes become moist.
Hanging house - three people were hanged together
Kalapani… you must have heard the name. Cellular Jail The place where revolutionaries were punished. Here as soon as I reach near the gallows house, I feel strange. The mind becomes heavy. The large and round iron rings still tell the pain where the revolutionaries were hanged. Here three people were hanged together.
Not only this, the revolutionaries who were in jail were subjected to severe torture. For example, extracting oil from the crusher, making rope, crushing coconut peels. Every day he had to extract 30 pounds of coconut oil and 10 pounds of mustard oil. If the work was not completed on time, then punishment was certain. Such a punishment that many revolutionaries also lost their lives. Many lost their composure. Its witnesses are these buildings, iron bars and dark chambers.
Now know about these 3 pictures also
Let us now know that interesting anecdote of Netaji reaching Andaman in Muslim form...
7 September 1940, 4 pm. Hitler's 965 German planes started bombing London. Here Subhas Chandra Bose was imprisoned in the Presidency Jail of Calcutta. He was arrested on 2 July 1940 on charges of treason. On 29 November, Bose started a hunger strike in the jail. Gradually his health started deteriorating.
John Herbert, the governor of Bengal, felt that now Subhash should be sent to his house. When he recovers, he will be arrested again, so that he will not be accused that Subhash died in the custody of the British government.
On 5 December Herbert sent Bose to his home. Address Calcutta's Elgin Road, House No. 38/2, where 14 spies were monitoring day and night. In the afternoon of the same day, Subhash called his nephew Shishir. He asked Shishir - will you do one thing for me? Shishir realized Subhash's intention that he wanted to escape from jail.
After this a new strategy was formed. Shishir went to the market and got some visiting cards printed. Those cards read- Mohammad Ziauddin, BA LLB, Traveling Inspector, The Empire of India Assurance Company Limited, Permanent Address- Civil Lines, Jabalpur. Shishir has mentioned this in his book The Great Escape.
About a month and a half later. Date 16-17 January 1941, the time is around 1:30 in the night.
Subhash disguised himself as a Muslim and got into a German Wonderer car with his nephew. The next morning, both of them traveled about 275 km from there. Reach Dhanbad far away. He hid here all day and waited for the night to come. As the evening fell, Subhash left for Gomo. Reached Gomo within an hour.
After this he caught the train to Delhi from here. After that they reached Peshawar from there. There he took the form of a deaf and dumb Pathan, because he did not know the local language Pashto. After this he reached Kabul on the morning of 31 January 1941 from Peshawar. Netaji first reached Moscow and then Germany via Samarkand through the German and Italian embassies here.
The story of Subhash Chandra Bose reaching Japan from Germany is also a film. They were first brought by a German submarine to the Sea of Madagascar, close to East Africa. There he was dangerously transferred to a Japanese submarine in the middle of the sea. In the above picture, Subhash is seen in glasses with the crew of the same submarine on the far left. The picture is from 28 April 1943.
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