184-590: Bhulabhai Desai (13 October 1877 – 6 May 1946) was an Indian independence activist and acclaimed lawyer. He is well-remembered for his defence of the three Indian National Army soldiers accused of treason during World War II , and for attempting to negotiate a secret power-sharing agreement with Liaquat Ali Khan of the Muslim League . Bhulabhai Desai was born in Valsad , Gujarat in an Anavil family. Initially schooled by his maternal uncle, Bhulabhai further studied at
368-633: A 1 rupee commemorative coin to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Quit India Movement. In 1939, Indian nationalists were angry that British Governor-General of India , Lord Linlithgow , brought India into the war without consultation with them. The Muslim League supported the war, but Congress was divided. At the outbreak of war, the Congress Party had passed a resolution during the Wardha meeting of
552-503: A copy to Bulusu Sambamurti (former Speaker of the Madras Assembly ). The telegram was published in the press, and stated: I am in receipt of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's letter of 8 July. My honest opinion is that Civil Disobedience Movement is a little pre-mature. The Congress should first concede openheartedly and with handshake to Muslim League the theoretical Pakistan , and thereafter all parties unitedly make demand of Quit India. If
736-610: A crucial role in hastening the end of British rule. Within India, the INA continues to be an emotive and celebrated subject of discussion. It continued to have a stronghold over the public psyche and the sentiments of the armed forces until as late as 1947. It has been suggested that Shah Nawaz Khan was tasked with organising INA troops to train Congress volunteers at Jawaharlal Nehru's request in late 1946 and early 1947. After 1947, several members of
920-516: A deal to obtain total co-operation during the war, in return for devolution and distribution of power from the crown and the Viceroy to an elected Indian legislature. The talks failed, as they did not address the key demand of a timetable of self-government and of the powers to be relinquished, essentially making an offer of limited dominion-status that was unacceptable to the Indian movement. In 1939, with
1104-642: A decisive shift in British policy towards independence Indian. Particularly disturbing was the overt and public support for the INA by the soldiers of the Indian Army and the mutinies. The Congress's rhetoric preceding the 1946 elections gave the Raj reasons to fear a revival of the Quit India Movement of 1942. Gandhi noted: ... the whole country has been roused ... even the regular forces have been stirred into
1288-702: A disobedience movement, as did many veteran Gandhians and socialists like Asoka Mehta and Jayaprakash Narayan . Allama Mashriqi , head of the Khaksar Tehrik , was called by Jawaharlal Nehru to join the Quit India Movement. Mashriqi was apprehensive of its outcome and did not agree with the Congress Working Committee's resolution. On 28 July 1942, Allama Mashriqi sent the following telegram to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad , Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan , Mohandas Gandhi , C. Rajagopalachari , Jawaharlal Nehru , Rajendra Prasad and Pattabhi Sitaramayya . He also sent
1472-415: A hopeless position. Many surrendered to pursuing Commonwealth forces. Isolated, losing men to exhaustion and to desertion, low on ammunition and food, and pursued by Commonwealth forces, the surviving units of the second division began an attempt to withdraw towards Rangoon. They broke through encircling Commonwealth lines a number of times before finally surrendering at various places in early April 1945. As
1656-410: A letter titled Stick to your Posts , in which he instructed Hindu Sabhaites who happened to be "members of municipalities, local bodies, legislatures or those serving in the army... to stick to their posts" across the country, and not to join the Quit India Movement at any cost. But later after requests and persuasions and realising the importance of the bigger role of Indian independence he chose to join
1840-618: A major effort in March 1945 to get the House to defeat the unpopular war budget, but he had lost political standing in his own party owing to the fallout of the Desai-Liaquat pact. He was not given a ticket to contest elections for the Constituent Assembly of India on grounds of his ill-health, but also due to feelings in the Congress that Desai had been advancing his own power and popularity while
2024-641: A man committed to the values which his office was supposed to convey to the expatriate nationalist leaders, and found acceptance among them. His initial contact was with Giani Pritam Singh and the Thai-Bharat Cultural Lodge . At the outbreak of World War II in South-East Asia , 70,000 Indian troops (mostly Sikhs ) were stationed in Malaya. In Japan's spectacular Malayan Campaign many Indian prisoners-of-war were captured, including nearly 45,000 after
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#17331157768332208-462: A minority community equal place with the majority Hindus, Desai attempted to construct an ideal Indian alliance that would hasten India's path for freedom while ending the Quit India struggle. While Desai was working without the knowledge of Gandhi, Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru or any other Congress leader, Khan had kept the deal a secret from his superior, Muhammad Ali Jinnah . When a press report leaked
2392-632: A new political consciousness and have begun to think in terms of independence ... After the war ended, the story of the INA and the Indian Legion was seen as so inflammatory that, fearing mass revolts and uprisings across its empire, the British Government forbade the BBC from broadcasting their story. The use of Indian troops for the restoration of Dutch and French rule in Vietnam and Indonesia fed into
2576-546: A quasi-military organisation called the Bengal Volunteers . Bose deplored Gandhi 's pacifism; Gandhi disagreed with Bose's confrontations with the Raj. The Congress's working committee, including Nehru, was predominantly loyal to Gandhi. While openly disagreeing with Gandhi, Bose won the presidency of Indian National Congress twice in the 1930s. His second victory came despite opposition from Gandhi. He defeated Gandhi's favoured candidate, Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya , in
2760-504: A resolution condemning the aggressive activities of the Germans. At the same time, the resolution also stated that India could not associate herself with war unless it was consulted first. Responding to this declaration, the Viceroy issued a statement on 17 October wherein he claimed that Britain was waging a war driven with the intention of strengthening peace in the world. He also stated that after
2944-771: A scholarship for standing first in History and Political Economy. He did his MA in English from the University of Bombay . Bhulabhai was appointed Professor of English and History in the Gujarat College, Ahmedabad. While teaching he also studied law. Desai enrolled as an advocate at the Bombay High Court in 1905, and became one of the city's and later the nation's leading lawyers. Bhulabhai began his political career with joining Annie Besant 's All India Home Rule League . He had joined
3128-428: A selected group in order to preserve discipline in the Indian Army and to award punishment for criminal acts where these had occurred. As news of the army spread within India, it began to draw widespread sympathy support and admiration from Indians. Newspaper reports around November 1945 reported executions of INA troops, which worsened the already volatile situation. Increasingly violent confrontations broke out between
3312-620: A series of meetings between the INA leaders and the Japanese in 1943, it was decided to cede the leadership of the IIL and the INA to Bose. In January 1943, the Japanese invited Bose to lead the Indian nationalist movement in East Asia. He accepted and left Germany on 8 February. After a three-month journey by submarine and a short stop in Singapore, he reached Tokyo on 11 May 1943. In Tokyo, he met Hideki Tojo ,
3496-458: A single word citing his "Maunvrata" (a fast wherein people do not speak for a designated period of time). When three captured Indian National Army (INA) officers, Shahnawaz Khan , Prem Kumar Sahgal and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon were put on trial for treason, the Congress formed a Defence committee composed of 17 advocates including Bhulabhai Desai. The court-martial hearing began in October 1945 at
3680-544: A substantial number of men and amount of materiel in this retreat. A number of units were disbanded or used to feed into new divisions. As the Allied Burma campaign began the following year, the INA remained committed to the defence of Burma and was a part of the Japanese defensive deployments. The Second Division was tasked with the defence of Irrawaddy and the adjoining areas around Nangyu, and offered opposition to Messervy 's 7th Indian Division when it attempted to cross
3864-655: A well known and widely respected public figure in India. In 1971, she joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and was later elected the leader of the All India Democratic Women's Association . Joyce Lebra , an American historian, wrote that the rejuvenation of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam , then a fledgling Tamil political party in southern India, would not have been possible without participation of INA members. Some accounts suggest that
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#17331157768334048-492: Is considered to have comprised about 40,000 troops, of whom about 4,000 withdrew when it was disbanded in December 1942. The Second INA started with 12,000 troops. Further recruitment of former Indian Army personnel added about 8,000–10,000. About 18,000 Indian civilians also enlisted during this time. Belle estimates almost 20,000 were local Malayan Indians, while another 20,000 were ex-British-Indian Army members who volunteered for
4232-598: Is named after the INA and houses the Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology . Quit India movement Indian nationalists [REDACTED] British Empire Supported by: [REDACTED] Mahatma Gandhi [REDACTED] Jawaharlal Nehru [REDACTED] Abdul Ghaffar Khan [REDACTED] Winston Churchill [REDACTED] Lord Linlithgow [REDACTED] Muhammad Ali Jinnah [REDACTED] Vinayak Damodar Savarkar [REDACTED] Puran Chand Joshi The Quit India Movement
