244 HIS MAJESTY’S OPPONENT
He asked his compa tri ots not to listen to British pro pa ganda but rather
to place their trust in him. “If the wily, cunning and resourceful British
politicians have failed to cajole or corrupt me,” he assured them, “no-
body else can do so.” He expressed special solicitude for the comrades
who were rotting in British jails. He promised to “throw open the
prison gates” before long, so that India’s worthy sons could “step out of
the darkness of prison cells into the light of freedom, joy and self-
fulfillment.” “The hour has struck,” he declared, “and ev ery pa tri otic
Indian must advance towards the field of battle. Only when the blood
of freedom- loving Indians begins to flow will India attain her free-
dom.”^15
Subhas Chandra Bose left Tokyo for Singapore at the end of June,
accompanied by the elderly Rashbehari Bose and by Abid Hasan. He
had persuaded Tokyo to replace Iwakuro with a man of his choice,
Yamamoto, as the head of the Hikari Kikan, Japan’s liaison agency. His
radio speeches had created an atmosphere of eager anticipation among
Indians in Southeast Asia. Upon his arrival in Singapore on July 2, he
was given a rapturous welcome. Top military commanders J. K. Bhon-
sle and Mohammad Zaman Kiani received him at the airport, and the
Indian National Army gave him a guard of honor. A week of energetic
activity followed. On July 4, 1943, representatives of the Indian Inde-
pen dence League assembled at the Cathay Theater to witness Subhas’s
acceptance of the leadership of the movement from Rashbehari Bose.
Young women sang pa tri otic hymns to the motherland and showered
the leaders with flower petals as they took the stage. “You might well
ask what I have been in Tokyo for,” Rashbehari told the gathering, “or
what present I have brought for you.” “Well, I have brought for you
this present,” he said, turning to Subhas amid thunderous cheers and
chanting from the audience. Describing Subhas as symbolizing all that
is “best, noblest, the most daring, and the most dynamic in the youth
of India,” he conducted the generational transfer of leadership with
grace and dignity.^16
Subhas accepted the baton with humility, and prayed aloud that
Khuda, the Almighty, would give him the necessary strength to dis-
charge his duty. He spoke in Hindustani, with great eloquence and pas-
sion. His audience responded with unbridled enthusiasm, especially