Bose, Subhash Chandra

(1896–1945) Bengali politician and freedom fighter. Before World War II, Bose
had unsuccessfully contested with
Mohandas K. Gandhi for the leadership
of the Congress Party. Bose was more
impatient than Gandhi for the British to
leave, and he was more willing to expel
them by force. During World War II, Bose
used Japanese patronage to form the
Indian National Army (INA), whose
objective was to expel the British from
India by armed force. Starting in
Singapore the INA marched 5,000 miles
through Southeast Asia, but they were
ultimately defeated by the British army
at the city of Kohima in eastern India.
Although there is eyewitness testimony
that Bose died from burns stemming
from a plane crash in the final days of
the Pacific war, even today many
Bengalis believe that he is still alive and
living incognito.