4416-413: Is the basis of the movement. The guidelines of the movement that prevailed throughout the movement included disobedience of law, general strike among students, general strike amongst labour, formations of free Government, breaking of communications, refusal to pay taxes and others. On 8 November 1942, Congress told people to perform ten duties 'without any risk': Several political groups active during
4600-565: The Allied retaking of Burma . After the INA's initial formation in 1942, there was concern in the British Indian Army that further Indian troops would defect. This led to a reporting ban and a propaganda campaign called " Jiffs " to preserve the loyalty of the Sepoy . Historians consider the INA not to have had significant influence on the war. The British Raj , never seriously threatened by
4784-513: The Archaeological Survey of India inside the fort in 1995. The Indian National Army Memorial at Moirang, Manipur, commemorates the place where the flag of Azad Hind was raised by Col. Shaukat Hayat Malik. Moirang was the first Indian territory captured by the INA. The INA War Memorial at Singapore commemorating the "Unknown Warrior" of the INA was unveiled by Bose in July 1945. Situated at
4968-534: The Axis Powers , conducted a guerrilla war against the British authorities. Viceroy Linlithgow remarked the movement to be "by far the most serious rebellion since 1857". In his telegram to Winston Churchill on 31 August he noted: I am engaged here in meeting by far the most serious rebellion since that of 1857, the gravity and extent of which we have so far concealed from the world for reasons of military security. Mob violence remains rampant over large tracts of
5152-582: The Bidadary resolutions — were demanded of Japan; these would have amounted to a treaty with an independent government. In this time, F. Kikan had been replaced by the Iwakuro Kikan (or I Kikan) headed by Hideo Iwakuro . Iwakuro's working relationship with the league was more tenuous. Japan did not immediately agree to the demands arising from the Bidadary resolutions. Differences also existed between Rash Behari and
5336-604: The British Indian Army captured by Japan in the Malayan campaign and at Singapore . This first INA, which had been handed over to Rash Behari Bose and Mohan Singh, collapsed and was disbanded in December that year after differences between its leadership and the Japanese military over its role in Japan's war in Asia. The INA was handed over to Subhas Chandra Bose . It was revived under
5520-585: The British West African Division . A Bahadur Group unit, led by Col. Shaukat Malik , took the border enclave of Moirang in early April. The main body of the 1st Division was however committed to the U-Go , directed towards Manipur. Led by Shah Nawaz Khan, it successfully protected the Japanese flanks against Chin and Kashin guerrillas as Renya Mutaguchi 's three divisions crossed the Chindwin river and
5704-863: The Dewan Negara of the Malaysian Parliament . Rasammah Bhupalan , also of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, later became a well-known welfare-activist and a widely respected champion for women's rights in Malaysia . The INA was known as the puppet army of the Japanese empire. In early days, the officers in the INA distrusted the Japanese. Leaders of the first INA sought formal assurances from Japan before committing to war. When these did not arrive, Mohan Singh resigned after ordering his army to disband; he expected to be sentenced to death. After Bose established Azad Hind , he tried to establish his political independence from
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5888-621: The Esplanade Park , it was destroyed on Mountbatten's orders when Allied troops reoccupied the city. In 1995, the National Heritage Board of Singapore, with financial donations from the Indian community in Singapore, erected the Former Indian National Army Monument at the site where the old memorial stood. The site is now officially one of the historical sites of Singapore. The INA's battle cry , Jai Hind ,
6072-526: The Free India Legion and the Azad Hind Radio . The Japanese ambassador, Oshima Hiroshi , kept Tokyo informed of these developments. From the very start of the war, the Japanese intelligence services noted from speaking to captured Indian soldiers that Bose was held in extremely high regard as a nationalist and was considered by Indian soldiers to be the right person to be leading a rebel army. In
6256-538: The Gangetic plain , where it would work as a guerrilla army. This army was expected to live off the land, with captured British supplies, support, and personnel from the local population. The plans chosen by Bose and Masakazu Kawabe , chief of the Burma area army, envisaged the INA being assigned an independent sector in the U-Go offensive. No INA units were to operate at less than battalion strength. For operational purposes,
6440-601: The Indian Independence Movement were opposed to the Quit India Movement. These included the Muslim League , the Hindu Mahasabha and princely states as below: Hindu nationalist parties like the Hindu Mahasabha openly opposed the call for the Quit India Movement and boycotted it officially. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar , the president of the Hindu Mahasabha at that time, even went to the extent of writing
6624-653: The Indian Liberal Party , supportive of British influences, but came out in opposition of the all-European Simon Commission formed in 1928 by the British to formulate constitutional reforms in India. His connection with the Indian National Congress began when he represented the farmers of Gujarat in the inquiry by the British Government following the Bardoli Satyagraha in 1928. The satyagraha
6808-478: The Indian National Congress in the immediate aftermath of Indian independence, some of the members of the INA were denied freedom fighter status by the Government of India. Before the start of World War II, Japan and South-East Asia were major refuges for exiled Indian nationalists. Meanwhile, Japan had sent intelligence missions , notably under Maj. Iwaichi Fujiwara , into South Asia to gather support from
6992-468: The Jiffs campaign promoted the view that INA recruits were weak-willed and traitorous Axis collaborators, motivated by selfish interests of greed and personal gain. He concludes that the allegations of torture were largely products of the Jiffs campaign. He supports his conclusion by noting that isolated cases of torture had occurred, but allegations of widespread practice of torture were not substantiated in
7176-486: The Naga Hills , and participated in the main offensive through Tamu in the direction of Imphal and Kohima . The 2nd Division, under M.Z. Kiani, was placed to the right flank of the 33rd Division attacking Kohima. However, by the time Khan's forces left Tamu, the offensive had been held, and Khan's troops were redirected to Kohima. After reaching Ukhrul, near Kohima, they found Japanese forces had begun their withdrawal from
7360-600: The Quit India movement . While Mohandas Gandhi and the entire Congress Working Committee had been arrested during the Quit India movement, from 1942 to 1945, Desai was one of few Congress leaders free. While pressing demands for the immediate release of political prisoners, Desai began secretive talks with Liaquat Ali Khan , the second-most important leader of the Muslim League . However this assertion has been seriously challenged by other eminent people like Sir Chiman Lal Setalwad who have stated that Gandhi had full knowledge of
7544-672: The Red Fort in Delhi. Claude Auchinleck , the Commander-in-Chief of the British-Indian army, hoped that by holding public trials in the Red Fort, public opinion would turn against the INA if the media reported stories of torture and collaborationism, helping him settle a political as well as military question. Those to stand trials were accused variously of murder, torture and "waging war against
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7728-524: The Red Fort . Bhulabhai was the leading counsel for the defence. Undeterred by poor health, Bhulabhai made an emphatic and passionate argument in defence of the charged soldiers. He worked for three months at a stretch. He cited international law in his arguments, arguing that the accused were entitled to take up arms to gain independence for their country under the order of the Provisional Government which Subhas Bose had established and which had
7912-485: The Tokyo Boys , was also sent to Japan's Imperial Military Academy, where its members trained as fighter pilots. A separate all-female unit was also created under Lakshmi Sahgal . This unit was intended to have combat-commitments. Named Jhansi ki Rani ("Jhansi Queens") Regiment (after the legendary rebel Queen Lakshmibai of the 1857 rebellion ), it drew female civilian volunteers from Malaya and Burma. The 1st Division
8096-556: The United States strongly supported Indian independence, in principle, and believed the U.S. was an ally. However, after Churchill threatened to resign if pushed too hard, the U.S. quietly supported him while bombarding Indians with propaganda designed to strengthen public support of the war effort. The poorly run American operation annoyed the Indians. In March 1942, faced with a dissatisfied sub-continent only reluctantly participating in
8280-796: The fall of Singapore alone. The conditions of service within the British-Indian Army and the social conditions in Malaya had led to dissension among these troops. From these prisoners, the First Indian National Army was formed under Mohan Singh . Singh was an officer in the British-Indian Army who was captured early in the Malayan campaign. His nationalist sympathies found an ally in Fujiwara and he received considerable Japanese aid and support. Ethnic Indians in Southeast Asia also supported
8464-406: The " Jiffs " propaganda campaign and to create " Josh " groups to improve the morale and preserve the loyalty of the sepoys as consolidation began to prepare for the defence of Manipur. These measures included imposing a complete news ban on Bose and the INA that was not lifted until four days after the fall of Rangoon two years later. During the Japanese U-Go offensive towards Manipur in 1944,
