The Former Indian National Army Monument ( Chinese : 印度国民军纪念碑) is a historical site and a demolished war memorial at the Esplanade Park located at Connaught Drive within the downtown of Singapore .
186-701: The monument was constructed to commemorate the "Unknown Warrior" of the Indian National Army (INA). The words inscribed on the war memorial were its motto, which is Unity (Ittehad), Faith (Ittemad) and Sacrifice (Qurbani) . It was built during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore as the Japanese and the INA had one enemy in common, i.e., the British . Subhas Chandra Bose ("Netaji") laid
372-414: A clerk in the state administration and had an elementary education, he proved a capable chief minister. During his tenure, Karamchand married four times. His first two wives died young, after each had given birth to a daughter, and his third marriage was childless. In 1857, Karamchand sought his third wife's permission to remarry; that year, he married Putlibai (1844–1891), who also came from Junagadh, and
558-559: A collection of 14 texts with teachings that the tradition believes to include the essence of the Vedas , the Quran and the Bible . Gandhi was deeply influenced by his mother, an extremely pious lady who "would not think of taking her meals without her daily prayers... she would take the hardest vows and keep them without flinching. To keep two or three consecutive fasts was nothing to her." At
744-573: 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
930-665: 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
1116-592: A field hospital since the terrain was too rough for the ambulances. Gandhi and 37 other Indians received the Queen's South Africa Medal . In 1906, the Transvaal government promulgated a new Act compelling registration of the colony's Indian and Chinese populations. At a mass protest meeting held in Johannesburg on 11 September that year, Gandhi adopted his still evolving methodology of Satyagraha (devotion to
1302-402: A great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. In his autobiography, Gandhi states that they left an indelible impression on his mind. Gandhi writes: "It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number." Gandhi's early self-identification with truth and love as supreme values is traceable to these epic characters. The family's religious background was eclectic. Mohandas
1488-415: 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
1674-628: A law practice in Bombay failed because Gandhi was psychologically unable to cross-examine witnesses. He returned to Rajkot to make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants, but Gandhi was forced to stop after running afoul of British officer Sam Sunny. In 1893, a Muslim merchant in Kathiawar named Dada Abdullah contacted Gandhi. Abdullah owned a large successful shipping business in South Africa. His distant cousin in Johannesburg needed
1860-519: A lawyer, and they preferred someone with Kathiawari heritage. Gandhi inquired about his pay for the work. They offered a total salary of £105 (~$ 4,143 in 2023 money) plus travel expenses. He accepted it, knowing that it would be at least a one-year commitment in the Colony of Natal , South Africa, also a part of the British Empire. In April 1893, Gandhi, aged 23, set sail for South Africa to be
2046-663: 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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#17327722878122232-507: A means of both introspection and political protest. Bringing anti-colonial nationalism to the common Indians, Gandhi led them in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930 and in calling for the British to quit India in 1942. He was imprisoned many times and for many years in both South Africa and India. Gandhi's vision of an independent India based on religious pluralism
2418-636: A mob of white settlers attacked him, and Gandhi escaped only through the efforts of the wife of the police superintendent. However, Gandhi refused to press charges against any member of the mob. During the Boer War , Gandhi volunteered in 1900 to form a group of stretcher-bearers as the Natal Indian Ambulance Corps . According to Arthur Herman, Gandhi wanted to disprove the British colonial stereotype that Hindus were not fit for "manly" activities involving danger and exertion, unlike
2604-491: A moral movement and that Allinson should therefore no longer remain a member of the LVS. Gandhi shared Hills' views on the dangers of birth control, but defended Allinson's right to differ. It would have been hard for Gandhi to challenge Hills; Hills was 12 years his senior and unlike Gandhi, highly eloquent. Hills bankrolled the LVS and was a captain of industry with his Thames Ironworks company employing more than 6,000 people in
2790-655: 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
2976-478: A public speaking practice group and overcame his shyness sufficiently to practise law. Gandhi demonstrated a keen interest in the welfare of London's impoverished dockland communities. In 1889, a bitter trade dispute broke out in London, with dockers striking for better pay and conditions, and seamen, shipbuilders, factory girls and other joining the strike in solidarity. The strikers were successful, in part due to
3162-554: 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
3348-428: 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
3534-691: 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 ,
