Mr.

Surya Bose’s Address at 70th Anniversary Conference in Tokyo

It is my very great pleasure to stand before you today at this historic event to
commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Greater East Asia Conference. I
am indeed very grateful to the organizers of this meeting for inviting me and
I am delighted to be back in this beautiful and friendly country and to meet
my good friends again. I was here just a few months ago and I was moved
and humbled by the warm reception that was extended to me wherever I
went. I am aware that it had much to do with the deep love and respect that
the Japanese people had and still have for my granduncle Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose.

More than half a century ago in December 1953, the then Foreign Minister
of Japan Mamoru Shigemitsu wrote to my father hailing Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose as the ‘Hero of Asia’. Mr Shigemitsu wrote:

"..... I am extremely pleased to hear the name of Subhas Chandra Bose,

Hero of Asia, whom I can claim as one time good and intimate friend of
mine which I naturally consider a great honour..."

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, or Chandra Bose as he is known here in Japan,

Head of State of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind and the
Supreme Commander of the Indian National Army, was invited as an
"observer" to the Greater East Asia Conference which was held here in
Tokyo on the 5th and 6th of November 1943.

Reflecting on that historic event, Dr Baw Maw of Burma had this to say
about Chandra Bose:

"Netaji joined us at the Greater East Asia conference where he met the
heads of state of China, Manchukuo, Thailand, the Philippines, and Burma.
He was warmly welcomed by all. He was a bold, militant figure in uniform
and carried with him everywhere the aura of his great and tragic country,
and its long struggle to be free and great again. He sat with us only as an
observer, because Free India was still a state without territory, but Prime
Minister Tojo soon rectified this by ceding the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands to the new state.
Tojo did yet another thing. At the final session of the conference which was
held in the presence of a large international gathering he asked me to give
the principal speech which was to be about Netaji and the Indian cause. He
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said he wanted a really good fighting speech for the whole world to hear,
and I promised to do my best. I really tried hard to do it. My central theme
was that Asia or any part of it cannot be truly free unless India is also free.
It went down much better than I had hoped, for it struck the racial chords
that had already been stirred by the conference which was the first
gathering ever to take place of the nations of Asia in a completely Asian
setting.
Netaji replied to my speech in some of the most moving words I have ever
heard. As he went on his voice broke and his eyes became misty. It was
really a poignant, spell-bound moment for all who heard him. Time passes,
great and powerful men in their day come and go, and a few of them, a very
few, leave behind memories which live on and even grow by themselves with
the years. Such men become part of the ultimate story of their people. There
is every reason to believe that Subhas Chandra Bose is among these few
men."

For his part Chandra Bose in his statement to the Press on 19 June 1943 on
his arrival in Japan, had said:

"You may be eager to know the sentiments of Indians towards Japan. Japan
was the first country which prevented the people of an alien continent from
committing aggression in the Asian continent.
For the past twenty centuries India and Japan had been maintaining close
cultural relations. Because of the British rule in India these contacts were
somewhat interrupted. But when India becomes free these ties will again be
strengthened. It is but natural that Indians will cooperate closely with Japan
so that they may live in complete freedom in their country and shape their
national destiny independently.
It should be pointed out in this connection that the statements on India made
by Prime Minister Tojo from March 1942 onwards have gone deep into the
mind of the Indian people and have added strength to the Indian freedom
movement."

We are gathered here today not only to commemorate that historic

Conference which took place here 70 years ago but also to cast our mind
into the future to deliberate on what lessons we can draw from the past and
how we can build on these lessons to create a – “new world order”, for
which Chandra Bose had said so many years ago that we “should once again
turn to the East for light.”
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I would like to recall the words of Chandra Bose at the Greater East Asia
Conference:

"Your Excellency, as I was sitting, listening to the proceedings of this august

Assembly yesterday and to-day, the panorama of the world's history passed
before my mind's eye. My thoughts went back to the many international
congresses and conferences held during the last 100 years and more. My
thoughts also went back to the Assembly of the League of' Nations, that
League of Nations along whose corridors and lobbies I spent many a day,
knocking at one door after another, in the vain attempt to obtain a hearing
for the cause of Indian freedom.
And as I sat listening to the proceedings of this historic Assembly, I began
to wonder what the difference was between this Assembly and similar
assemblies that the world's history has witnessed in bygone days.
Your Excellency, this is not a conference for dividing the spoils among the
conquerors. This is not a conference for hatching a conspiracy to victimize a
weak power, nor is it a conference for trying to defraud a weak neighbour.
This is an Assembly of liberated nations, an Assembly that is out to create a
new order in this part of the world, on the basis of the sacred principles of
justice, national sovereignty, reciprocity in international relations and
mutual aid and assistance. I do not think that it is an accident that this
Assembly has been convened in the Land of the Rising Sun. This is not the
first time that the world has turned to the East for light and guidance.
Attempts to create a new order in the world have been made before and have
been made elsewhere, but they have failed. They have failed because of the
selfishness, avarice, and suspicion in those who had to play a leading role in
the creation of a new order. It is, therefore, in the fitness of things and in
conformity with historic precedent that the world should once again turn to
the East for light."

I would like to relate an interesting anecdote here: Soon after his arrival in
Tokyo, Chandra Bose met a number of Japanese Generals and Foreign
Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu. Prime Minister Tojo however did not meet
with him straightaway and perhaps wanted to keep him waiting for a while.
But the all powerful Mitsuro Toyama, the leader of the Black Dragon
Society, intervened and Tojo met Chandra Bose without further delay. We
know Prime Minister Tojo was deeply impressed by him, and soon after, in
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the presence of Chandra Bose, in the Imperial Diet, promised full support to
the Indian Independence struggle.