8648-411: The 2nd Guerrilla Regiment (the Gandhi Brigade ) consisting of two battalions under Col. Inayat Kiani; the 3rd Guerrilla Regiment (the Azad Brigade ) with three battalions under Col. Gulzara Singh; and the 4th Guerrilla Regiment (or Nehru Brigade ) commanded by the end of the war by Lt. Col Gurubaksh Singh Dhillon . The 1st Guerrilla Regiment – the Subhas Brigade – under Col. Shah Nawaz Khan
8832-436: The Americans, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressured Prime Minister Winston Churchill to give in to some of the Indian demands. The movement included boycotting the British government and rejection of transactions involving the government. Various violent incidents took place around the country against the British regime. The British arrested tens of thousands of leaders, keeping them imprisoned until 1945. Ultimately,
9016-409: The Avabai School in Valsad and the Bharda High School in Bombay , from where he matriculated in 1895, standing first in his school. He married Ichchhaben while still in school. They had one son, Dhirubhai, but Ichchhaben died of cancer in 1923. He then joined the Elphinstone College in Bombay from where he graduated in high standing in English literature and history. He won the Wordsworth Prize and
9200-415: The British could reestablish their writ in the district. Of special importance in Saurashtra (in western Gujarat) was the role of the region's 'baharvatiya' tradition (i.e. going outside the law) which abetted the sabotage activities of the movement there. In Adas village in Kaira district , six people died and many more wounded in police shooting incident . In rural west Bengal, the Quit India Movement
9384-421: The British empire in defeat than it had been during its ill-fated triumphal march on Delhi." The Viceroy's journal describes the autumn and winter of 1945–1946 as "The Edge of a Volcano". The setting of the trial at Red Fort was taken by Indian public as a deliberate taunt by the British Raj over the vanquished INA, recalling the INA's battle cries of unfurling the Indian tricolour over the Red Fort. Many compared
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#17331157768339568-426: The British government realised that India was ungovernable in the long run, and the issue for the postwar era became how to exit gracefully and peacefully. The movement ended in 1945 with the release of jailed freedom fighters. Martyrs of this freedom movement include Mukunda Kakati , Matangini Hazra , Kanaklata Barua , Kushal Konwar , Bhogeswari Phukanani and others. In 1992, the Reserve Bank of India issued
9752-400: The British might gain, but for the maintenance of the defence and freedom of the province itself. You, as Governor, will function as the constitutional head of the province and will be guided entirely on the advice of your Minister. The Muslim League and Muhammad Ali Jinnah opposed the movement. Jinnah supported British war effort in the world war. The Communist Party of India opposed
9936-456: The British refuse, start total disobedience. The resolution said: The committee, therefore, resolves to sanction for the vindication of India's inalienable right to freedom and independence, the starting of a mass struggle on non-violent lines on the widest possible scale, so that the country might utilise all the non-violent strength it has gathered during the last 22 years of peaceful struggle... they [the people] must remember that non-violence
10120-491: The British sovereign. Peter Fay points out that at least one INA prisoner – Burhan-ud-Din a brother of the ruler of Chitral – may have deserved to be accused of torture, but his trial had been deferred on administrative grounds. Those charged after the first celebrated courts-martial only faced trial for torture and murder or abetment of murder. Charges of treason were dropped for fear of inflaming public opinion. In spite of aggressive and widespread opposition to
10304-447: The British-Indian Army and sympathy within the British-Indian forces. Support for the INA crossed communal barriers to the extent that it was the last major campaign in which the Congress and the Muslim League aligned together; the Congress tricolour and the green flag of the League were flown together at protests. The Congress quickly came forward to defend soldiers of the INA who were to be court-martialled. The INA Defence Committee
10488-478: The British-Indian Army to overthrow the Raj. Moreover, the Forward Bloc underground movement within India had been crushed well before the offensives opened in the Burma–Manipur theatre, depriving the army of any organised internal support. However, despite its small numerical strength and lack of heavy weapons, its special services group played a significant part in halting the First Arakan Offensive while still under Mohan Singh's command. The propaganda threat of
10672-510: The British-Indian Army, non-commissioned Officers started ignoring orders from British superiors. In Madras and Pune British garrisons faced revolts from within the ranks of the British-Indian Army. These were suppressed by force. At the conclusion of the first trial, when the sentences of deportation were commuted, Fay records Claude Auchinleck as having sent a "personal and secret" letter to all senior British officers, explaining: ... practically all are sure that any attempt to enforce
10856-462: The Congress leadership was imprisoned. This should be kept in mind that at that time many a proceedings of the Indian National Congress were shrouded in secrecy and people like Sir Chiman Lal Setalwad have time and again asserted that Gandhi had full knowledge of the Desai-Liaquat pact and was in fact the silent force behind the negotiations. It is also a matter worth note that when Desai was on his death bed, Gandhi went to meet him and did not speak
11040-430: The Congress, this movement will fail to take root in the province. It should be possible for us, especially responsible Ministers, to be able to tell the public that the freedom for which the Congress has started the movement, already belongs to the representatives of the people. In some spheres it might be limited during the emergency. Indian have to trust the British, not for the sake for Britain, not for any advantage that
11224-401: The Congress. In the late 1920s, he was amongst the first Congress leaders to call for complete independence from Britain ( Purna Swaraj ), rather than the previous Congress objective of India becoming a British dominion . In Bengal, he was repeatedly accused by Raj officials of working with the revolutionary movement . Under his leadership, the Congress youth group in Bengal was organised into
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#173311577683311408-511: The Conservatives were forced to concede some of the demands made by the Indians. On 8 August, the Viceroy issued a statement that has come to be referred to as the " August Offer ". However, Congress rejected the offer followed by the Muslim League. In the context of the widespread dissatisfaction that prevailed over the rejection of the demands made by the Congress, at the meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Wardha, Gandhi revealed his plan to launch individual civil disobedience. Once again,
11592-404: The Fazlul Haq led Bengal Government, along with its alliance partner Hindu Mahasabha, would make every possible effort to defeat the Quit India Movement in the province of Bengal and made a concrete proposal as regards this: The question is how to combat this movement (Quit India) in Bengal? The administration of the province should be carried on in such a manner that in spite of the best efforts of
11776-442: The First INA consisted of a mix of recruits joining for various reasons, such as nationalistic leanings, Mohan Singh's appeals, personal ambition or to protect men under their own command from harm. Fay notes some officers like Shah Nawaz Khan were opposed to Mohan Singh's ideas and tried to hinder what they considered a collaborationist organisation. However, both historians note that Indian civilians and former INA soldiers all cite
11960-405: The Free India Legion. By November, around 12,000 INA prisoners were held in these camps; they were released according to the "colours". By December, around 600 Whites were released per week. The process to select those to face trial started. The British-Indian Army intended to implement appropriate internal disciplinary action against its soldiers who had joined the INA, whilst putting to trial
12144-433: The IIL peaked at 350,000, while almost 100,000 local Indians in South-east Asia volunteered to join the INA, with the army ultimately reaching a force of 50,000. Hugh Toye — a British Intelligence officer and author of a 1959 history of the army called The Springing Tiger — and American historian Peter Fay (author of a 1993 history called The Forgotten Army ) have reached similar estimates of troop strength. The first INA
12328-414: The INA and lack of concrete intelligence on the unit early after the fall of Singapore made it a threat to Allied war plans in Southeast Asia, since it threatened to destroy the Sepoys' loyalty to a British-Indian Army that was demoralised from continuing defeats. There were reports of INA operatives successfully infiltrating Commonwealth lines during the Offensive. This caused British intelligence to begin
12512-420: The INA and the League on the one hand and the Japanese on the other. The INA leadership resigned along with that of the League (except Rash Behari). The unit was dissolved by Mohan Singh in December 1942, and he ordered the troops of the INA to return to PoW camps. Mohan Singh was expected to be shot. Between December 1942 and February 1943, Rash Behari struggled to hold the INA together. On 15 February 1943,
12696-407: The INA began a long march overland and on foot towards Bangkok. In what has been called an "epic retreat to safety", Bose walked with his troops, refusing to leave them despite Japanese soldiers finding him transport. The withdrawing forces regularly suffered casualties from Allied planes strafing them and in clashes with Aung San 's Burmese resistance, as well as from Chinese guerrillas who harassed