3720-464: A state of things we should have the ability to defend ourselves, that is, the ability to bear arms and to use them... If we want to learn the use of arms with the greatest possible despatch, it is our duty to enlist ourselves in the army." However, Gandhi stipulated in a letter to the Viceroy's private secretary that he "personally will not kill or injure anybody, friend or foe." Gandhi's support for
3906-550: 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
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#17327722878124092-452: A successful law practice, Gandhi moved to South Africa in 1893 to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit. He went on to live in South Africa for 21 years. There, Gandhi raised a family and first employed nonviolent resistance in a campaign for civil rights. In 1915, aged 45, he returned to India and soon set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest against discrimination and excessive land-tax. Assuming leadership of
4278-452: A volunteer mixed unit of Indian and African stretcher-bearers to treat wounded combatants during the suppression of the rebellion. The medical unit commanded by Gandhi operated for less than two months before being disbanded. After the suppression of the rebellion, the colonial establishment showed no interest in extending to the Indian community the civil rights granted to white South Africans . This led Gandhi to becoming disillusioned with
4464-492: A vow in front of his mother that he would abstain from meat, alcohol, and women. Gandhi's brother, Laxmidas, who was already a lawyer, cheered Gandhi's London studies plan and offered to support him. Putlibai gave Gandhi her permission and blessing. On 10 August 1888, Gandhi, aged 18, left Porbandar for Mumbai, then known as Bombay. A local newspaper covering the farewell function by his old high school in Rajkot noted that Gandhi
4650-684: 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
4836-550: Is among admirers of Gandhi's efforts to fight against racism in Africa. The general image of Gandhi, state Desai and Vahed, has been reinvented since his assassination as though Gandhi was always a saint, when in reality, his life was more complex, contained inconvenient truths, and was one that changed over time. Scholars have also pointed the evidence to a rich history of co-operation and efforts by Gandhi and Indian people with nonwhite South Africans against persecution of Africans and
5022-497: 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
5208-556: Is named after the INA and houses the Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology . Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ( ISO : Mōhanadāsa Karamacaṁda Gāṁdhī ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist , and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule . He inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across
5394-582: 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
5580-582: The Apartheid . In 1903, Gandhi started the Indian Opinion , a journal that carried news of Indians in South Africa, Indians in India with articles on all subjects -social, moral and intellectual. Each issue was multi-lingual and carried material in English, Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil. It carried ads, depended heavily on Gandhi's contributions (often printed without a byline) and was an 'advocate' for
5766-526: 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
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5952-599: 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
6138-606: 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
6324-887: 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
6510-469: The East End of London . Hills was also a highly accomplished sportsman who later founded the football club West Ham United . In his 1927 An Autobiography, Vol. I , Gandhi wrote: The question deeply interested me...I had a high regard for Mr. Hills and his generosity. But I thought it was quite improper to exclude a man from a vegetarian society simply because he refused to regard puritan morals as one of
6696-652: 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 ,
6882-541: 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
7068-547: 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,
7254-535: The Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability , and, above all, achieving swaraj or self-rule. Gandhi adopted the short dhoti woven with hand-spun yarn as a mark of identification with India's rural poor. He began to live in a self-sufficient residential community , to eat simple food, and undertake long fasts as
7440-484: 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
7626-472: 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
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7812-550: The London Vegetarian Society (LVS) and was elected to its executive committee under the aegis of its president and benefactor Arnold Hills . An achievement while on the committee was the establishment of a Bayswater chapter. Some of the vegetarians Gandhi met were members of the Theosophical Society , which had been founded in 1875 to further universal brotherhood, and which was devoted to
7998-492: 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
8184-576: The Punjab and Bengal . Abstaining from the official celebration of independence , Gandhi visited the affected areas, attempting to alleviate distress. In the months following, he undertook several hunger strikes to stop the religious violence. The last of these was begun in Delhi on 12 January 1948, when Gandhi was 78. The belief that Gandhi had been too resolute in his defence of both Pakistan and Indian Muslims spread among some Hindus in India. Among these