When Chandra Bose came to South East Asia in early 1943 to take over the
leadership of India's revolutionary army, namely the Indian National Army,
he was already established as a foremost left-wing leader in the Congress
movement in India. His vision extended far beyond the struggle for Indian
independence. He had clear plans for Free India, where he wanted his people
to be free from 'not only political bondage but also economic and social
bondage'.

In 1938 as the unanimously elected President of the Congress, which was

held in Haripura, Bose advocated economic planning on socialist lines,
Hindusthani (a mixture of Hindi and Urdu, spoken among the common
people) in Roman script as the official language of India, fundamental rights,
secularism, family planning and several other key issues. He introduced for
the first time the concept of planning and setup a Planning Commission,
which is today an integral part of the government of India.

The Planning Commission published a book, dedicated to Subhas Bose,

called "Pioneer of Indian Planning" in his centenary year in 1997. In that
book the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission acknowledged that
most of his ideas were relevant in India of the present and a major part had
yet to be translated to reality. This shows very clearly his far-sightedness and
vision in the very midst of the independence struggle.

In 1939 Bose suspected that the Gandhi-Wing of the Congress was intending
to compromise on the issue of Indian independence, and so he decided to
contest the Congress Presidential election for a second term. He defeated
Gandhi's candidate Pattabhi Sitaramaya. After the election when the results
were out, Gandhi issued a statement "Pattabhi's defeat is my defeat. But
after all Subhasbabu is not an enemy of the country".

The right-wing of the Congress, assisted by Nehru, was not to give up and
compelled Bose to resign from the Congress Presidentship. Bose then
formed the Forward Bloc and established the Left Consolidation Committee
comprising all the Left political parties in India.

When Chandra Bose setup the Provisional Government of Free India on 21st
October 1943 in Singapore, he put into practice many of the proposals that
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he had himself made as President of the Congress. He was able to establish
complete unity among the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs in the Indian National
Army (INA) and also in the Indian Independence League. Hindus, Muslims
and Sikhs in the Indian National Army had one common kitchen as
distinguished from the separate kitchens in the British Indian Army and -
you will be surprised to know - there are separate kitchens in the Indian
Army even today!

When Bose was in Rangoon he was invited to a Hindu Temple to receive a

donation from the trustees of that temple. He made a point by going there
accompanied by his Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian officers of the INA.
By his own example, Bose was able to unify the different sections of Indians
irrespective of religion, caste or creed. The application form for the INA did
not have any provision for religion or caste.

It is quite remarkable that more than seven decades ago, Bose also brought
women into the mainstream of the Indian freedom struggle and gave them
equal status with their male comrades. He felt very strongly that no nation
could achieve complete freedom until women were given equal rights.

He also introduced Hindusthani as the lingua franca of the Provisional

Government and "Jai Hind" became the common greeting.

Coming back to the Greater East Asia Conference, I would like to again
extract some parts of Chandra Bose's speech, which still has relevance in the
world of today - and I can do no better than let him speak:

"As your Excellencies are well aware, from the earliest times, universalism
has been a marked feature of Indian thought and culture. In the earliest days,
through Buddhism and all the culture centered around Buddhism, India
stretched out her hands to the whole of Asia.....
Your Excellency, may I humbly point out that the establishment of a Greater
East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, is of interest, of vital interest, not only to
the people of East Asia but, if I may say so, to the people of the whole of
Asia and to mankind in general. .....
I pray that Nippon's role in the creation of a new and free Asia may be fully
and finally consummated. In conclusion, I may assure Your Excellency, that
if you and your distinguished colleagues succeed in this mission, as I hope, I
trust, and I believe, you will - your names will go down in history not merely
as the makers of a new Nippon, not merely as the makers of a new East Asia,
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not only as the makers of a new Asia, but as the makers and architects of a
new world"

India and Japan have come closer since those stirring words of Chandra
Bose. India is greatly indebted to Japan for the whole hearted support that
Japan gave Chandra Bose and the Provisional Government of Free India.
The INA with the support of the Japanese forces had entered the sacred soil
of India and had raised the Indian Tri-colour in Moirang in the north-east of
the country. But the onset of early monsoons coupled with superior airpower
of the Allied forces led to the defeat of the INA and the Japanese forces on
the Imphal front.

The INA officers and soldiers were taken as prisoners of war to India by the
British authorities and put on trial. This raised fundamental questions in the
minds of the people - where did their loyalty lie - with the foreign rulers or
the patriots - the men and women of the INA who had been fighting for their
freedom ? The British Indian Army, the Airforce and the British Indian
Navy rose in revolt. General Auchinleck informed the Secretary of State for
India and the Viceroy that the sympathies of the Indian officers and soldiers
in the British Indian Armed forces were on the side of Bose and his INA,
and hence could not be relied upon to suppress a possible Indian revolution.
Subhas Chandra Bose certainly lost in battle but he won the war for Indian
independence.

It is most heartening to see that Japan and India have come much closer over
the years and Indo-Japanese understanding in the field of economic
cooperation, science, technology as well as culture, have matured into
lasting and strategic partnerships. Japan has been, and still is, a source of
inspiration to Indians from all walks of life. The Prime Ministers of India
and Japan have defined a new framework for bilateral relationship which
would lead to closer ties between the two countries. We now live in a
connected world and hence close cooperation between Japanese and Indian
industries would contribute to their global success.

I would like to conclude by reading the last few lines from a letter written by
Colonel Yamamoto to my father in 1957:

"....I know that his (Chandra Bose) way was nothing but for the unity of Asia
and the peace of the world. May his spirit guide us as the apostle of peace"