12880-411: The INA played a crucial (and successful) role in diversionary attacks in Arakan and in the Manipur Basin itself, where it fought alongside Mutaguchi's 15th Army. INA forces protected the flanks of the assaulting Yamamoto force at a critical time as the latter attempted to take Imphal. During the Commonwealth Burma Campaign, the INA troops fought in the battles of Irrawaddy and Meiktilla , supporting
13064-419: The INA veterans were involved in training civilian resistance forces against the Nizam 's Razakars prior to the execution of Operation Polo and annexation of Hyderabad. It has been also documented that some INA veterans led Pakistani irregulars during the First Kashmir war . Mohammed Zaman Kiani served as Pakistan's political agent to Gilgit in the late 1950s. Of the very few ex-INA members who joined
13248-475: The INA was to be subordinate to the IIL. A working council – composed of prominent members of the League and the INA leaders – was to decide on decisions to send the INA to war. The Indian leaders feared that they would appear to be Japanese puppets, so a decision was taken that the INA would go to battle only when the Indian National Congress called it to do so. Assurances of non-interference— later termed
13432-697: The INA who were closely associated with Subhas Bose and with the INA trials were prominent in public life. A number of them held important positions in independent India, serving as ambassadors immediately after independence: Abid Hasan in Egypt and Denmark, A. C. N. Nambiar in the Federal Republic of Germany , Mehboob Hasan in Canada, Cyril John Stracey in the Netherlands, and N. Raghavan in Switzerland. Mohan Singh
13616-529: The INA's regimental march Qadam Qadam Badhaye Ja , has been credited by some for the modern tune of the Indian national anthem . Gurubaksh Singh Dhillon and Lakshmi Sahgal were later awarded the Indian civilian honours of Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan respectively by the Indian Government in the 1990s. Lakshmi Sahgal was nominated for the Indian presidential election by communist parties in 2002. She
13800-709: The INA, charged 300 INA officers with treason in the INA trials , but eventually backtracked in the face of opposition by the Congress. These trials became a galvanising point in the Indian Independence movement for the Indian National Congress. A number of people associated with the INA during the war later went on to hold important roles in public life in India as well as in other countries in Southeast Asia, most notably Lakshmi Sehgal in India, and John Thivy and Janaki Athinahappan in Malaya. The military unit
13984-665: The INA. The exact organisation of the INA and its precise troop strength is not known, since its records were destroyed by the withdrawing Azad Hind Government before Rangoon was recaptured by Commonwealth forces in 1945. The order of battle described by Fay (constructed from discussions with INA-veterans), nonetheless, is similar to that described of the first INA by Toye in The Springing Tiger . The 1st Division, under M.Z. Kiani, drew many ex-Indian army prisoners of war who had joined Mohan Singh's first INA. It also drew prisoners of war who had not joined in 1942. It consisted of
14168-802: The INA; and Whites , those who were pressured into joining the INA under the circumstances but with no commitment to Azad Hind , INA, or Bose. By July 1945, a large number had been shipped back to India. At the time of the fall of Japan, the remaining captured troops were transported to India via Rangoon. Large numbers of local Malay and Burmese volunteers, including the recruits to the Rani of Jhansi regiment, returned to civilian life and were not identified. Those repatriated passed through transit camps in Chittagong and Calcutta to be held at detention camps all over India including Jhingergacha and Nilganj near Calcutta, Kirkee outside Pune, Attock , Multan and at Bahadurgarh near Delhi. Bahadurgarh also held prisoners of
14352-575: The Indian Armed Forces after 1947 R. S. Benegal , a member of the Tokyo Boys, joined the Indian Air Force in 1952 and later rose to be an air commodore . Benegal saw action in both 1965 and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 , earning a Maha Vir Chakra , India's second-highest award for valour. Among other prominent members of the INA, Ram Singh Thakur , composer of a number of songs including
14536-542: The Indian independence movement. Following the Hindu Mahasabha's official decision to boycott the Quit India movement, Syama Prasad Mukherjee , leader of the Hindu Mahasabha in Bengal, (which was a part of the ruling coalition in Bengal led by Krishak Praja Party of Fazlul Haq ), wrote a letter to the British Government as to how they should respond, if the Congress gave a call to the British rulers to quit India. In this letter, dated 26 July 1942 he wrote: Let me now refer to
14720-559: The Japanese army to the India-Burma border, responded by imprisoning Gandhi. All the members of the Party's Working Committee (national leadership) were imprisoned as well. Due to the arrest of major leaders, a young and until then relatively unknown Aruna Asaf Ali presided over the AICC session on 9 August and hoisted the flag; later the Congress party was banned. These actions only created sympathy for
14904-423: The Japanese offensive and tying down Commonwealth troops. The first INA trial, which was held in public, became a rallying point for the independence movement from the autumn of 1945. The release of INA prisoners and the suspension of the trials came to be the dominant political campaign, superseding the campaign for independence. Christopher Bayly notes that the "INA was to become a much more powerful enemy of
15088-535: The Japanese prime minister, and the Japanese High Command. He then arrived in Singapore in July 1943, where he made a number of radio broadcasts to Indians in Southeast Asia exhorting them to join in the fight for India's independence. On 4 July 1943 two days after reaching Singapore, Bose assumed the leadership of the IIL and the Indian National Army in a ceremony at Cathay Building. Bose's influence
15272-599: The Japanese situation became precarious, the Azad Hind government withdrew from Rangoon to Singapore, along with the remnants of the 1st Division and the Rani of Jhansi Regiment. Nearly 6,000 troops of the surviving units of the INA remained in Rangoon under A. D. Loganathan . They surrendered as Rangoon fell and helped keep order until the Allied forces entered the city. As the Japanese withdrawal from Burma progressed, other remnants of
15456-539: The Japanese troops. Bose returned to Singapore in August to what remained of the INA and Azad Hind . He wished to stay with his government in Singapore to surrender to the British, reasoning that a trial in India and possible execution would ignite the country, serving the independence movement. He was convinced not to do so by the Azad Hind cabinet. At the time of Japan's surrender in September 1945, Bose left for Dalian near
15640-454: The Japanese were interested in maintaining the support of a man who had been able to mobilise large numbers of Indian expatriates – including, most importantly, 40,000 of the 45,000 Indians captured by the Japanese at Singapore. However, Faye notes that interactions between soldiers in the field was different. Attempts to use Shah Nawaz's troops in road building and as porters angered the troops, forcing Bose to intervene with Mutaguchi. After
15824-482: The King-Emperor". However, the first and most celebrated joint courts-martial – those of Prem Sahgal, Gurubaksh Singh Dhillon and Shah Nawaz Khan – were not the story of torture and murder Auchinleck had hoped to tell the Indian press and people. The accusations against them included the alleged murder of their comrades-in-arms in the INA whilst in Burma. Peter Fay highlights in his book The Forgotten Army that
16008-467: The League, not least because Rash Behari had lived in Japan for the considerable time and had a Japanese wife and a son in the Imperial Japanese Army. On the other hand, Mohan Singh expected military strategy and decisions to be autonomous decisions for the INA, independent of the league. In November and December 1942, concern about Japan's intentions towards the INA led to disagreement between
16192-510: The Malayan sultans, overseas Chinese, the Burmese resistance and the Indian independence movement . The Minami Kikan successfully recruited Burmese nationalists , while the F Kikan was successful in establishing contacts with Indian nationalists in exile in Thailand and Malaya . Fujiwara, later self-described as "Lawrence of the Indian National Army" (after Lawrence of Arabia ) is said to have been
16376-559: The Muslims of the country wanted a separate electorate, Pakistan. Meanwhile, crucial political events took place in England. Chamberlain was succeeded by Churchill as prime minister. This meant that the Marquis of Zetland who had piloted the 1935 Act, much to Churchill's chagrin, resigned as Secretary of State for India. In order to pacify the Indians in the circumstance of the worsening war situation,
16560-479: The Parachute Regiment refused to obey orders from their officers. Authors like Nilanjana Sengupta attribute these to a combination of dissatisfaction over pay and work conditions and conflicts of comradeship over the INA trials. Former INA members in Malaya identified closely with the left-wing organisations in opposing British colonial authority. The majority of prominent left-wing union leaders in Malaya after
16744-466: The Quit India movement and supported the British war effort after Soviet Union was under attack. While the movement had impact on princely states, some princes opposed the movement and funded the opposition. The movement significantly impacted military preparations of British Empire during the World War II as 57 infantry battalions were used to quell protests for months when they had to be used in
16928-658: The Soviet border in Japanese-occupied China to attempt to contact the advancing Soviet troops, and was reported to have died in an air crash near Taiwan. The remaining INA troops surrendered under the command of M.Z. Kiani to British-Indian forces at Singapore. Even before the end of the war in South Asia, the INA prisoners who were falling into Allied hands were being evaluated by forwarding intelligence units for potential trials. Almost fifteen hundred had been captured in