8370-649: 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
8556-491: 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
8742-833: 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
8928-598: The foundation stone on 8 July 1945, and the words inscribed upon the War Memorial were the motto of the INA: Unity (Etihaad), Faith (Etmad) and Sacrifice (Kurbani). The monument was then erected within a month by the Japanese in August 1945, a few months before Singapore was recaptured by the British. The memorial was designed and erected by Colonel Cyril John Stracey, 1/14th Punjab Regiment, an Anglo-Indian officer of
9114-469: 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,
9300-437: The 13-year-old Gandhi was married to 14-year-old Kasturbai Gokuldas Kapadia (her first name was usually shortened to "Kasturba", and affectionately to "Ba") in an arranged marriage , according to the custom of the region at that time. In the process, he lost a year at school but was later allowed to make up by accelerating his studies. Gandhi's wedding was a joint event, where his brother and cousin were also married. Recalling
9486-597: 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
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#17327722878129672-432: The British Colonial Secretary, to reconsider his position on this bill. Though unable to halt the bill's passage, Gandhi's campaign was successful in drawing attention to the grievances of Indians in South Africa. He helped found the Natal Indian Congress in 1894, and through this organisation, Gandhi moulded the Indian community of South Africa into a unified political force. In January 1897, when Gandhi landed in Durban,
9858-421: 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
10044-407: The British responded by imprisoning him and tens of thousands of Congress leaders. Meanwhile, the Muslim League did co-operate with Britain and moved, against Gandhi's strong opposition, to demands for a totally separate Muslim state of Pakistan. In August 1947, the British partitioned the land with India and Pakistan each achieving independence on terms that Gandhi disapproved. In April 1918, during
10230-491: 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
10416-447: 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
10602-478: 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
10788-510: 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
10974-401: 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
11160-415: The Empire and aroused a spiritual awakening within him; historian Arthur L. Herman wrote that Gandhi's African experience was a part of his great disillusionment with the West, transforming Gandhi into an "uncompromising non-cooperator". By 1910, Gandhi's newspaper, Indian Opinion , was covering reports on discrimination against Africans by the colonial regime. Gandhi remarked that the Africans "alone are
11346-442: 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
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#173277228781211532-405: 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
11718-433: 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
11904-414: 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
12090-420: 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,
12276-407: 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
12462-593: The INA memorial was part of a larger effort to prevent the spread of the socialist ideals of the INA in the political atmosphere of the Cold War and the decolonization of Asia . In 1995, the National Heritage Board marked the place as a historical site and subsequently with financial donations from the Indian community in Singapore , a new monument commemorating the previous one was erected on that spot. 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')
12648-411: 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
12834-419: 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
13020-426: 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
13206-434: 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
13392-541: 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
13578-731: 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
13764-571: The INA, who had volunteered to serve INA after being captured by the Japanese. The construction of the monument was proposed by Bose, the co-founder of the INA and Head of State of the Provisional Government of Free India . The INA was backed by the Japanese forces for its goal of gaining India's independence from Britain. The future generations of Indians who will be born, not as slaves but as free men, because of your colossal sacrifice, will bless your names and proudly proclaim to
13950-674: 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
14136-808: 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
14322-598: 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
14508-540: The Indian National Congress declared the independence of India. The British did not recognise the declaration, but negotiations ensued, with the Congress taking a role in provincial government in the late 1930s. Gandhi and the Congress withdrew their support of the Raj when the Viceroy declared war on Germany in September 1939 without consultation. Tensions escalated until Gandhi demanded immediate independence in 1942, and
14694-618: The Indian cause. In 1906, when the Bambatha Rebellion broke out in the colony of Natal , the then 36-year-old Gandhi, despite sympathising with the Zulu rebels, encouraged Indian South Africans to form a volunteer stretcher-bearer unit. Writing in the Indian Opinion , Gandhi argued that military service would be beneficial to the Indian community and claimed it would give them "health and happiness." Gandhi eventually led
