UPSC Mains 2016 GS Paper 1 Q5: model answer

In July 1944, speaking over Azad Hind Radio from Singapore, Subhas Chandra Bose called Gandhi the 'Father of our Nation' and asked his blessings for the INA's war. The two men shared the goal of complete independence but differed on how to achieve it.

Method

• Gandhi: strict non-violence and satyagraha, mass mobilisation and moral persuasion.
• Bose: willing to use armed struggle; formed the Indian National Army with Japanese support.

Ideology and economy

• Gandhi: village-centred, decentralised economy, khadi and trusteeship.
• Bose: socialism and planned industrialisation; he set up the National Planning Committee as Congress president in 1938.

Strategy and timing

• Gandhi favoured gradual, controlled movements and negotiation; Bose wanted an immediate mass struggle, especially when Britain was at war.
• At Tripuri (1939), Bose was re-elected Congress president against Gandhi's candidate Pattabhi Sitaramayya; he resigned and formed the Forward Bloc.

Common ground

• Both rejected dominion status, sought complete freedom and Hindu–Muslim unity; Bose called Gandhi the 'Father of the Nation' in a 1944 radio address.

Attitude to the war

• Gandhi refused to bargain with Britain's enemies and launched Quit India as a non-violent struggle.
• Bose escaped from house arrest in 1941 and sought help from Germany and Japan.

To sum up

Gandhi's mass non-violence built the nation's moral strength; Bose's INA shook British confidence in the Indian army. Together their approaches pressed Britain to leave.