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FULLER PORTRAITS
49 “....it was Netaji's spectacular achievement abroad, of recruiting an army, that had ignited the first spark of revolt in the heart of many a sepoy, a revolt which threatened to assume overnight the proportions of a country-wide conflagration... had not Netaji infected our troops with his dare-devil Delhi-Chalo barrierblasting bugle, our freedom would have been delayed by a
decade at the very least"77
As Dilip Roy noticed, Subhas Chandra was a lover of truth. He always preached that which he himself had practised in his life. Hence, he hated pretentious people. He always appreciated good qualities of others and at the same time, he criticized severely the poses of people. For instance, he appreciated many qualities of the English character: their energy, love of discipline and natural ability to act in concert. At the same time, he abhorred the British people from the bottom of his heart for their imperial ambitions. All through his life he fought against them in one way or the other. His real intention behind going to England was not to pass the I. C. S., but to study the behaviour of the British in their own country. Similarly, he disliked the slave mentality of many Indians who had accepted the British rule naturally and never missed their freedom.
Subhas Chandra was quite independent in his temperament. But from the beginning of his career as a freedom fighter, he was highly inspired by Deshbandhu Chittranjan Das. Subhas Chandra liked his nobility of character very much. He accepted C. R. Das as his chief and joined his 'Swaraj Party'. He was also known as the "right-hand' of C. R. Das. When C. R. Das died in 1925, Subhas Chandra felt a real sense of bereavement and grieved for long. At that time, Subhas Chandra was in the Mandalay Central Jail. Referring to C. R. Das's death, he wrote to Dilip Roy on June 25, 1925:
"You can imagine what dominates my thought today. I believe there is but one thought in all minds now: the death of our great Deshbandhu. When I first read the news in print I could hardly credit my eyes. But alas, the report is cruelly true. Ours is indeed an ill-starred nation..... I will only say that if for the country the loss is irreparable, for the youth of Bengal it is cataclysmic, appalling....I am desolate with a sense of bereavement."78
Dilip Roy also informs the readers that Subhas Chandra was not on good terms with many Indian politicians of his times. Subhas Chnadra was disliked by many for his radical views. Some of his political rivals succeeded in removing him from the presidentship of the Congress in 1939. He could never see eye to eye with Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. According to Roy it was tragic that he had to tread his way all alone.
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