14880-473: The Indian community organised a farewell party for Gandhi as he prepared to return to India. The farewell party was turned into a working committee to plan the resistance to a new Natal government discriminatory proposal. This led to Gandhi extending his original period of stay in South Africa. Gandhi planned to assist Indians in opposing a bill to deny them the right to vote , a right then proposed to be an exclusive European right. He asked Joseph Chamberlain ,
15066-469: The Indian people primarily by Gokhale. Gokhale was a key leader of the Congress Party best known for his restraint and moderation, and his insistence on working inside the system. Gandhi took Gokhale's liberal approach based on British Whiggish traditions and transformed it to make it look Indian. Gandhi took leadership of the Congress in 1920 and began escalating demands until on 26 January 1930
15252-423: 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
15438-553: 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
15624-613: 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
15810-438: 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
15996-454: 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
16182-488: 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
16368-582: 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
16554-520: 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
16740-559: The Muslim " martial races ." Gandhi raised 1,100 Indian volunteers to support British combat troops against the Boers. They were trained and medically certified to serve on the front lines. They were auxiliaries at the Battle of Colenso to a White volunteer ambulance corps. At the Battle of Spion Kop , Gandhi and his bearers moved to the front line and had to carry wounded soldiers for miles to
16926-653: The Natal Indian Congress. According to Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed, Gandhi's views on racism are contentious in some cases. He suffered persecution from the beginning in South Africa. Like with other coloured people, white officials denied Gandhi his rights, and the press and those in the streets bullied and called Gandhi a "parasite", "semi-barbarous", "canker", "squalid coolie", "yellow man", and other epithets. People would even spit on him as an expression of racial hate. While in South Africa, Gandhi focused on
17112-495: The Nation in post-colonial India. During India's nationalist movement and in several decades immediately after, he was also commonly called Bapu , an endearment roughly meaning "father". Gandhi's father, Karamchand Uttamchand Gandhi (1822–1885), served as the dewan (chief minister) of Porbandar state. His family originated from the then village of Kutiana in what was then Junagadh State . Although Karamchand only had been
17298-487: 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
17484-678: 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
17670-752: 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
17856-522: 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
18042-558: 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
18228-667: The age of 24, prepared a legal brief for the Natal Assembly in 1895, seeking voting rights for Indians. Gandhi cited race history and European Orientalists' opinions that "Anglo-Saxons and Indians are sprung from the same Aryan stock or rather the Indo-European peoples" and argued that Indians should not be grouped with the Africans. Years later, Gandhi and his colleagues served and helped Africans as nurses and by opposing racism. The Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela
18414-602: The age of nine, Gandhi entered the local school in Rajkot , near his home. There, he studied the rudiments of arithmetic, history, the Gujarati language and geography. At the age of 11, Gandhi joined the High School in Rajkot, Alfred High School . He was an average student, won some prizes, but was a shy and tongue-tied student, with no interest in games; Gandhi's only companions were books and school lessons. In May 1883,
18600-526: 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
18786-444: 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
18972-655: 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
19158-475: 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
19344-508: 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
19530-550: 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
19716-482: 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
19902-562: The cheapest college he could afford in Bombay. Mavji Dave Joshiji, a Brahmin priest and family friend, advised Gandhi and his family that he should consider law studies in London. In July 1888, Gandhi's wife Kasturba gave birth to their first surviving child, Harilal. Gandhi's mother was not comfortable about Gandhi leaving his wife and family and going so far from home. Gandhi's uncle Tulsidas also tried to dissuade his nephew, but Gandhi wanted to go. To persuade his wife and mother, Gandhi made
20088-492: The committee agreed with Gandhi, the vote was lost and Allinson was excluded. There were no hard feelings, with Hills proposing the toast at the LVS farewell dinner in honour of Gandhi's return to India. Gandhi, at age 22, was called to the bar in June 1891 and then left London for India, where he learned that his mother had died while he was in London and that his family had kept the news from Gandhi. His attempts at establishing
20274-489: 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
