 Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations present the Pacific story. In the mounting fury of world conflict, events in the Pacific are taking on ever greater importance. Here is the story of the Pacific and the millions of people who live around this greatest sea. The drama of the people's whose destiny is at stake in the Pacific War. Here, as another public service, is the tale of the war in the Pacific and its meaning to us and to the generations to come. BOSA. THE INDIAN QUESLING Working hand in glove with the Japanese behind the guns of Singapore, is Subhas Chandra Bosa, head of the Japanese-sponsored free Indian government. The key to his character is his hatred of the British, which goes back to his childhood and youth. You are Subhas Chandra Bosa? Yes, sir. You have an extraordinary record of brilliance as a student here at Calcutta University, Mr. Bosa. Thank you, sir. I regret that you have become involved in the unpleasant events of the past few days. I have a complete report on the student strike here before me. Do you have a report of the incident that precipitated the student strike? Mr. Bosa, as master, I must be the judge of this matter. Are the merits of the incident to be considered? I have called you in, Mr. Bosa, because of your part in the student strike. Does your report say that the student strike was caused by the manhandling of some of the students? The pointed question at this moment, Mr. Bosa, is your part in the student strike? Have you evidence that I was involved? Mr. Bosa, I will not tolerate you cross-examining me. I have summoned you here to discuss your part in the student strike. Yes, sir. Were you one of the leaders? One of the organisers? If you wish to discuss the merits of the incident, I shall... Mr. Bosa, I had hoped that I might avoid this. But now I must tell you that you are expelled from Calcutta University. Expelled? I regret that you can no longer be considered a student in this institution. Mr. Bosa was 19 when this happened. As a high-caste Hindu, the son of a well-to-do lawyer, he'd been well brought up. But for years he'd been bewildered by the attitude of the Europeans toward him, an Indian. He chafed under these relationships. Now he was in open rebellion. He went to talk with the distinguished attorney, C. R. Das. You know about the O incident as well as I do, Mr. Das. Yes, of course. We have been treated this way for years. It was the same way at the Protestant European School in Cuttack. How can a young Indian have anything but a feeling of inferiority at the way he's treated? Favor is shown to the Europeans, whatever their colour. But we Indians are discriminated against. Do birth and breeding and intelligence count for nothing? They count for a great deal, Subhas. Then why must we go on being treated this way? It was no better in Ravenshaw Collegiate School. I knew English as well as the English themselves. But the headmaster and the European students ridiculed the way I spoke Bengali. You ultimately won honors in Bengali. Did you not, Subhas? Yes. But why did they ridicule me while I was learning? They have no regard for Indians in school or outside of school. Anywhere. They are rude. They lack manners. And when we Indians have remonstrated as we did in the O incident, we are not dealt with with understanding and patience. We are dealt with as as summarily as if we were criminals. Subhas, I know so well what you have gone through. Many of us have gone through the same experiences. Can nothing be done about it? Yes, something can be done about it. We must do it. We Indians. We must do it for ourselves. Then let us do something. The time is not yet right for you. You mean I should finish my education? Yes, you must. Well, this seems hardly the thing for me to do. You must go back to school. You must finish. My confidence in you, Mr. Das, primes over. It does not seem right to me yet. If you say it must be, then I know it must be. Go to England and there you will gain a deeper understanding. From this time on, C.R. Das had an inspiring influence on Bosa's career. Bosa went to Scottish Church College in England. From there he went to Cambridge. He became known for his brilliance. Isn't Subhas Bosa there handsome? Look at him there. Not only handsome, he is one of the most intelligent students here. Yes, and shrewd. We're going to hear from that man. Mark me. He was to be heard from sooner than most realized. When he finished his work at Cambridge in 1920, he took the examinations for the Indian Civil Service. He ranked with the very top winners. I don't know whether I should take the position. How can you hesitate, Subhas? You have worked to prepare yourself all these years. You finished with those at the very top of the list in the examinations. It isn't that. It's what's happening back in India now. Gandhi's nationalist movement? That's where my heart is. Subhas, just the very few are chosen to be civil service of Britain and India. And you have won that honor. In the civil service, your position will be safe, and a whole career lies ahead of you. I... I want to talk with Gandhi. My sympathy is with