ADDRESS OF HIS EXCELLENCY
MR. SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE, HEAD OF THE
PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF AZAD HIND
November 6, 1943

Your Excellency, Your Excellencies and Gentlemen:
On behalf of the Provisional Government of Azad
Hind, allow me to express my warmest thanks for thehonour and the favour shown to me and to my colleagues
in allowing us to attend this historic Assembly as
observers. I am particularly grateful to Your Excellencies
for the sympathy that you have expressed so generously inyour speeches and also for the assurance of co-operationand support that you have given us for the future. I want
further to express my profound thanks for the resolution
moved by His Excellency the Representative for Burma
which has been heartily and unanimously adopted by theHouse. This resolution, I assure you, Your Excellency, willtravel far beyond the walls of this stately mansion and willbring hope, encouragement and inspiration to millions andmillions of my countrymen groaning under the heel ofBritish oppression, while it will also strike terror in thehearts of all those who have a guilty conscience.
I am sure that we of the Provisional Government of
Azad Hind and all those who under the leadership of ourGovernment will launch the last struggle against
Anglo-American imperialism, will now go to war against
sworn enemy with the consciousness that behind us stands
1not only the invincible might of Nippon, but also theunited will and grim determination of the emancipatednations of East Asia.
Your Excellency, as I was sitting, listening to theproceedings of this august Assembly yesterday and to-day,the panorama of the world’s history passed before mymind’s eye. My thoughts went back to the many
international congresses and conferences held during thelast 100 years and more. My thoughts went back to theCongress of Vienna in 1815 after the downfall of theNapoleonic Empire, to the Congress of Paris in 1856 after
the Crimean War, to the Congress of Berlin in 1878 after
the Russo-Turkish War in the Balkans, to the Versailles
Peace Conference in 1919 at the end of the last War, to theWashington Conference held in 1921 for ensuring theAnglo-American domination of the Pacific and Far East,and to the Locarno Conference in1925 for ingeniously
binding the hands of the German people, once and for all.
My thoughts also went back to the Assembly of theLeague of Nations, that League of Nations along whose
corridors and lobbies I spent many a day, knocking at one
door after another, in the vain attempt to obtain a hearing
for the cause of Indian freedom.
And as I sat listening to the proceedings of this historic
Assembly, I began to wonder what the difference wasbetween this Assembly and similar assemblies that theworld’s history has witnessed in bygone days.
Your Excellency, this is not a conference for dividing
the spoils among the conquerors. This is not a conferencefor hatching a conspiracy to victimize a weak power, nor
is it a conference for trying to defraud a weak neighbour.
2This is an Assembly of liberated nations, an Assembly thatis out to create a new order in this part of the world, on thebasis of the sacred principles of justice, nationalsovereignty, reciprocity in international relations andmutual aid and assistance. I do not think that it is anaccident that this Assembly has been convened in the landof the Rising Sun. This is not the first time that the world
has turned to the East for light and guidance. Attempts tocreate a new order in the world have been made before
and have been made elsewhere, but they have failed. They
have failed because of the selfishness, avarice, andsuspicion in those who had to play a leading role in thecreation of a new order. It is, therefore, in the fitness ofthings and in conformity with historic precedent that theworld should once again turn to the East for light.
Your Excellency, I believe that history has ordainedthat in the creation of a new, free and prosperous East, theGovernment and people of Nippon should play a leadingrole. This role for the Government and people of Nippon
was carved out by history as early as 1905 when, for thefirst time, an Asiatic nation stood up to resist Western
aggression.
As I have often said, I still remember how, as a child, Iand millions of my countrymen and millions of Indianchildren were then thrilled with joy and enthusiasm over
events happening so far away from home and I am surethat that was the experience not only of the Indian people,
not only of Indian children, but of Asiatic peoples havebeen dreaming of a united Asia and a free Asia. And we inIndia since 1905 have also been dreaming of a free andunited Asia. Since then, and particularly since the last3

World War that dream, that thought, has taken concrete
shape in the form of Pan-Asiatic federation.
It should be no surprise to anyone that the Indianpeople from then onwards for two decades have been
thinking and dreaming of a Pan-Asiatic federation. This
thought is in full conformity without past tradition andculture.
As Your Excellencies are well aware, from the earliest
times, universalism has been a marked feature of Indian
thought and culture. In the earliest days, throughBuddhism and all the culture centred around Buddhism,
India stretched out her hands to the whole of Asia. Lateron, with Islamic influence permeating India, that tendency
towards universalism also continued, and through Islam,India forged new links with Western Asia.
I must confess, however, to my great sorrow, in thisconnection, that during the Middle Ages, India developed
a false type of universalism and, it is because of this false
universalism, that it was so easy for European Powers tosettle in, and ultimately to conquer India. But we havelearned through sorrow, suffering, and humiliation todistinguish now between the false internationalism and thetrue. We know now that that internationalism is true,
which does not ignore nationalism, but is rooted in it.
We have also studied with great interest the attempts
made in Europe and elsewhere to set up a newinternational order. We have learned from theseexperiments and from the failure which ultimately
crowned these experiments. We are the wiser for thisexperience, and today, we are convinced that theestablishment or the creation of an international society of4