20460-433: 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
20646-448: The day of their marriage, Gandhi once said, "As we didn't know much about marriage, for us it meant only wearing new clothes, eating sweets and playing with relatives." As was the prevailing tradition, the adolescent bride was to spend much time at her parents' house, and away from her husband. Writing many years later, Gandhi described with regret the lustful feelings he felt for his young bride: "Even at school I used to think of her, and
20832-553: 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
21018-526: 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
21204-642: 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
21390-543: 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
21576-408: 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
21762-531: The latter part of World War I , the Viceroy invited Gandhi to a War Conference in Delhi. Gandhi agreed to support the war effort. In contrast to the Zulu War of 1906 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914, when he recruited volunteers for the Ambulance Corps, this time Gandhi attempted to recruit combatants. In a June 1918 leaflet entitled "Appeal for Enlistment", Gandhi wrote: "To bring about such
21948-434: The lawyer for Abdullah's cousin. Gandhi spent 21 years in South Africa where he developed his political views, ethics, and politics. During this time Gandhi briefly returned to India in 1902 to mobilise support for the welfare of Indians in South Africa. Immediately upon arriving in South Africa, Gandhi faced discrimination due to his skin colour and heritage. Gandhi was not allowed to sit with European passengers in
22134-593: 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
22320-549: 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
22506-498: The mediation of Cardinal Manning , leading Gandhi and an Indian friend to make a point of visiting the cardinal and thanking him for his work. His vow to his mother influenced Gandhi's time in London. Gandhi tried to adopt "English" customs, including taking dancing lessons. However, he didn't appreciate the bland vegetarian food offered by his landlady and was frequently hungry until he found one of London's few vegetarian restaurants. Influenced by Henry Salt's writing, Gandhi joined
22692-474: 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
22878-488: 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
23064-470: The objects of the society A motion to remove Allinson was raised, and was debated and voted on by the committee. Gandhi's shyness was an obstacle to his defence of Allinson at the committee meeting. Gandhi wrote his views down on paper, but shyness prevented Gandhi from reading out his arguments, so Hills, the President, asked another committee member to read them out for him. Although some other members of
23250-400: The original inhabitants of the land. … The whites, on the other hand, have occupied the land forcibly and appropriated it for themselves." In 1910, Gandhi established, with the help of his friend Hermann Kallenbach , an idealistic community they named Tolstoy Farm near Johannesburg. There, Gandhi nurtured his policy of peaceful resistance. In the years after black South Africans gained
23436-449: 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
23622-703: 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
23808-540: The prejudice against Gandhi and his fellow Indians from British people that Gandhi experienced and observed deeply bothered him. Gandhi found it humiliating, struggling to understand how some people can feel honour or superiority or pleasure in such inhumane practices. Gandhi began to question his people's standing in the British Empire . The Abdullah case that had brought him to South Africa concluded in May 1894, and
23994-568: The racial persecution of Indians before he started to focus on racism against Africans. In some cases, state Desai and Vahed, Gandhi's behaviour was one of being a willing part of racial stereotyping and African exploitation. During a speech in September 1896, Gandhi complained that the whites in the British colony of South Africa were "degrading the Indian to the level of a raw Kaffir ." Scholars cite it as an example of evidence that Gandhi at that time thought of Indians and black South Africans differently. As another example given by Herman, Gandhi, at
24180-680: 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
24366-510: 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
24552-515: 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
24738-483: 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,
24924-426: The right to vote in South Africa (1994), Gandhi was proclaimed a national hero with numerous monuments. At the request of Gopal Krishna Gokhale , conveyed to Gandhi by C. F. Andrews , Gandhi returned to India in 1915. He brought an international reputation as a leading Indian nationalist, theorist and community organiser. Gandhi joined the Indian National Congress and was introduced to Indian issues, politics and
25110-538: 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
25296-402: 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
25482-508: 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
25668-478: 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
25854-647: The small princely state of Porbandar in the Kathiawar Agency of the British Raj . In 1874, Gandhi's father, Karamchand, left Porbandar for the smaller state of Rajkot , where he became a counsellor to its ruler, the Thakur Sahib; though Rajkot was a less prestigious state than Porbandar, the British regional political agency was located there, which gave the state's diwan a measure of security. In 1876, Karamchand became diwan of Rajkot and