Gandhi too. But it is possible that you can do more for India in the civil service than by joining Gandhi's movement now. I wonder... Bosa joined the civil service, but he watched Gandhi's movement day by day. The dynamic events taking place in India gripped him. Within the tall, handsome Indian, his friends saw a fierce struggle. Gandhi has stirred him deeply. You can see that he is seething inside. He is losing interest in the civil service. Gandhi has touched his imagination. One of these days he will leave and join Gandhi. And if he does, his parents will oppose him. Subhas will not be stopped by that. He has the courage to face his parents' disfavor. The conflict inside him is beginning to tear. The agony of indecision consumed him. It was plain it could not continue long. Whatever decision he made would be momentous. It meant that he had chosen to work with the government or against it. Suddenly, dramatically, he made the decision. I have resigned the civil service. I am going back to India to join Gandhi. On the day he arrived in India, he went to talk with Gandhi. Henceforth, these two personalities were to be touchstones, each to the other. Sometimes there was to be the cohesion of mutual understanding. More often, they were to strike sparks, one upon the other. And sometimes there was to be fire. The dynamic 24-year-old questioned and cross-examined the seasoned experienced Gandhi. When the interview was over, Bosa went to his inspiring friend, Siyar Das. There is no question about Gandhi's personal honesty. He is a man of integrity. But specific answers I could not get from him. That is not because Gandhi is evasive. It is because he sees the non-corporation movement with more experienced eyes than yours. I know that is true. I have supported Gandhi's movement for nearly three years now. Your belief in him is sublime. No, not that. But yet the non-corporation movement is our hope. And that is why you, who are strong and young and intelligent and courageous, must join it. If you believe in it, then certainly I must believe in it. Bosa joined Gandhi's movement. He became an active nationalist, took part in the civil disobedience campaign, and within a matter of months was in jail. Here he gained his first experience behind the bars. He neither feared his captors nor bewailed his fate. After several months he was released. Now he was wiser but more determined. He and Siyar Das moved closer together. Together they founded in Calcutta a daily newspaper and named it Forward. I have never seen such a remarkable attachment as that of Bosa for Das. Bosa is almost a disciple of Das. He is his right hand man. That means that Bosa is close to the top of the India Congress. For although Gandhi is president of the Congress, Das is actually the real power. Yes, and Das recognizes the extraordinary abilities of Bosa. In effect, although Bosa is only about 27, he is already a tremendous influence in the Congress. Das became mayor of Calcutta in 1924 and with him into the inner circles of the administration of this great city, Das took Bosa. He was elected chief executive officer. Bosa was becoming experienced in politics far beyond his years. Yet soon again he was in jail. Inside of jail and outside he continued his activities. Again he was released. Day by day now his political influence was growing. In 1926 he was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly. Soon he was in jail again. This time removed to a prison in Mandalay in Burma. Look at this. This newspaper. This is scurrilous. Inside as well as outside of jail he was articulate. You see this? You see what this newspaper says about me? Where? What does it say? There. It says that I am the brains of the revolutionary conspiracy. That is a high compliment. It's not true. What newspaper is that? Oh, Calcutta newspaper. I shall sue the paper for libel. You've forgotten you're in jail in Mandalay too far from Calcutta. Being in jail does not abrogate my rights. I'll sue that paper just the same as if I were there in Calcutta. And that's what he did. The suit for damages came with a shock to the newspaper. You know, Tirlig, that we're being sued by Subha's buzzer for this story of yours. About him being the brains of the revolutionary conspiracy? Yes. Well, he is, sir. You know that. But can we prove it? It shouldn't be much of a task to prove that, sir. Very well. Our only defense is to prove it. That I will, sir. I'll get documentary evidence from the government and other places too. Get it. Let's have Don with this thing. Well, maybe it is true, but we've got nothing here to prove it. Everybody knows it's true, but to get evidence that will stand up and court. Well, that's another thing. There, we have nothing here to that effect. Why don't you try the India office? You'll never be able to prove anything against Subha's buzzer. He's a sharp one, he is, and he's able to take care of his self, he is. Is the judgment of this court that the printed statement that Subha's Tandra buzzer, this quote, the brains of the revolutionary conspiracy on quote, is not substantiated by the evidence. The defendant is therefore ordered