17112-716: The Subhas Brigade was placed under the command of the Japanese General Headquarters in Burma. Advance parties of the Bahadur Group also went forward with advanced Japanese units. As the offensive opened, the INA's 1st Division, consisting of four guerrilla regiments, was divided between U Go and the diversionary Ha-Go offensive in Arakan . One battalion reached as far as Mowdok in Chittagong after breaking through
17296-515: The War Department, later wrote that "in a matter of weeks ... in a wave of nationalist emotion, the INA were acclaimed heroes who fought for the freedom of India." The three accused were from the three major religions of India: Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism. Indians felt the INA represented a true, secular, national army when judged against the British-Indian Army, where caste and religious differences were preserved amongst ranks. The opening of
17480-553: The advancing Maratha Light Infantry on the Burma–India road while the general withdrawal was prepared. The 2nd and 3rd INA regiments protected the flanks of the Yamamoto force successfully at the most critical time during this withdrawal, but wounded and diseased men succumbed to starvation along the route. Commonwealth troops following the Japanese forces found INA dead along with Japanese troops who had died of starvation. The INA lost
17664-491: The aim of building a boycott by Indian companies of foreign goods. The Sabha was declared illegal and he was arrested in 1932 for his activities. While in jail, Bhulabhai Desai was constantly ill. On his release on health grounds, he went to Europe for treatment. When the Congress Working Committee was reorganised, at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's insistence Desai was included in the committee. In November 1934, Desai
17848-517: The already growing resentment within the forces. Indian troops sent to suppress Sukarno 's agitations in Indonesia in 1946 rapidly identified with the nationalist sentiments in the previous Dutch colony. The South East Asia Command reported growing sympathy for the INA and dislike of the Dutch. There were similar pro-nationalist sentiments among Indian troops sent to Vietnam, Thailand and Burma. This led to
18032-444: The area. The INA's forces suffered the same fate as Mutaguchi's army when the siege of Imphal was broken. With little or nothing in the way of supplies, and with additional difficulties caused by the monsoon, Allied air dominance, and Burmese irregular forces, the 1st and 2nd divisions began withdrawing alongside the 15th Army and Burma Area Army . During the withdrawal through Manipur, a weakened Gandhi regiment held its position against
18216-643: The army itself was put under the command of Lt. Col. M.Z. Kiani . A policy forming body was formed with Lt. Col J.R. Bhonsle (Director of the Military Bureau) in charge and clearly placed under the authority of the IIL. Under Bhonsle served Lt. Col. Shah Nawaz Khan as Chief of General Staff, Major P.K. Sahgal as Military Secretary, Major Habib ur Rahman as commandant of the Officers' Training School and Lt. Col. A.C. Chatterji (later Major A.D. Jahangir) as head of enlightenment and culture. Subhas Chandra Bose
18400-471: The battles at Irrawaddy and later around Popa. Fay specifically discusses Slim's portrayal of the INA, pointing out what he concludes to be inconsistencies in Slim's accounts. Fay also discusses memoirs of Shah Nawaz, where Khan claims INA troops were never defeated in battle. Fay criticises this too as exaggerated. He concludes the opinions held by Commonwealth war veterans such as Slim were an inaccurate portrayal of
18584-496: The battles of Imphal and Kohima and the subsequent withdrawal, while larger numbers surrendered or were captured during the 14th Army's Burma Campaign. A total of 16,000 of the INA's 43,000 recruits were captured, of whom around 11,000 were interrogated by the Combined Services Directorate of Investigation Corps (CSDIC). The number of prisoners necessitated this selective policy which anticipated trials of those with
18768-611: The cause among the population. Despite lack of direct leadership, large protests and demonstrations were held all over the country. Workers remained absent in large groups and strikes were called. The demonstrations sometimes turned violent. At some places bombs exploded, government buildings were set on fire, electricity was cut, and transport and communication lines were severed. The British swiftly responded with mass detentions. Over 100,000 arrests were made, mass fines were levied, and demonstrators were subjected to public flogging. Hundreds of civilians were killed in violence many shot by
18952-539: The cause of Indian independence and had formed local leagues in Malaya before the war. These came together with encouragement from Japan after the occupation, forming the Indian Independence League (IIL). Although there were a number of prominent local Indians working in the IIL, the overall leadership came to rest with Rash Behari Bose , an Indian revolutionary who had lived in self-exile in Japan since World War I. The League and INA leadership decided that
19136-482: The charges against defendants in the Red Fort trials. Published memoirs of several veterans, including that of William Slim , portray the INA troops as incapable fighters and as untrustworthy. Toye noted in 1959 that individual desertions occurred in the withdrawal from Imphal. Fay concluded that stories of INA desertions during the battle and the initial retreat into Burma were largely exaggerated. The majority of desertions occurred much later, according to Fay, around
19320-582: The command of the Japanese Empire . It was founded by Mohan Singh in September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II . It fought under the command of the Japanese military in the British campaign in the Southeast Asian theatre of WWII , with its aim to secure Indian independence from British rule . The army was first formed in 1942 under Mohan Singh by Indian prisoners of war (PoWs) of
19504-484: The complex task of formulating a formal plan for captured men. After Singapore was retaken, Mountbatten ordered the INA's war memorial to its fallen soldiers to be blown up. As the story of the INA unfolded in post-war India, the view of Indian soldiers on the INA ;– and on their own position during the war – also changed. The Raj observed with increasing disquiet and unease the spread of pro-INA sympathies within
19688-433: The continuation of the court-martial, it was completed. All three defendants were found guilty in many of the charges and sentenced to deportation for life. The sentence, however, was never carried out. Immense public pressure, demonstrations, and riots forced Claude Auchinleck to release all three defendants. Within three months, 11,000 soldiers of the INA were released after cashiering and forfeiture of pay and allowance. On
19872-405: The country as a market and source of revenue had left the Indian Army relatively weak and poorly armed and trained and forced the British to become net contributors to India's budget, while taxes were sharply increased and the general level of prices doubled: although many Indian businesses benefited from increased war production, in general business "felt rebuffed by the government" and in particular
20056-485: The countryside and I am by no means confident that we may not see in September a formidable attempt to renew this widespread sabotage of our war effort. The lives of Europeans in outlying places are in jeopardy. When American Republican presidential candidate Wendell Willkie and YMCA official Sherwood Eddy planned to meet Gandhi, Linlithgow deemed it to be American interference in "our own business" and asked Churchill to dissuade them. The Indian nationalists knew that
20240-590: The creation of the Bhulabhai Memorial Institute in Bombay. M.C. Setalwad authored his biography, Bhulabhai Desai . Bhulabhai Desai Road in Mumbai is named after him. Indian National Army The Indian National Army ( INA ; Azad Hind Fauj / ˈ ɑː z ɑː ð ˈ h i n ð ˈ f ɔː dʒ / ; lit. 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed unit of Indian collaborators that fought under
20424-444: The establishment of Dominion, the establishment of a Constituent Assembly, and right of the provinces to make separate constitutions. However, these were to be only implemented after the cessation of the World War II. According to Congress, this declaration offered India an only promise that was to be fulfilled in the future. Commenting on this Gandhi said, "It is a post-dated cheque on a crashing bank." Other factors that contributed were
20608-546: The experience of the INA was useful in challenging British authority in the post-war period in Malaya, and in improving the socio-economic conditions of the Indian community. British and Commonwealth troops viewed the recruits as traitors and Axis collaborators . Almost 40,000 Indian soldiers in Malaya did not join the army and remained as PoWs. Many were sent to work in the Death Railway , suffered hardships and nearly 11,000 died under Japanese internment. Many of them cited
20792-512: The first place – made it known that they would be willing to join the INA only if it was led by Subhas Bose. Bose was a nationalist. He had joined the Gandhian movement after resigning from a prestigious post in the Indian Civil Service in 1922, quickly rising in the Congress and being incarcerated repeatedly by the Raj. By late 1920s he and Nehru were considered the future leaders of
20976-576: The first trial saw violence and a series of riots in a scale later described as "sensational". The Indian National Congress and the Muslim League both made the release of the INA prisoners an important political issue during the campaign for independence in 1945–1946. Lahore in Diwali 1946 remained dark as the traditional earthen lamps lit on Diwali were not lit by families in support of prisoners. In addition to civilian campaigns of non-cooperation and non-violent protest, protest spread to include mutinies within
21160-529: The form of National Union of Plantation Workers was led by ex-INA leaders. In Malaya, notable members of the INA were involved in founding the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) in 1946; John Thivy was the founding president. Janaky Athi Nahappan , second-in-command of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, was also a founding member of the MIC and later became a noted welfare activist and a distinguished senator in
