The Indian National Army and Subhas Chandra Bose

Subhas Chandra Bose organised the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) in Southeast Asia with Japanese help, and its trials in 1945 shook British confidence in the loyalty of Indian soldiers.

Subhas Chandra Bose

• Born 23 January 1897, Cuttack. ICS exam (1920), resigned. Congress president (1938, 1939). He founded the Forward Bloc (1939). Placed under house arrest, he escaped from Calcutta (January 1941) via Kabul to Germany, formed the Free India Centre at Berlin, and later went by submarine to Japan (1943).

The INA

• First INA (1942): Captain Mohan Singh formed it from Indian prisoners of war at Singapore with the help of the Japanese (Major Fujiwara), and the Indian Independence League under Rash Behari Bose. Differences with the Japanese led to its dissolution (December 1942).
• Bose reached Singapore on 2 July 1943, and Rash Behari Bose handed over the leadership (4 July). He took the title "Netaji".
• Provisional Government of Free India (Azad Hind Government), 21 October 1943, at Singapore. It was recognised by Japan and its allies. The Japanese handed over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to it (renamed Shaheed and Swaraj islands).
• Organisation: INA brigades named after Gandhi, Nehru, Azad and Subhas, and the Rani Jhansi Regiment (women's unit) under Captain Lakshmi Sahgal.
• Slogans: "Delhi Chalo", "Jai Hind", and "Give me blood and I shall give you freedom".
• Campaign: with the Japanese advance into Imphal-Kohima (1944), INA units reached Moirang (Manipur) and hoisted the flag (14 April 1944). The campaign failed because of supply failure, disease and the Japanese retreat. Bose reportedly died in a plane crash at Taihoku (Taiwan) on 18 August 1945.

The INA trials

• Red Fort trials (November 1945): Shah Nawaz Khan, Prem Kumar Sahgal and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon (a Muslim, a Hindu and a Sikh) were tried. The defence team included Bhulabhai Desai, with Nehru, Tej Bahadur Sapru and Kailash Nath Katju.
• The sentences were commuted by the Commander-in-Chief Auchinleck, after a massive public outcry. There were demonstrations in Calcutta and other cities.