to pay damages to the plaintiff, Subha's Tandra Bosa, in the sum of... Bosa was rising as a power in Bengal. When he was 30 years old, he was elected president of the Bengal National Congress. The younger element of Bengal were inspired by him. They talked of him, quoted him, followed him. He organized the Bengal Students' Conference. Rallied the younger element and got himself elected city councilor of Calcutta. His influence expanded. He forged ahead. Each time he was released from jail, he came out more radical. When Bosa was 33, he was elected mayor of Calcutta. He administered the affairs of Calcutta from his prison cell. Here is another letter for you from Vienna. Have some friends there, have you? Yes. You ought to do something about... about the... the sickness of yours. What can I do for it here in prison? From Vienna came word from Valabai Patel, another worker in the Indian nationalist movement. Patel, like Bosa, suffered from tuberculosis. And Patel urged Bosa to come to Vienna for treatment. The Viennese doctors are excellent, Bosa. We shall see what they can do for me. Bosa put himself under the Viennese doctors. But he continued to carry on his activities in the nationalist movement. If you do not let up, you will be as sick as I am. Yes, yes, I know Patel. My advice is that you forget about Moscow. I am not thinking of Moscow. Have you changed your mind about setting up headquarters there? Our welfare does not lie in that direction. You are wise, Subbas. I too have received invitations from Moscow and from Rome and Berlin too. Did you decline because of your illness? I declined for the same reason as you did. Invitations continued to come. Mussolini invited Bosa to Rome. Still desperately sick, he accepted. His conversations with Mussolini were long and intense. News of these conversations reached India. Bosa cannot be swayed by Mussolini. He is too purposeful. But in his clever cunning way, he may think he can use Mussolini. He had better take care that Mussolini does not use him. Bosa is violently anti-fascist. Bosa was anti-fascist. He railed against the fascists and the Nazis. Observers watched him closely. He is drifting toward Rome and Berlin. He is beginning to regard the point of view of the fascists and the Nazis as the realistic view. That year, dynamic events took place in Europe. Arnold Hitler has become the new chancellor of Germany. President von Hindenburg of Germany is dead. Arnold Hitler has seized power in Germany. And his nationalist, socialist party is... You must not be too much impressed by Hitler's rise to power, Subas. Hitler has succeeded in taking over Germany. But can he succeed in the end? Mussolini is supporting him. But in the last analysis, how much will Mussolini's support mean? We must accept the fact, Patela. But a world revolution is underway. We have seen what has happened here in Europe and see what is happening in the forest. Japan's seizure of Manchuria? Not only Manchuria. Japan has also taken re-hold. Japan is the rising power in the forest, as Germany and Italy are in Europe. Subas, I have been the nationalist movement a long time. You must believe me when I say that we cannot help ourselves by accepting the pattern of events in Europe and Asia as our pattern of progress. Both Hitler and Mussolini have taken direct action. Do you agree with their philosophy? I believe the time has come for direct action in India, don't you? The people of India must work out their own salvation. They must not follow other nations. Let us not talk of other nations now. Let us take our position against Gandhi and his non-cooperation and start a more militant fight for freedom in India. Both Hill won on the verge of death. Bosa and Patel issued a joint statement. Gandhi had outlived his usefulness, they said. The nationalist movement, they said, must abandon Gandhi's policy of civil disobedience and undertake an active battle for freedom. They decided to buy with blood what they had not won with non-cooperation. Now Patel was dead. And now Patel's mantle of power in India fell upon Bosa. Influential Indians who came to visit him went away with mixed thoughts. He has gained in prestige. Yes, because in effect he is Patel's successor. Ah, but is he actually? Well, Hitler and the other Nazi leaders seem to accept him as such. Never once did he refer to his talks with Hitler and Gering and the others. No. Could he be moving toward them? Well, you remember he said that we must hold ourselves apart from the European thinking? Yes, he said that. But he also said that now he understood the Nazi point of view better than ever before. That seems inconsistent. May mean that he is in the process of making a transition from our way of thinking to the Hitler way of thinking. It is plain to me that he has less in common with us now than he used to have. That confirms what the others have told us. Now he is more interested in his European friends than in us. Yes, he gave me the feeling that he was parrying our questions that his answers were not what he really thought. His whole attitude seems changed. Oh, he has changed. He has more power, more money, more