21344-408: The initial defence was based on the argument that they should be treated as prisoners of war as they were not paid mercenaries but bona fide soldiers of a legal government – Bose's Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind . Nehru argued that "however misinformed or otherwise they had been in their notion of patriotic duty towards their country", they recognized the free Indian state as their sovereign and not
21528-533: The instructions. The resignation of the ministers was an occasion of great joy and rejoicing for the leader of the Muslim League, Muhammad Ali Jinnah . He called the date i.e. 22 December 1939 The Day of Deliverance . Gandhi urged Jinnah against the celebration of this day, however, it was futile. At the Muslim League Lahore Session held in March 1940, Jinnah declared in his presidential address that
21712-470: The leader of all elected Congressman, thus becoming the majority leader. He built much respect and standing by forcefully leading the first elected representation of the Congress. At the onset of World War II , the Congress opposed the arbitrary inclusion of India and Indian soldiers in the war effort. Bhulabhai Desai considered it important to use the Central Assembly to clarify the Congress attitude to
21896-475: The leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose after his arrival in Southeast Asia in 1943. The army was declared to be the army of Bose's Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind (the Provisional Government of Free India). The INA came to be known as the puppet army of the Japanese empire. Subhas Chandra Bose named the brigades/regiments of INA after Mahatma Gandhi , Jawaharlal Nehru , Maulana Azad , and himself. There
22080-588: The letters Jai Hind in the top right hand corner. These were a part of the series issued on 15 August 1947. Commemorative postage stamps were also issued by the Indian government in 1968 and 1993 respectively to commemorate the 25th and the 50th anniversaries of the establishment of Azad Hind at Singapore. The Department of Posts also includes the six unused Azad Hind stamps in its commemorative book India's Freedom Struggle through India Postage Stamps . The Azad Hind Fauj Marg (Azad Hind Fauj Road) in New Delhi
22264-549: The local Indians and ex-British-Indian Army volunteers in Malaya, there was a proportion who joined due to the threat of conscription as Japanese labour troops. Recruitment also offered local Indian labourers security from continual semi-starvation of the estates and served as a barrier against Japanese tyranny. INA troops were alleged to engage in or be complicit in torture of Allied and Indian prisoners of war. Fay in his 1993 history analyses war-time press releases and field counter-intelligence directed at Sepoys . He concludes that
22448-504: The local populace were successful in establishing parallel government Tamluk National Government , which continued to function, until Gandhi personally requested the leaders to disband in 1944. A minor uprising took place in Ballia , now the easternmost district of Uttar Pradesh. People overthrew the district administration, broke open the jail, released the arrested Congress leaders and established their own independent rule. It took weeks before
22632-449: The maintenance and expansion of democracy, then she must necessarily end imperialism in her possessions and establish full democracy in India, and the Indian people have the right to self-determination... A free democratic India will gladly associate herself with other free nations for mutual defence against aggression and for economic co-operation. Gandhi had not supported this initiative, as he could not reconcile an endorsement for war (he
22816-401: The movement as "by far the most serious rebellion since 1857". The All India Congress Committee launched a mass protest demanding what Gandhi called "An Orderly British Withdrawal" from India. Even though it was at war, Britain was prepared to act. Almost the entire leadership of the Indian National Congress was imprisoned without trial within hours of Gandhi's speech. Most spent the rest of
23000-531: The movement was withdrawn. Cripps' mission of March 1942 and its failure also played an important role in Gandhi's call for The Quit India Movement. In order to end the deadlock on 22 March 1942, the British government sent Sir Stafford Cripps to talk terms with the Indian political parties and secure their support in Britain's war efforts. A draft declaration of the British Government was presented, which included terms like
23184-474: The murders alleged were, in fact, courts-martial of captured deserters the defendants had presided over. If it was accepted that the three were part of a genuine combatant army (as the legal defence team later argued), they had followed due process of written INA law and of the normal process of conduct of war in execution of the sentences. Indians rapidly came to view the soldiers who enlisted as patriots and not enemy-collaborators. Philip Mason , then-Secretary of
23368-415: The nation not to support the government in its war endeavours. The consequence of this satyagrahi campaign was the arrest of almost fourteen thousand satyagrahis. On 3 December 1941, the Viceroy ordered the acquittal of all the satyagrahis. In Europe the war situation became more critical with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the Congress realised the necessity for appraising their program. Subsequently,
23552-484: The oath of allegiance they had taken to the King among reasons not to join a Japanese-supported organisation, and regarded the recruits of the INA as traitors for having forsaken their oath. Commanders in the British-Indian Army like Wavell later highlighted the hardships this group of soldiers suffered, contrasting them with the troops of the INA. Many British soldiers held the same opinion. Hugh Toye and Peter Fay point out that
23736-415: The ongoing negotiations. It was their intention to negotiate an agreement for a future coalition government, which would enable a united choice for Hindus and Muslims for the independent Government of India. In this deal, Liaquat gave up the demand for a separate Muslim state in turn for parity of Muslims-to-Hindus in the council of ministers. Conceding the League as the representative of Muslims and giving
23920-476: The outbreak of war between Germany and Britain, India became a party to the war by being a constituent component of the British Empire. Had enough Indian states agreed to form a Federal Government under the terms of the 1935 Act, then the Viceroy could not have acted unilaterally in declaring war on India's behalf. Following this declaration, the Congress Working Committee at its meeting on 10 October 1939, passed
24104-434: The party. A prominent Congress national leader, Chakravarti Rajgopalachari , quit the Congress over this decision, and so did some local and regional level organisers. Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Azad were apprehensive and critical of the call, but backed it and stuck with Gandhi's leadership until the end. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel , Rajendra Prasad and Anugrah Narayan Sinha openly and enthusiastically supported such
24288-449: The police and protesters at the mass rallies being held all over India, culminating in public riotings in support of the INA men. This public outcry defied traditional communal barriers of the subcontinent, representing a departure from the divisions between Hindus and Muslims seen elsewhere in the independence movement and campaign for Pakistan . Between November 1945 and May 1946, approximately ten courts-martial were held in public at
24472-412: The police army. Many national leaders went underground and continued their struggle by broadcasting messages over the clandestine radio stations, distributing pamphlets and establishing parallel governments. The British sense of crisis was strong enough for a battleship to be specifically set aside to take Gandhi and the Congress leaders out of India, possibly to South Africa or Yemen . However, that step
24656-687: The popular vote, but the entire working committee resigned and refused to work with Bose. Bose resigned from the Congress presidency and founded his own faction within the Congress, the All India Forward Bloc . At the start of World War II, Bose was placed under house arrest by the Raj. He escaped in disguise and made his way through Afghanistan and Central -Asia. He came first to the Soviet Union and then to Germany, reaching Berlin on 2 April 1941. There he -sought to raise an army of Indian soldiers from prisoners of war captured by Germany, forming
24840-442: The prospective deal in 1945, the respective parties were alarmed. While Desai presented full information to Gandhi, Jinnah and the League outrightly rejected any agreements, and Liaquat Ali Khan denied that such a pact was being negotiated. Desai's assertion that a deal had been reached was ridiculed by the League, while Congress leaders were angry at him for conducting such negotiations without informing them. Bhulabhai Desai would lead
25024-583: The rank of general had generated opposition, Bose refused to take a rank. Both the soldiers of the INA and civilians addressed Bose as Netaji ("Dear leader"), a term first used in Berlin by members of the Free India Legion. In October 1943, Bose proclaimed the formation of the Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind , or the Provisional Government of Free India (also known as Azad Hind or Free India). The INA
25208-505: The realisation by 1946 that the British-Indian Army, the bulwark of the policing force in the British colonies, could not be used as an instrument of British power. INA-inspired strikes emerged throughout Britain's colonies in Southeast Asia. In January 1946, protests started at Royal Air Force bases in Karachi and spread rapidly to Singapore. This was followed by a full-scale mutiny by a British Army unit in Singapore. In British Malaya, men of
25392-489: The recognition of a few sovereign governments, and that the Indian Penal Code did not apply to their case. The judge nevertheless pronounced the three officers guilty and sentenced them to transportation for life. The accused were however released and during the course of the trials reignited the Indian freedom struggle leading to complete independence in 1947. Bhulabhai Desai died on 6 May 1946. His immense wealth led to