26040-542: The sole degree-granting institution of higher education in the region. However, Gandhi dropped out and returned to his family in Porbandar. Outside school, Gandhi's education was enriched by exposure to Gujarati literature, especially reformers like Narmad and Govardhanram Tripathi , whose works alerted the Gujaratis to their own faults and weaknesses such as belief in religious dogmatism. Gandhi had dropped out of
26226-425: The stagecoach and was told to sit on the floor near the driver, then beaten when he refused; elsewhere, Gandhi was kicked into a gutter for daring to walk near a house, in another instance thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to leave the first-class. Gandhi sat in the train station, shivering all night and pondering if he should return to India or protest for his rights. Gandhi chose to protest and
26412-442: 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
26598-740: The study of Buddhist and Hindu literature. They encouraged Gandhi to join them in reading the Bhagavad Gita both in translation as well as in the original. Gandhi had a friendly and productive relationship with Hills, but the two men took a different view on the continued LVS membership of fellow committee member Thomas Allinson . Their disagreement is the first known example of Gandhi challenging authority, despite his shyness and temperamental disinclination towards confrontation. Allinson had been promoting newly available birth control methods , but Hills disapproved of these, believing they undermined public morality. He believed vegetarianism to be
26784-493: The thought of nightfall and our subsequent meeting was ever haunting me." Gandhi later recalled feeling jealous and possessive of her, such as when Kasturba would visit a temple with her girlfriends, and being sexually lustful in his feelings for her. In late 1885, Gandhi's father, Karamchand, died. Gandhi had left his father's bedside to be with his wife mere minutes before his passing. Many decades later, Gandhi wrote "if animal passion had not blinded me, I should have been spared
26970-644: The torture of separation from my father during his last moments." Later, Gandhi, then 16 years old, and his wife, age 17, had their first child, who survived only a few days. The two deaths anguished Gandhi. The Gandhis had four more children, all sons: Harilal , born in 1888; Manilal , born in 1892; Ramdas , born in 1897; and Devdas , born in 1900. In November 1887, the 18-year-old Gandhi graduated from high school in Ahmedabad . In January 1888, he enrolled at Samaldas College in Bhavnagar State , then
27156-498: 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
27342-481: 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
27528-539: 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
27714-570: The truth), or nonviolent protest, for the first time. According to Anthony Parel, Gandhi was also influenced by the Tamil moral text Tirukkuṛaḷ after Leo Tolstoy mentioned it in their correspondence that began with " A Letter to a Hindu ". Gandhi urged Indians to defy the new law and to suffer the punishments for doing so. His ideas of protests, persuasion skills, and public relations had emerged. Gandhi took these back to India in 1915. Gandhi focused his attention on Indians and Africans while he
27900-799: 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
28086-681: The war campaign brought into question his consistency on nonviolence. Gandhi's private secretary noted that "The question of the consistency between his creed of ' Ahimsa ' (nonviolence) and his recruiting campaign was raised not only then but has been discussed ever since." According to political and educational scientist Christian Bartolf, Gandhi's support for the war stemmed from his belief that true ahimsa could not exist simultaneously with cowardice. Therefore, Gandhi felt that Indians needed to be willing and capable of using arms before they voluntarily chose non-violence. In July 1918, Gandhi said that he could not persuade even one individual to enlist for
28272-424: 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
28458-402: 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
28644-560: 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
28830-403: 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
29016-451: The world that you, their forbears, fought and suffered reverses in the battle of Manipur, Assam and Burma. But through temporary failure you paved the way to ultimate success and glory. Lord Louis Mountbatten , the head of Southeast Asia Command, ordered the Former Indian National Army Monument to be demolished when Singapore was recaptured by the Allies in 1945. It has been suggested by some historians that Mountbatten's decision to demolish
29202-432: The world war. "So far I have not a single recruit to my credit apart," Gandhi wrote. He added: "They object because they fear to die." Gandhi's first major achievement came in 1917 with the Champaran agitation in Bihar . The Champaran agitation pitted the local peasantry against largely Anglo-Indian plantation owners who were backed by the local administration. The peasants were forced to grow indigo ( Indigofera sp.),
29388-402: The world. The honorific Mahātmā (from Sanskrit , meaning great-souled or venerable), first applied to him in South Africa in 1914, is now used throughout the world. Born and raised in a Hindu family in coastal Gujarat , Gandhi trained in the law at the Inner Temple in London and was called to the bar at the age of 22. After two uncertain years in India, where he was unable to start