money. Money? Yes. Well, you could never spend money as he apparently is spending it on what we know he should have. Where could he get the money? That would be difficult to say. Yes, but this we can be sure of. Subas Bosa is enormously ambitious. More and more Indians came to talk to him. Indians who had been solidly behind Gandhi's non-cooperation movement traveled to Vienna to find out for themselves how Bosa was working for India's independence and to inquire about his plans for them. You must have equality. We cannot have one people above another. This is said to be untouchables. A modern state cannot endure with discriminations against any segment of its people. Your rights must be respected. This is said to the Muslims. The backbones of progress is industry and finance. You must be given the opportunity to develop. This is said to the Indians interested in industry and finance. Indians of all kinds came to see him. Self-seekers, patriots, businessmen, politicians. Beneath the surface, the direction of his thinking was becoming apparent. Observers watched him. It is not so much that he likes either Nazism or Fascism as it is hating the British. He has been impressed with the show of power in Germany and Italy. He can conceive of this power being used against Britain and he considers any opposition to Britain to be in favour of India. Nevertheless, he knows that many Indians, although they are against Britain, are not in sympathy with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Therefore, in his relationships with the Nazis and the Fascists, he moves lightly although now it has become an open secret that he has relations with them. Adrightly, he was gaining power enough to return to India and challenge Gandhi. His opportunity came in 1937 when he was 40 years old. He returned to India and became Alderman of the Bengal National Congress. The time for temporizing is past. The time for direct action is here. Both are gathering so much strength that he may succeed in getting control of the Congress. That is precisely what he is working for. He has built up a strong organization and he is using it to maneuver himself into power. Bosa organized and maneuvered well for the next year, 1938. He got himself elected president of the Congress. It is unbelievable. He is the youngest man ever to be president of the Indian National Congress. What is more amazing is that he won against Gandhi. Yes, and to think that only a few years ago Bosa went to talk with Gandhi and was so impressed that he became one of his strongest followers. Times have changed and so has Subhas Bosa. Bosa, at the age of 41, became a focal point of the world. He was the man who had taken a position against Gandhi, the man who came out against non-cooperation and in favor of militant action for freedom. Our first objective must be complete freedom. This was his presidential address. Once we are liberated, we shall dedicate ourselves to the eradication of poverty, to the raising of our national literacy, to the fighting of disease. These are immediate problems, but there are also long-range problems no less important. We must lay a sound foundation on the realities we Indians know so well. The world weighed his speech for its underlying import. About freedom he was clear. Ours is the struggle not only against British imperialism, but against world imperialism as well. We are therefore fighting not for the cause of India alone, but of humanity as well. India freed means humanity saved. Bosa was in the driver's seat. This was 1938. This was the year of Munich, the year of appeasement. The war drums were rumbling. Now Bosa was in power in India and Hitler was the most powerful man in Europe. Before his election, Bosa had made a hurried visit to London and urged all young Indian students there to get themselves into jail to help the struggle for India's freedom. He was a thorn not only in Britain's side, but in Gandhi's side. And where he would move next, no one could tell. The next year, Gandhi opposed the re-election of Bosa. Bosa has won again! Bosa has won again! Yes, he has won again. Bosa has been re-elected. What will Gandhi do now? Gandhi fought his re-election. Gandhi still has broad influence. But what can he do? Bosa has been re-elected. Soon it was to be plain what Gandhi would do. Gandhi was still a political force. His name still had great influence. He used these against Bosa. The working committee has resigned in a body. Working committee? Why Bosa considers the working committee as the cabinet of the future? It is said that Gandhi influenced the working committee to resign. And sub-hust Bosa is helpless. Gandhi had scored. Bosa resigned. He had reached his highest point, and now his star was descending. And soon it was plain what he would do. Soon a new organization was formed, and the observers made a note of his action. Bosa calls his new organization the Forward Blanc. It is actually a rival organization to the Congress, isn't it? It's made up of disgruntled left-wingers of the Congress. Well, that should give us some idea of the index of what they stand for, and what they'll do. Their