25576-507: The recommendation of Lord Mountbatten and with the agreement of Jawaharlal Nehru, former soldiers of the INA were not allowed to join the new Indian Armed Forces as a condition for independence. Some mutinies in the Royal Indian Navy in 1946 are thought to have been caused by the nationalist feelings inspired by the opposition to INA trials. Historians like Sumit Sarkar , Peter Cohen, Fay and others suggest that these events played
25760-643: The refusal of the British Raj to give Indians a greater role in organising and mobilising the economy for wartime production. Subash Chandra Bose remarked that a "new chapter in Indian freedom struggle began with the Quit India Movement". After the onset of the world war, Bose had organised the Indian Legion in Germany , reorganised the Indian National Army with Japanese assistance and, soliciting help from
25944-533: The regime that supported him. Indeed, he had led protests against the Japanese expansion into China , and supported Chiang Kai-shek during the 1930s. Azad Hind depended on Japan for arms and material but sought to be as financially independent as possible, levying taxes and raising donations from Indians in Southeast Asia". On the Japanese side, members of the high command had been personally impressed by Bose and were willing to grant him some latitude; more importantly,
26128-533: The river at Pagan and Nyangyu during Irrawaddy operations . Later, during the Battles of Meiktila and Mandalay , the forces under Prem Sahgal were tasked with defending the area around Mount Popa from the British 17th Division, which would have exposed the flank of Heitarō Kimura 's forces attempting to retake Meiktila and Nyangyu. The division was obliterated, at times fighting tanks with hand grenades and bottles of petrol. Many INA soldiers realised that they were in
26312-402: The role of Fifth-columnists , and insisted that INA should contribute substantially in troops to form a distinct identity of an Indian-liberation army. He secured from Japanese army Chief of Staff, General Sugiyama, the agreement that INA would rank as an allied army in the offensive. The advanced headquarters of Azad Hind was moved to Rangoon in anticipation of success. The INA's own strategy
26496-504: The sentence would have led to chaos in the country at large, and probably to mutiny and dissension in the Army, culminating in its dissolution. Sidney Bradshaw Fay concludes that the INA was not significant enough to beat the British-Indian Army by military strength. He also writes that the INA was aware of this and formulated its own strategy of avoiding set-piece battles, gathering local and popular support within India and instigating revolt within
26680-472: The situation in Burma became hopeless for the Japanese, Bose refused requests to use INA troops against Aung San's Burma National Army , which had turned against Japan and was now allied with Commonwealth forces. The first interaction of the INA with the British-Indian forces was during the months during the First Arakan offensive , between December 1942 and March 1943. The morale of Sepoys during this time
26864-452: The situation that may be created in the province as a result of any widespread movement launched by the Congress. Anybody, who during the war, plans to stir up mass feeling, resulting internal disturbances or insecurity, must be resisted by any Government that may function for the time being. In this way he managed to gain insights of the British government and effectively give information of the independence leaders. Mukherjee reiterated that
27048-442: The strongest commitment to Bose's ideologies. Those with lesser commitment or other extenuating circumstances would be dealt with more leniently, with the punishment proportional to their commitment or war crimes. For this purpose, the field intelligence units designated the captured troops as Blacks with the strongest commitment to Azad Hind ; Greys with varying commitment but also with enticing circumstances that led them to join
27232-501: The threat of Japanese invasion of India and the realisation of the national leaders of the incapacity of the British to defend India. The Congress Working Committee meeting at Wardha (14 July 1942) adopted a resolution demanding complete independence from the British government . The draft proposed massive civil disobedience if the British did not accede to the demands. It was passed at Bombay However, it proved to be controversial within
27416-491: The tremendous influence of Subhas Bose and his appeal to patriotism in rejuvenating the INA. Fay discusses the topic of loyalty of the INA soldiers, and highlights that in Shah Nawaz Khan's trial it was noted that officers of the INA warned their men the possibility of having to fight the Japanese after having fought the British, to prevent Japan exploiting post-war India. Carl Vadivella Belle suggested in 2014 that among
27600-481: The trials to that of Bahadur Shah Zafar , the last Mughal emperor tried in the same place after the failed 1857 uprising . Support for the INA grew rapidly and their continued detention and news of impending trials was seen an affront to the movement for independence and to Indian identity itself. It was further feared that the Congress would exploit the INA to gain mass support against the Raj and possibly start an armed struggle with weapons smuggled from Burma. Nehru
27784-528: The troops of the British-Indian forces. In February 1946, while the trials were still going on, a general strike by ratings of the Royal Indian Navy rapidly deteriorated into a mutiny incorporating ships and shore establishments of the RIN throughout India. The mutineers raised slogans invoking Subhas Bose and the INA, demanding an end to the trials. The mutiny received widespread public support. In some places in
27968-777: The unit, as were those of INA soldiers themselves. Harkirat Singh notes that British officers' personal dislike for Subhas Chandra Bose may have prejudiced their judgement of the INA itself. The INA is memorialised in the Swatantrata Sainani Smarak , which is located at the Salimgarh Fort in Delhi , adjacent to the Red Fort. Its exhibits include the Indian National Army uniform worn by Colonel Prem Sahgal, riding boots and coat buttons of Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon and photographs of Subhas Chandra Bose. A separate gallery holds material and photographs from excavations carried out by
28152-407: The war and deterioration in the war situation in Europe and with growing dissatisfaction among Indian troops and among the civilian population in the sub-continent, the British government sent a delegation to India under Stafford Cripps , the Leader of the House of Commons , in what came to be known as the Cripps Mission . The purpose of the mission was to negotiate with the Indian National Congress
28336-415: The war in prison and out of contact with the masses. The British had the support of the Viceroy's Council , of the All India Muslim League , the Hindu Mahasabha , the princely states, the Indian Imperial Police , the British Indian Army , and the Indian Civil Service . Many Indian businessmen profiting from heavy wartime spending did not support the Quit India Movement. The major outside support came from
28520-424: The war itself hung in balance and nobody was sure if the Japanese would win, initiating a popular revolution with grass-roots support within India would ensure that even if Japan ultimately lost the war, Britain would not be in a position to re-assert its colonial authority. It was planned that, once Japanese forces had broken through British defences at Imphal , the INA would cross the hills of North-East India into
28704-438: The war the government would initiate modifications in the Act of 1935, in accordance with the desires of the Indians. Gandhi's reaction to this statement was; "the old policy of divide and rule is to continue. Congress has asked for bread and it has got stone." According to the instructions issued by High Command, the Congress ministers were directed to resign immediately. Congress ministers from eight provinces resigned following
28888-402: The war were members of the INA. The activities of the trade unions in the newly established Tamil schools were particularly influential, leading to the establishment of an inspector system by the British to supervise the curriculum and teaching in these schools. Joyce Lebra notes that the INA had a particularly strong unifying influence over ethnic Indians residing in Malaya. Lebra concludes that
29072-448: The war. Airfield construction was also delayed for four to six weeks. According to John F. Riddick, from 9 August 1942 to 21 September 1942, the Quit India Movement: At the national level the lack of leadership meant the ability to galvanise rebellion was limited. The movement had a local impact in some areas. especially at Satara in Maharashtra, Talcher in Odisha, and Midnapore . In Tamluk and Contai subdivisions of Midnapore,
29256-406: The weapon of satyagraha found popular acceptance as the best means to wage a crusade against the British. It was widely used as a mark of protest against the unwavering stance assumed by the British. Vinoba Bhave , a follower of Gandhi, was selected by him to initiate the movement. Anti-war speeches ricocheted in all corners of the country, with the satyagrahis earnestly appealing to the people of
29440-560: The withdrawal from Imphal began; Japanese soldiers, suspicious that INA defectors had been responsible for their defeat, addressed INA soldiers as "shameless one" instead of "comrade" as previously had been the case. Azad Hind officials in Burma reported difficulties with the Japanese military administration in arranging supply for troops and transport for wounded men as the armies withdrew. Toye notes that local IIL members and Azad Hind Dal (local Azad Hind administrative teams) organised relief supplies from Indians in Burma at this time. As
29624-403: The withdrawal from Imphal, the relations between both junior non-commissioned officers and between senior officers had deteriorated. INA officers accused the Japanese Army high command of trying to deceive INA troops into fighting for Japan. Conversely, Japanese soldiers often expressed disdain for INA soldiers for having changed their oath of loyalty. This mutual dislike was especially strong after
