His Majesty\'s Opponent. Subhas Chandra Bose and India\'s Struggle Against Empire

54 HIS MAJESTY’S OPPONENT

Sirajganj in May 1924. Subhas Chandra Bose implemented his leader’s

policy, and came in for withering criticism from conservative Hindus

for appointing a disproportionate number of Muslims to posts in the

Calcutta Corporation. He retorted that in the past Hindus had enjoyed

“a sort of monopoly” when it came to appointments, and he would

support the “just claims” of Muslims, Christians, and members of the

depressed classes even if that caused “heart burning” among Hindus.^11

Both C. R. Das and Mahatma Gandhi sprang to his defense—the latter

in the pages of the journal Young India. “I note,” Gandhi observed,

“that the chief executive of fi cer of the Calcutta Corporation has come

in for a good deal of hostile criticism because of his having given

twenty- five out of thirty- three appointments to Mussalmans. I have

read the statement made by the chief executive of fi cer. It is a creditable

performance. If Hindus wish to set India free, they must be willing to

sac ri fice in favor of their Mussalman and other brethren.”^12 Subhas

was already displaying the sense of fairness toward all religious com-

munities that would win him the trust of minorities later in his po lit i-

cal life.

Throughout the summer and early autumn of 1924, Subhas was im-

mersed in his administrative and po lit i cal work. His parents had come

around to supporting his choices. He felt happy living with his elder

brother Sarat’s family, with the rest of the extended family nearby. He

had found another home at C. R. Das’s residence and had adopted

Das’s wife, Basanti Devi, as a second mother. After an arduous day’s

work, he would drop in on her late at night and ask to be served bhate-

bhat, a simple vegetarian rice dish of Bengal.^13 Such a happy state of

affairs was too good to last, especially for someone who had opted for

the uncertainties of a life of adventure.

Mandalay

As dawn broke on October 25, 1924, Subhas was awakened and told
that some police of fi cers wanted to see him. “Mr. Bose, I have a very
unpleasant duty to perform,” the deputy commissioner of the Calcutta
police said to him. “I have a warrant for your arrest under Regulation
III of 1818.”^14 Under this statute, which was more than a hundred years