‘First Prime Minister of India’ – this is how Indian netizens fondly remember India’s ‘immortal’ freedom fighter ‘Netaji’ Subhas Chandra Bose in the present day. Subhas Chandra Bose – a name synonymous with courage, with bravery, with integrity, with self-confidence and with self-respect; a name which is an integral part in the history of India.
Birth
Born on 23rd January 1897 in Cuttack (formerly part of the Bengal Presidency in British India and currently part of Odisha, India) to advocate Janakinath Bose and Prabhavati Devi, Subhas Chandra Bose played a crucial role in mobilising India’s youth against the British.
Azad Hind Fauj (INA)
His Indian National Army (INA) or Azad Hind Fauj played a major role in inspiring thousands of Indian youths to join the struggle for independence from the British colonial rule. The fire of “azaadi” or freedom which he ignited eventually became the funeral pyre of the British Empire in India. Bose is a name without which the history of India’s freedom struggle cannot be written.
Give me blood and I will give you freedom
“Give me blood and I will give you freedom!” His clarion call led to mass mobilisation among India’s youth instilling the need for independence among them, igniting the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of Indians. His words and slogans like “Jai Hind” continue to inspire Indians even today.
Netaji Subhas is alive and immortal in the hearts of millions of Indians who revere this son of Indian soil and worship his ideas even today. In 1942, Bose was bestowed on the title of “Netaji” (which means Respected Leader in Hindi) by Indian soldiers and German and Indian officials at the Special Bureau of India in Berlin during his stay in Germany.
Parakram Diwas
23rd January, the birth anniversary of ‘Netaji’ Subhas is observed as ‘Parakram Diwas’ or ‘Courage Day’ across India. On his birth anniversary this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on social media, “Today, on Parakram Diwas, I pay homage to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and recall his unparalleled contribution to India’s history. He will be remembered for his fierce resistance to colonial rule. Deeply influenced by his thoughts, we are working to realise his vision for India.”
On the occasion of the 127th birth anniversary of this great Indian leader, we remember a few of his inspirational quotes.
Quotes by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
“Freedom is not given, it is taken.”
“Give me blood, and I will give you freedom.”
“No real change in history has ever been achieved by discussions.”
“We must fight if we want to live.”
“It is not necessary to wait for the permission of others to secure our rights.”
“One individual may die for an idea, but that idea will, after his death, incarnate itself in a thousand lives.”
“The true source of rights is duty. If we all discharge our duties, rights will not be far to seek.”
“We must have the courage to dare and endure.”
“Life loses half its interest if there is no struggle — if there are no risks to be taken.”
“Victory or defeat is not important, but the fight itself is everything.”
“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.”