29808-459: The working committee in September 1939, conditionally supporting the fight against the Axis, but were rebuffed when they asked for independence in return: If the war is to defend the status quo of imperialist possessions and colonies, of vested interest and privilege, then India can have nothing to do with it. If, however, the issue is democracy and world order based on democracy, then India is intensely interested in it... If Great Britain fights for
29992-455: The world. Bhulabhai addressed the House on 19 November 1940, making a strong plea which read "...unless it is India's war, it is impossible that you will get India's support." Participating in the satyagraha initiated by Mohandas Gandhi , he was arrested on 10 December, under the Defense of India Act and sent to Yerwada Central Jail . He was released from prison in September 1941 on grounds of poor health, which also affected his participation in
30176-450: Was a campaign by the farmers of Gujarat protesting oppressive taxation policies in a time of famine, under the leadership of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel . Bhulabhai formidably represented the farmers' case, and was important to the eventual success of the struggle. Desai formally joined the Congress in 1930. Convinced about the effectiveness of boycott of foreign goods, he formed the Swadeshi Sabha and persuaded 80 textile mills to join in, with
30360-505: Was a committed believer in non-violent resistance, used in the Indian Independence Movement and proposed even against Adolf Hitler , Benito Mussolini , and Hideki Tojo ). However, at the height of the Battle of Britain , Gandhi had stated his support for the fight against racism and of the British war effort, stating he did not seek to raise an independent India from the ashes of Britain. However, opinions remained divided. The long-term British policy of limiting investment in India and using
30544-454: Was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942, during World War II , demanding an end to British rule in India . After the British failed to secure Indian support for the British war effort with the Cripps Mission , Gandhi made a call to Do or Die in his Quit India speech delivered in Bombay on 8 August 1942 at the Gowalia Tank Maidan . Viceroy Linlithgow described
30728-426: Was also an all-women regiment named after Rani of Jhansi , Lakshmibai. Under Bose's leadership, the INA drew ex-prisoners and thousands of civilian volunteers from the Indian expatriate population in Malaya (present-day Malaysia) and Burma . This second INA fought under the Imperial Japanese Army against the British and Commonwealth forces in the campaigns in Burma : at Imphal and Kohima , and later against
30912-440: Was an independent unit, consisting of three infantry battalions. A special operations group was also to be set up called the Bahadur group (Valiant), to operate behind enemy lines. A training school for INA officers, led by Habib ur Rahman, and the Azad School for the civilian volunteers were set up to provide training to the recruits. A youth wing of the INA, composed of 45 young Indians personally chosen by Bose and known as
31096-405: Was associated with Imperial Japan and the other Axis powers, and accusations were levelled against INA troops of being involved and complicit in Japanese war crimes . The INA's members were viewed as Axis collaborators and traitors by British soldiers and Indian PoWs who did not join the army, but after the war they were seen as patriots by many Indians. Although they were widely commemorated by
31280-411: Was declared the "national greeting" of India by Nehru and remains a popular nationalist greeting. Today it is used by all Indian prime ministers to conclude their Independence Day speeches. The cry became independent India's first commemorative post mark on 15 August 1947. The first postage stamps issued by Independent India are called the Jai Hind series of stamps, showing the Indian flag with
31464-433: Was declared to be the army of Azad Hind . On 23 October 1943, Azad Hind declared war against Britain and the United States. Its first formal commitment came with the opening of the Japanese offensive towards Manipur , code-named U-Go . In the initial plans for invasion of India, Field Marshal Terauchi had been reluctant to confer any responsibilities to the INA beyond espionage and propaganda. Bose rejected this as
31648-410: Was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly from Gujarat. The Government of India Act 1935 , which allowed provincial autonomy, raised the question whether the Congress should participate in the legislatures. Bhulabhai among others supported Congress participation, pointing out the greater autonomy and political rights granted to Indians. When the Congress entered the Central Assembly, he was elected
31832-402: Was elected to the Rajya Sabha , the upper house of the Indian Parliament. He worked for the recognition of the members of Indian National Army as "freedom fighters" in the cause of the nation's independence in and out of Parliament. Shah Nawaz Khan served as Minister of State for Rail in the first Indian cabinet . Lakshmi Sahgal, Minister for Women's Affairs in the Azad Hind government, was
32016-439: Was equipped with the largest share of the heavy armament that the INA possessed. An additional 3rd Division of the INA was composed chiefly of local volunteers in Malaya and Singapore. This unit disbanded before Japan surrendered. A motor transport division was also created, but it was severely limited by lack of resources. In 1945, at the end of the INA, it consisted of about 40,000 soldiers. Unlike Mohan Singh, whose assumption of
32200-409: Was formed by the Indian Congress and included prominent Indian legal figures, among whom were Jawaharlal Nehru , Bhulabhai Desai , Kailashnath Katju and Asaf Ali . The trials covered arguments based on military law, constitutional law, international law, and politics. Mithi Mukherjee call the trials a "key moment in the elaboration of an anticolonial critique of international law in India." Much of
32384-404: Was formed largely after the Imphal offensive had started and drew large remnants of what remained of the Hindustan Field Force of the First INA. The 2nd Division consisted of the 1st Infantry Regiment, which later merged with the 5th Guerrilla Regiment to form the INA's 2nd Infantry Regiment under Col Prem Sahgal . The 1st Infantry Regiment drew many civilian volunteers from Burma and Malaya and
32568-410: Was fuelled by peasants' resentment against the new war taxes and the forced rice exports. There was open resistance to the point of rebellion in 1942 until the great famine of 1943 suspended the movement in Bengal. One of the important achievements of the movement was keeping the Congress party united through all the trials and tribulations that followed. The British, already alarmed by the advance of
32752-440: Was lightly armed. Each battalion was composed of five companies of infantry. The individual companies were armed with six antitank rifles , six Bren guns and six Vickers machine guns . Some NCOs carried hand grenades , while senior officers of the Bahadur groups attached to each unit issued hand grenades (of captured British stock) to men going forward on duty. The 2nd Division was organised under Colonel Abdul Aziz Tajik It
32936-565: Was low and knowledge about the INA was minimal. The INA's special services agents led a successful operation during this time in encouraging the Indian troops to defect to the INA. By the end of March 1945, however, the Sepoys in the British-Indian Army were reinvigorated and perceived the men of the INA to be savage turncoats and cowards. Senior British officers in the Indian Army considered them "rabble". Historians Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper mention that sepoys in field units shot captured or wounded INA men, relieving their British officers of
33120-527: Was notable. His appeal re-invigorated the INA, which had previously consisted mainly of prisoners of war: it also attracted Indian expatriates in South Asia. He famously proclaimed that Give me blood! I will give you freedom "Local civilians joined the INA, doubling its strength. They included barristers, traders and plantation workers, as well as Khudabadi Sindhi Swarankars who were working as shop keepers; many had no military experience." Carl Vadivella Belle estimates under Bose's dynamic appeal, membership of
33304-439: Was suspected of using INA men to train Congress volunteers. The political effects of the INA trials were enormous and were felt around India as late as 1948, much to the chagrin of the Congress government in independent India, which feared that pro-INA sympathies could help alternative sources of power. Historians such as Sumit Sarkar , Sugata Bose , and Ayesha Jalal conclude that the INA trials and its after-effects brought
33488-407: Was the ideal person to lead a rebel army into India came from the very beginning of F Kikan's work with captured Indian soldiers. Mohan Singh himself, soon after his first meeting with Fujiwara, had suggested that Bose was the right leader of a nationalist Indian army. A number of the officers and troops – including some who now returned to prisoner-of-war camps and some who had not volunteered in
33672-607: Was the sole opponent of A. P. J. Abdul Kalam , who emerged victorious. Subhas Bose himself was posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna in 1992, but this was later withdrawn over the controversy over the circumstances of his death . Former INA recruits in diasporic Singapore, however, faced a different situation. In Singapore, Indians – particularly those who were associated with the INA – were treated with disdain as they were "stigmatized as fascists and Japanese collaborators". Some within this diaspora later emerged as notable political and social leaders. The consolidation of trade unions in
33856-401: Was to avoid set-piece battles, for which it lacked armament as well as manpower. Initially it sought to obtain arms and increase its ranks by inducing British-Indian soldiers to defect. The latter were expected to defect in large numbers. Col Prem Sahgal, once military secretary to Subhas Bose and later tried in the first Red Fort trials , explained the INA strategy to Peter Fay – although
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