Subhas Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose (January 23, 1897 - August 18, 1945) also known as Netaji, was a Bengali Indian leader of the movement to win independence from British rule. Bose helped organize and later lead the "Indian National Army" put together with Indian prisoners-of-war from Singapore and Southeast Asia.Bose was once president of the Indian National Congress. He was elected for a second term against the wishes of senior party official Mohandas Gandhi, who supported Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Although Bose won the election, Gandhi's continued opposition led to the resignation of the Working Committee which further put pressure on Bose to finally resign.
At the start of World War II, Bose traveled to Germany to get support for Indian independence from Hitler. When this failed, he travelled to Japan, which helped him raise his army. Some of Bose's troops participated in the Japanese conquest of Burma which did in fact reach India, but were forced to pull back with Japan's retreat.
Bose and the unit's heroism is still remembered among many nationalist Indians. It is also fondly remembered by some Japanese historians who see Japanese efforts to support Bose as proof that it was fighting a war on behalf of the oppressed peoples of Asia.
Bose is supposed to have died in a plane crash over Taiwan while flying to Tokyo. There has been some evidence about his surviving the crash, and conspiracy theories abound.