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TO DELHI, TO DELHI!
July 5, 1943
Soldiers of India's Army of Liberation! Today is the, proudest day
of my life. Today it has pleased Providence to give me the unique
privilege and honour of announcing to the whole world that India's
Army of Liberation has come into being.
This
army has now been drawn up in military formation on the battlefield
of Singapore-which was once the bulwark of the British Empire. This
is not only the Army that will emancipate India from the British
yoke; it is also the Army that will hereafter create the future
national army of Free India. Every Indian must feel proud that
this Army - his own Army - has been organized entirely under Indian
leadership and that when the historic moment arrives, under Indian
leadership it will go to battle.
There are people who thought at one time that the Empire on which
the sun did not set was an everlasting empire. No such thought ever
troubled me. History had taught me that every empire has its
inevitable decline and collapse. Moreover I had seen, with my own
eyes, cities and fortresses that were once the bulwarks but which
became the graveyards of by-gone empires. Standing today on the
graveyard of the British Empire, even a child is convinced that the
almighty British Empire is already a thing of the past.
When
France declared war on Germany in 1939 and the campaign began, there
was but one cry, which rose from the lips of German soldiers---"To
Paris, To Paris!" When the brave soldiers of Nippon setout on
their march in December 1941 there was but one cry, which rose from
their lips - "To Singapore, To Singapore!" Comrades! Soldiers! Let
your battle cry be -"To Delhi, To Delhi!" How many of us will
individually survive this war of freedom, I do not know. But I do
know this, that we shall ultimately win and our task will not end
until our surviving heroes hold the victory parade on another
graveyard of this empire - the Lal Kila or Red Fortress of ancient
Delhi.
Throughout my public career, I have always felt that though India is
otherwise ripe for independence in every way, she has lacked one
thing, namely an army of liberation. George Washington of
America could fight and win freedom, because he had his army.
Garibaldi could liberate Italy, because he had his armed volunteers
behind him. It is your privilege and honour to be the first to come
forward and organize India's national army. By doing so, you have
removed the last obstacle in our path to freedom. Be happy and proud
that you are the pioneers, the vanguard, in such a noble cause.
Let
me remind you that you have a two-fold task to perform. With the
force of arms and at the cost of your blood you will have to win
liberty. Then, when India is free, you will have to organize the
permanent army of free India, whose task it will be to preserve our
liberty for all time. We must build up our national defence on such
an unshakable foundation that never again in our history shall we
lose our freedom.
As
soldiers, you will always have to cherish and live up to the three
ideals of faithfulness, duty and sacrifice. Soldiers who always
remain faithful to their nation, who are always prepared to
sacrifice their lives, are invincible. If you, too, want to be
invincible, engrave these three ideals in the innermost core of your
hearts.
A
true soldier needs both military and spiritual training. You
must all of you, so train yourselves and your comrades that every
soldier will have unbounded confidence in himself, will be conscious
of being immensely superior to the enemy, will be fearless of death,
and will have sufficient initiative to act on his own in any
critical situation should the need arise. During the course, of the
present war, you have seen with your own eyes what wonders
scientific training coupled with courage, fearlessness and dynamism,
can achieve. Learn all that you can from this example, and build up
for Mother India an absolute first-class modern army.
To
those of you who are officers, I should like to say that your
responsibility is a heavy one. Though the responsibility of an
officer in every army in this world is indeed great, it is far
greater in your case. Because of our political enslavement, we have
no tradition like that of Mukden, Port Arthur or Sedan to inspire
us. We have to unlearn some of the things that the British taught us
and we have to learn much that they did not teach. Nevertheless, I
am confident that you will rise to the occasion and fulfill the task
that your countrymen have thrown on your brave shoulders. Remember
always that officers can make or unmake an army. Remember, too, that
the British have suffered defeats on so many fronts largely because
of worthless officers. And remember also that out of your ranks will
be born the future General Staff of the Army of Free India.
To
all of you I should like to say that in the course of this war you
will have to acquire the experience and achieve the success, which
alone can build up a national tradition for our Army. An army
that has no tradition of courage, fearlessness and invincibility
cannot hold its own in a struggle with a powerful enemy.
Comrades! You have voluntarily accepted a mission that is the
noblest that the human mind can conceive of. For the fulfillment of
such a mission no sacrifice is too great, not even the sacrifice of
one's life. You are today the custodians of India's national honour
and the embodiment of India's hopes and aspirations. So conduct
yourself that your countrymen may bless you and posterity may be
proud of you.
I
have said that today, is the proudest day of my life. For an
enslaved people, there can be no greater pride, no higher honour,
than to be the first soldier in the army of liberation. But this
honour carries with it a corresponding responsibility and I am
deeply conscious of it. I assure you that I shall be with you in
darkness and in sunshine, in sorrow and in joy, in suffering and in
victory. For the present, I can offer you nothing except hunger,
thirst, privation, forced marches and death. But if you follow me in
life and in death, as I am confident you will, I shall lead you to
victory and freedom. It does not matter who among us will live to
see India free. It is enough that India shall be free and that we
shall give our all to make her free. May God now bless our Army
and grant us victory in the coming fight!
Inquilab Zindabad! Azad Hind Zindabad! |
