132 HIS MAJESTY’S OPPONENT
broadest anti- imperialist front, and should have the two- fold objective
of winning po lit i cal freedom and the establishment of a socialist re-
gime.” Dutt pressed him on his references to fascism and his criticisms
of communism in the closing part of his book The Indian Struggle.
Bose explained that what he really meant was that, having won na-
tional freedom, India should “move in the direction of Socialism.” He
conceded that perhaps the expression he used—“a synthesis between
Communism and Fascism”—was “not a happy one.” At the time he
wrote his book, “Fascism had not started on its imperialist expedition”
and “Communism as it appeared to be demonstrated by many of those
who were supposed to stand for it in India” seemed to him to be “anti-
national.” It was clear to him that the situation had “fundamentally al-
tered,” and he always understood and was quite sat is fied that the writ-
ings of Marx and Lenin, as well as the of fi cial statements of policy of
the Communist International, gave “full support to the struggle for
national in de pen dence.”^138 If the communists were ready to support the
forces of socialism in Europe and nationalism in the colonized world,
he was prepared to welcome them.
Lord Zetland, the secretary of state for India and a former governor
of Bengal, pursued Bose’s views on communism during their one- on-
one meeting. Bose dismissed the possibility of a communist form of
government in India and told Zetland that “the ac tual number of genu-
ine communists was small.” “He was himself a socialist,” Zetland noted,
“but that was a very different thing from being a communist.” Bose’s
meeting with Zetland was quite cordial, and the Congress leader ap-
peared to have made a favorable impression on the cabinet minister in
charge of India, even though Zetland believed Bose had some “fixed
ideas.” This was to be expected, as Bose was staunchly opposed to the
federal part of the Government of India Act of 1935, denounced reac-
tionary princes, and objected to Britain’s exclusive control over India’s
defense. He also felt that provincial autonomy was hedged with too
many emergency powers in British hands, and he was critical of British
divide- and- rule tactics.^139
In addition to Lord Zetland, Bose met Lord Halifax, the Conserva-
tive leader of the House of Lords, who as Lord Irwin had served as
viceroy of India. He also held talks with Clement Attlee, then leader of