29574-406: Was Nathuram Godse , a militant Hindu nationalist from Pune , western India, who assassinated Gandhi by firing three bullets into his chest at an interfaith prayer meeting in Delhi on 30 January 1948. Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, is commemorated in India as Gandhi Jayanti , a national holiday , and worldwide as the International Day of Nonviolence . Gandhi is considered to be the Father of
29760-419: Was first formed in 1942 under Mohan Singh by Indian prisoners of war (PoWs) of 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
29946-406: Was a collaborationist armed unit of Indian collaborators that fought under 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
30132-467: Was allowed to board the train the next day. In another incident, the magistrate of a Durban court ordered Gandhi to remove his turban, which he refused to do. Indians were not allowed to walk on public footpaths in South Africa. Gandhi was kicked by a police officer out of the footpath onto the street without warning. When Gandhi arrived in South Africa, according to Arthur Herman, he thought of himself as "a Briton first, and an Indian second." However,
30318-426: 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
30504-440: 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
30690-405: 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
30876-399: Was born into a Gujarati Hindu Modh Bania family. Gandhi's father, Karamchand, was Hindu and his mother Putlibai was from a Pranami Vaishnava Hindu family. Gandhi's father was of Modh Baniya caste in the varna of Vaishya . His mother came from the medieval Krishna bhakti-based Pranami tradition, whose religious texts include the Bhagavad Gita , the Bhagavata Purana , and
31062-431: Was challenged in the early 1940s by a Muslim nationalism which demanded a separate homeland for Muslims within British India . In August 1947, Britain granted independence, but the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two dominions , a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan . As many displaced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made their way to their new lands, religious violence broke out, especially in
31248-411: 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
31434-433: 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
31620-402: 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
31806-439: 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
31992-535: Was excommunicated from his caste. Gandhi ignored this, and on 4 September, he sailed from Bombay to London, with his brother seeing him off. Gandhi attended University College, London , where he took classes in English literature with Henry Morley in 1888–1889. Gandhi also enrolled at the Inns of Court School of Law in Inner Temple with the intention of becoming a barrister . His childhood shyness and self-withdrawal had continued through his teens. Gandhi retained these traits when he arrived in London, but joined
32178-409: 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
32364-404: 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
32550-402: Was from a Pranami Vaishnava family. Karamchand and Putlibai had four children: a son, Laxmidas ( c. 1860 –1914); a daughter, Raliatbehn (1862–1960); a second son, Karsandas ( c. 1866 –1913). and a third son, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar (also known as Sudamapuri ), a coastal town on the Kathiawar Peninsula and then part of
32736-474: Was handed over to Subhas Chandra Bose . It was revived under 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
32922-416: Was in South Africa. Initially, Gandhi was not interested in politics, but this changed after he was discriminated against and bullied, such as by being thrown out of a train coach due to his skin colour by a white train official. After several such incidents with Whites in South Africa , Gandhi's thinking and focus changed, and he felt he must resist this and fight for rights. Gandhi entered politics by forming
33108-440: 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
33294-565: 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
33480-527: 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
33666-435: Was succeeded as diwan of Porbandar by his brother Tulsidas. Karamchand's family then rejoined him in Rajkot. They moved to their family home Kaba Gandhi No Delo in 1881. As a child, Gandhi was described by his sister Raliat as "restless as mercury, either playing or roaming about. One of his favourite pastimes was twisting dogs' ears." The Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and king Harishchandra , had
33852-439: 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
34038-490: Was the first Bania from Kathiawar to proceed to England for his Barrister Examination. As Mohandas Gandhi waited for a berth on a ship to London he found that he had attracted the ire of the Modh Banias of Bombay. Upon arrival in Bombay, he stayed with the local Modh Bania community whose elders warned Gandhi that England would tempt him to compromise his religion, and eat and drink in Western ways. Despite Gandhi informing them of his promise to his mother and her blessings, Gandhi
34224-407: 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
34410-607: 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
34596-401: 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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