Ultimately Netaji was a revolutionary who wanted to set up a Government. He wished to conduct a war so that he could carry out his revolutionary ideas in India, as mentioned below-

I want a society and a state which will not only remove all the needs of the Indian people but serve as a model to the world at large. The new society will have to be built on the basis of equality. The caste system will have to be blown away. The woman will have to be freed from all shackles and endowed with rights and responsibilities equal to man. The inequalities of wealth will have to be swept away, and everyone, irrespective of creed, caste, or colour, will have to be given equal opportunities for education and self-realisation.

To get this he had to unite the people and imbibe them with a national consciousness. He appreciated that civil disobedience provided the tools to unite the people and spread the message of independence and national self-determination. Especially after the disarming of the Indian populace after the first war of independence, he believed it was a good way as shown in his broadcast on Gandhi's birthday. However now that they got weapons and everything was set, it was time to build an army.

He remarked that India needed both armed revolt and civil disobedience as satyagraha helped to paralyze the British but not throw them out. Moreover to reshape society the way he wanted he needed to inculcate a radical mindset in the people.

This was the way he wanted non-violent resistance to complement his armed struggle.