“Tum Mujhe khoon do, main tumhe azadi
dunga” was Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s famous slogan, used to inspire
thousands of people to fight for their freedom. India’s freedom struggle can be
analyzed from varied perspectives and perhaps the most accurate one would
employ a view of detachment that is based on unbiased interpretation. However,
being a part of this country and its illustrious journey infuses a sense of
patriotism in me that I cannot exclude from my writing. Subhas Chandra Bose,
more widely known throughout the country as Netaji, (Great Leader) was born on
the 23rd of January 1897 in Cuttak, Orissa. His short life remains
controversial and shrouded in mystery. On the 14th of July 1943,
Bose was made leader of the previously formed Indian National Army at a conference
in Singapore. His loyalty to his cause and his unshakable courage still act as
sources of inspiration for the people of our country.
The Indian National Army was first formed
in 1942 in South-East Asia. The members of the INA initially comprised of
prisoners of war who were held captive at Malaya and Singapore by Japanese
forces. Mohan Singh was its founder and he succeeded in acquiring the support
of a large number of Indians who had settled in those areas. It was mainly
because of the dissatisfaction with the policies and exploitation of the
British that roughly 55,000 captured troops decided to turn against their
colonial oppressors and join the Japanese motive. Although the first INA collapsed
in December that same year, it had paved the way for Netaji to initiate attacks
that would prove to be far more sudden and sinister than the British expected.
When the Second World War broke out, Bose
managed to escape a penalty of house arrest that he had been sentenced to
during a roundup of nationalists by the British. He made his way to Germany and
arrived at Berlin on the 2nd of April 1941. His participation in a
series of meetings and conferences with imminent German leaders including the
likes of Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler earned him the support of the German
army and made them empathize with India’s need for swaraj (self-rule). Using this to his advantage, Netaji organized
the Free India Legion and also started the Azad Hind Radio. It was at this time
that Bose turned his attention to south-east Asia with its large Indian
population and recognized its strategic importance for creating an
anti-colonial force to fight the British invaders. On 4 July 1943, after
reaching Singapore, Subhash Chandra Bose assumed the leadership of the INA in a
ceremony at the Cathay Building. Bose's influence was remarkable. His appeal
not only re-invigorated the INA that was on the verge of complete decline and
which previously consisted mainly of prisoners of war, but also touched a chord
with the Indian expatriates in South Asia as local civilians, without caste,
creed and religion, including who had no military experience joined the INA,
and doubled its troop strength.
Bose’s newly formed army was charged with
inspiration and vigour and their main military conquests involved aiding the
Imperial Japanese army in fighting the British and Commonwealth forces. The
main regions that they attacked were Imphal, Burma and Kohima. The INA
temporarily seized control of Imphal and also the Andaman and Nicobar islands
and helped the Japanese in setting up a powerful naval base in this region.
While the INA was pre-occupied with the war, their administrative set-up under
the name of Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind
(The Provisional Government of Free India) suffered due to the lack of
administrative priority and control.
Despite the inspired attempts of the INA,
the ally forces were military and technologically superior and their attacks,
especially the random air raids devastated the Japanese and the Indian forces.
With no alternative left to pursue, Netaji’s forces began withdrawing from
Burma with the intention of making their way towards Bangkok. The withdrawing
forces regularly suffered casualties from allied airplanes strafing them,
clashes with Aung San's Burmese resistance, as well as Chinese guerrillas who
harassed the Japanese troops. At the time of Japan's surrender in September
1945, Bose left for Manchuria to contact the advancing Soviet troops, and was reported
to have died in an air crash near Taiwan.
Even before the war in South-East Asia had
ended, prisoners of the INA were falling into allied hands were being judged by
intelligence units for potential trials. A small number had fallen
into Allied hands in 1943 around the time of the Imphal campaign and 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 tried, interrogated and even tortured. The
number of prisoners necessitated this selective policy which envisaged trials
of those with the strongest commitment to Bose' ideologies, while those with
less strong views and other extenuating circumstance may 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 either Blacks, having the strongest commitment to Azad Hind, Greys,
having varying commitment but also with enticing circumstances that led them to
join the INA, and Whites, i.e., those who pressured into joining the INA
under the circumstances but with no commitment to Azad Hind, INA, or Bose.
By. Hridaynag Kooretti
LE-3
60307
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