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Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Death Anniversary: 81 Years Since the Taihoku Crash — UPSC Current Affairs 2026

History & Culture18 Aug 2026

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Death Anniversary: 81 Years Since the Taihoku Crash

8 sections below — scroll or usetocto jump

1
18 August 2026 marks 81 years since the reported death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a plane crash at Taihoku (now Taipei) in 1945.
2
Bose was Congress president in 1938 at Haripura and again in 1939 at Tripuri, where he defeated Gandhi's preferred candidate Pattabhi Sitaramayya before resigning.
3
He founded the Forward Bloc in 1939, escaped house arrest in Calcutta in January 1941, and took command of the Indian National Army in 1943.
4
He proclaimed the Provisional Government of Free India (Azad Hind) on 21 October 1943; the INA reached Imphal and Kohima in 1944 before retreating.
5
His birth anniversary, 23 January, has been observed as Parakram Diwas since 2021.

●Born 23 January 1897 at Cuttack, to Janakinath Bose and Prabhavati Dutt Bose
●Expelled from Presidency College, Calcutta for nationalist activity; graduated from Scottish Church College in 1919; studied at Cambridge
●Cleared the Indian Civil Services examination in 1920 and withdrew his candidature in 1921 to join the freedom movement
●Political mentor: Chittaranjan Das, whose newspaper Forward he edited; later started his own paper, Swaraj
●Congress president in 1938 (Haripura) and 1939 (Tripuri); founded the Forward Bloc in 1939
●Reportedly died on 18 August 1945 after a plane crash at Taihoku, Formosa — present-day Taipei, Taiwan

1920

Passes the ICS examination in London; resigns the candidature in 1921 to enter politics under Chittaranjan Das

1938

Elected Congress president at Haripura; sets up the National Planning Committee, pushing industrialisation and economic planning

1939

Re-elected at Tripuri after defeating Pattabhi Sitaramayya, but resigns over differences with Gandhi and founds the Forward Bloc

January 1941

Escapes house arrest in Calcutta and travels via Kabul and Moscow, reaching Germany in April 1941

1941-42

Broadcasts to India over Azad Hind Radio from Germany in several Indian languages

1943

Reaches Japanese-held Southeast Asia and takes command of the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj)

21 October 1943

Proclaims the Provisional Government of Free India (Azad Hind Government) at Singapore

1944

INA advances with Japanese forces to Imphal and Kohima, then retreats without air support and supplies

18 August 1945

Reported to have died of injuries after a plane crash at Taihoku, Formosa

Bose's quarrel with the Congress leadership was about the pace and the method of independence, not about the goal. He rejected dominion status and pressed for purna swaraj without qualification; he opposed the suspension of the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Gandhi-Irwin Pact of 1931; and he believed the Second World War gave India leverage that should be used rather than deferred. Having won the Tripuri presidency in 1939 against Gandhi's candidate, he found the working committee unwilling to serve under him and resigned, forming the Forward Bloc to bring left-wing forces together. The same conviction carried him out of India in 1941 and eventually to the INA, an army raised largely from Indian prisoners of war and civilians in Southeast Asia.

The INA lost its campaign — the advance stalled at Imphal and Kohima in 1944 and the force retreated — but its afterlife shaped the endgame of British rule. The trials of INA officers at the Red Fort in 1945-46 turned the defendants into national figures, drew defence lawyers from across the political spectrum, and unsettled British confidence in the loyalty of Indian servicemen, a doubt sharpened by the Royal Indian Navy mutiny of 1946. The circumstances of Bose's own death remained contested, with successive inquiries examining the crash and the ashes kept at the Renkoji Temple in Tokyo; most inquiries concluded that he died in the crash.

●23 January, Bose's birth anniversary, has been observed as Parakram Diwas since 2021
●A hologram statue of Netaji was unveiled at India Gate, New Delhi on 23 January 2022, later replaced by a granite statue
●Ross Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was renamed Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep in December 2018; Neil Island became Shaheed Dweep and Havelock Island became Swaraj Dweep
●Slogans associated with Bose: 'Delhi Chalo', 'Jai Hind' and 'Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom'
●The Azad Hind Government was recognised by several Axis and allied-to-Axis states and had its own currency, bank and women's regiment — the Rani of Jhansi Regiment

Exam Relevance

upsc

GS Paper 1 > Modern Indian History > The freedom struggle and its leaders

ssc

General Awareness > Modern Indian History

railway

General Awareness > History

defence

General Knowledge > Indian History

banking

General Awareness > Static GK

Expected Questions

★At which Congress session was Subhas Chandra Bose re-elected president after defeating Pattabhi Sitaramayya?
★When and where was the Provisional Government of Free India proclaimed?
★Which day is observed as Parakram Diwas, and whose anniversary does it mark?

Key Terms

Azad Hind Fauj

The Indian National Army, reorganised under Bose in 1943 from Indian prisoners of war and civilians in Southeast Asia

Azad Hind Government

The Provisional Government of Free India, proclaimed by Bose on 21 October 1943

Forward Bloc

The party Bose founded in 1939 after resigning the Congress presidency, to consolidate left-wing forces

Parakram Diwas

Observed on 23 January since 2021 to mark Bose's birth anniversary

priority_highMust Remember

•Born 23 January 1897, Cuttack; reported death 18 August 1945 at Taihoku (Taipei)
•Congress president twice: Haripura 1938 and Tripuri 1939
•Azad Hind Government proclaimed 21 October 1943
•INA trials were held at the Red Fort in 1945-46

tips_and_updatesExam Tips

•Keep the two anniversaries apart: 23 January is Parakram Diwas (birth), 18 August is the death anniversary. Only the January date carries an official government observance.
•Pair each Congress session with what it decided — Haripura 1938 (Bose elected, National Planning Committee), Tripuri 1939 (re-elected, then resigned).

Question 1 of 3Score: 0/0

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