nations can be possible only if we begin by setting up
what I may call regional federations, like the Greater East
Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Your Excellency, may I humbly point out that theestablishment of a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphereis of interest, of vital interest, not only to the people ofEast Asia but, if I may say so, to the people of the wholeof Asia and to mankind in general.
I claim to have some personal contact with that part of
the world stretching from Afghanistan to Tunis, Algeria,and Morocco. I claim specially to have personal contact
with the suppressed nations living in that part of the world.
Over and above this, India has for a long time been abridge between East Asia and the West. I can, therefore,
say with authority that the people of West Asia, the people
in that part of the world stretching from Afghanistan toAlgeria and Morocco, are following with the deepest
interest the happenings in East Asia. I a speaking
particularly of these people in West Asia and Africa whohave been for some time dominated and oppressed andtyrannized by British imperialism. I can say at home ofthose people that their liberation in the future depends to avery large extent on the success and the victory of Nippon
and her allies in this war. Unless Anglo-American
imperialism is wiped out of India, it will be difficult,perhaps impossible, for the suppressed Islamic nations tooverthrow the British yoke and recover their lost liberty.
The establishment of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity
Sphere will pave the way towards a Pan-Asiatic
Federation. And I have not the slightest doubt in my mind
that the establishment of an Asia for Asians, or an All-Asia
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Co-Prosperity Sphere, if you will, will ultimately pave theway towards a world federation, a real society of nations,and not the League of robbers that we saw at Geneva.
But, your Excellency, I must not forget that all thesedreams of a new world, of a new Asia, of a new, free andprosperous Greater East Asia depend entirely on ourability to achieve victory in this war So far as India isconcerned our fate is indissolubly linked up with the fateof Nippon and her allies in this war. If our Allies were togo down, there will be no hope for India to be free for atleast 100 years. But we know that this time providence,
fate, and luck are on our side, and I want to assure Your
Excellency and Excellencies that we, the Indian people,
having waited all our life for an international crisis of thissort, are determined to make the fullest use of his
opportunity for achieving the final emancipation of ourcountry. For India, there is no other path, but the path ofuncompromising struggle against British imperialism.
Even if it were possible for other nations to think ofcompromising with England, for the Indian people, at least,
it is out of the question. Compromising with Britain means
to compromise with slavery and we are determined not tocompromise with slavery any more.
I, therefore, want to assure Your Excellencies, thatcome what may, no matter how long and hard the struggle
may be, no matter what the suffering and the sacrifice
involved may prove to be, we are determined to fight tothe bitter end, being fully confident of our final victory.
But I have no illusions about the magnitude of the taskthat awaits us. I do not minimize the strength of the enemy.
I claim to know the British people intimately and at first6hand. I have known them since I was a child of five and,knowing them so intimately, knowing the strength and theweakness of the enemy in India, and knowing also ourown strength and weakness, I feel fully confident of ourultimate victory.
But we have to pay the price of our liberty. For Your
Excellencies the problem in quite different from what it isfor India. You have only to repel any offensive Launchedby the enemy in the future You have only to retain what
you have got now; you have only to preserve your own
freedom. But the Indian people have yet to fight and win
their freedom. Therefore, I repeat: we have no illusions
about the magnitude of the task that awaits us. In fact, I
may say that all the time sitting here in my chair, as I wasdreaming of a new East Asia, a new Asia and a new world,
before my mind’s eye there floated the scenes of the battle
that we will have to fight on the frontier and on the plainsof India.
I do not know how many of those who will go to war
against our powerful and unscrupulous enemy, I do notknow how many of the members of our National Army,
will survive the coming war, but that is of no consequence
to us. Whether we individually live or die, whether wesurvive the war and live to see India shall be free, thatAnglo-American imperialism shall be wiped out of India,
and the menace that now hangs over the whole of East
Asia will be removed, once and for all.
Your Excellency, I am aware that there are many
people in this world who have an exaggerated notion of
the strength of Britain and of her allies. I have just said
that we know the British people at first hand. We know
7their strength and their weakness and we are therefore
looking forward with the fullest optimism to the hard andbitter struggle that is ahead of us. Assured of such an
invincible ally as Nippon, assured of the support whichYour Excellencies have so generously given us, andassured us for the future, we shall go to battle fully
confident that the day of our salvation is at hand.
Your Excellencies, in setting out to create a new order
based on the sublime principles of justice, nationalsovereignty, reciprocity, and mutual aid and assistance,
you are undertaking a task which is the noblest that thehuman mind can conceive. I pray to God that your noble
efforts may be crowned with success. I pray to God thatthe dreams of Okakura Kakuzo and Sun Yat-sen may betranslated into reality. And I pray to God that this Joint
Declaration which this historic Assembly has unanimously
adopted this afternoon may prove to be a charter for thenations of East Asia and, what is more, a charter for thesuppressed nations of the whole world. May this Joint
Declaration prove to be in the world’s history, the charter,
the new charter of liberty for the year 1943 and after.
Your Excellency, may I offer my respectfulcongratulations to yourself and to your Government for
the noble manner in which you have given us the mosteloquent proof of your bona fides and sincerity. You have
granted independence to Burma and the Philippines. You
have recognized the Provisional Government of Azad
Hind which represents a population numbering about
one-fifth of the human race. You have just entered into a
most honourable treaty with China. And what is perhaps
the most important, you have proceeded steadily and8

bravely with the task of reconstruction, while engaged in alife and death struggle with powerful and unscrupulous
enemies. I pray that Nippon a role in the creation of a newand free Asia may be fully and finally consummated. Inconclusion, I may assure Your Excellency, that if you andyour distinguished colleagues succeed in this mission, as I
hope, I trust, and I believe, you will – your names will godown in history not merely as the makers of a new Nippon,
not merely as the makers of a new East Asia, not only as
the makers of a new Asia, but as the makers and architects
of a new world.

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