Author: Dr. Shyamal Das
DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.70798/Bijmrd/02090024
ABSTRACT: Nationalism in colonial India emerged under conditions of political subjugation, economic extraction, and cultural domination imposed by British imperial rule. Within this contested landscape, Subhas Chandra Bose articulated a distinctive nationalist vision that departed from constitutional gradualism and moral persuasion, emphasising instead revolutionary action, mass mobilisation, and institutional preparedness. Shaped by Bengal’s radical political culture and the global crisis of empire during the inter-war period and the Second World War, Bose conceived nationalism as a project of national regeneration rooted in historical memory, psychological awakening, discipline, and sacrifice.
Subhas Chandra Bose was not a systematic political philosopher; his ideas evolved through intense political engagement and organisational struggle. His writings and speeches reveal an “all-absorbing nationalism” in which freedom functioned as the precondition for cultural dignity, political sovereignty, and social transformation. The Indian National Army and the Provisional Government of Azad Hind represented the most developed expression of this vision, translating nationalist ideology into concrete forms of statehood, military authority, and international diplomacy. Emphasis on Swadeshi, secular unity, and labour mobilisation further distinguished Bose’s approach from both colonial and communal frameworks. Subhas Chandra Bose’s nationalism thus combined ideological imagination with institutional practice, seeking not merely the end of empire but the reconstruction of national self-confidence and sovereign political power.
Keywords: Subhas Chandra Bose; Indian Nationalism; Indian National Army; Azad Hind Government; Swadeshi; Anti-Imperialism; Mass Mobilisation; Political Psychology.
Page No: 207-213