principal objective is immediate independence. Immediate independence, eh? If Bosa had been able to go along with his normal plans, he probably would not have come out as strongly as this for independence just now. But now that he's frustrated, well, he wants independence now. Not sometime in the future. The results of his talk with Mussolini and Hitler are now becoming apparent. Oh, it's perfectly evident that he has fascist leanings. I wondered how long it would be until he showed the influence of Rome in Berlin. Oh, it's pretty plain right now. He's come out for a strong central government with dictatorial powers. Uh-huh. He's seen Hitler's government in action. And he's come out for a strong party bound together by military discipline. A strong party bound together by military discipline. Yes, Bosa must have kept his eyes and ears open in Berlin. By this time, Bosa had come to the conclusion that India should accept help from wherever she could get it. With this as a premise, he extended the forward block throughout India and beyond the borders of India. In secret circles, his name was linked with those of foreign agents, Nazis and Japanese. We have been discriminated against. We must join Bosa. His influence reached to Singapore. Who else but Bosa will help us? We must join him. The former. The forward block is our hope. We must join Bosa. To Thailand. We must join Bosa. We must join Bosa. We must join Bosa. Indochina, Malaya, Iran, Afghanistan. Swiftly, dramatically now, World War II was approaching. In a matter of months now, Hitler marched into Poland. He overran Denmark and Norway. Smashed through the low countries, crushed France. And each of these dynamic events had its echo in India. By what right does the British viceroy declare India co-belligerant? March 1940, the Indian Congress has forsaken provisional self-government and demanded complete independence. We must not only have complete independence, we must have it now. Because Chandra Bosa has been arrested under the Defence of India Act on charges of plotting to raise the... Once again, he was in jail. And while he was locked up, he was elected a member of the Indian Legislative Assembly. Vosin, here's a message for you. Thank you. Looks like it might be important where it goes. Who's it from? The British Raj. I asked for a release long enough so that I could be installed in the Legislative Assembly. He has turned me down. Oh, that's too blinkin' bad, Mr. Bosa. You can tell your superiors that I will not eat a bite of food until I am released. Yes, Governor. Another hungry striker on a range, lamy. Off we go. With no food, soon he was ill. So well that his condition alarmed the authorities. He was released. One day he disappeared, and soon back from Berlin came rumours. Bosa has made a deal with Hitler to conquer India. Yes, and have you heard that he is speaking on the Nazi radio? From the Nazi capital directed at India came the words of Subhas Chandra Bosa over the radio. We shall fight against British imperialism until India is master of our own history. Soon records of Bosa's voice were being beamed at India from Japanese-controlled radio stations. And soon Bosa himself was in Tokyo. There, with Japanese warlords, he laid plans for the conquest of India. Then, dramatically, he went by Japanese submarine to Singapore. From Singapore, intelligence filtered out which indicated the nature of the plans worked out by Bosa and the Japanese. Bosa is at the head of what he and the Japanese called a free Indian government. An army of liberation is being formed to march on India. This is the army which attacked in Manipur. When the drive first smashed into India, the Japanese high command issued a statement. All areas of India which are liberated by the India-Japanese army will be praised under the provisional government of a free India. In Japan's interest in the conquest of India, Bosa saw no danger either to India or himself. Japan has no political or economic or military ambitions in India. Japan's interest is the same as the interest of patriotic Indians. To destroy the forces in India, which are enemies not only of India but of Asia as well. Bosa is in the Japanese camp. Yet observers see him as still an important factor in India. Today, Bosa still exerts great influence in the Indian nationalist movement. He is using this influence to his advantage. Many still support him. And in this proportion, he must be considered a dangerous factor to be dealt with in the complex Indian problem. You have been listening to The Pacific Story, presented by the national broadcasting company and its affiliated independent stations as a public service to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable the cross currents of life in the Pacific basin. For a reprint of this Pacific Story program, send 10 cents in stamps or corn to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. The Pacific Story is written and directed by Arnold Marquess. The original musical score was composed and conducted by Thomas Paluso, your narrator, Gane Whitman. This program came to you from Hollywood. This is the national broadcasting company.