#Indian national congress formed free#

In Japan's spectacular Malayan Campaign many Indian prisoners-of-war were captured, including nearly 45,000 after the fall of Singapore alone. ДЄt the outbreak of World War II in South-East Asia, 70,000 Indian troops (mostly Sikhs) were stationed in Malaya. His initial contact was with Giani Pritam Singh and the Thai-Bharat Cultural Lodge. Fujiwara, later self-described as 'Lawrence of the Indian National Army' (after Lawrence of Arabia) is said to have been a man committed to the values which his office was supposed to convey to the expatriate nationalist leaders, and found acceptance among them. 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.

Iwaichi Fujiwara, into South Asia to gather support from the Malayan sultans, overseas Chinese, the Burmese resistance and the Indian independence movement. Meanwhile, Japan had sent intelligence missions, notably under Maj. Circa April 1942.Д«efore the start of World War II, Japan and South-East Asia were major refuges for exiled Indian nationalists. Major Iwaichi Fujiwara greets Mohan Singh. Nevertheless, the army remains a popular and passionate topic in Indian culture and politics. Although they were widely commemorated by the Indian National Congress in the immediate aftermath of Indian independence, members of the INA were denied freedom fighter status by the Government of India, unlike those in the Gandhian movement. The INA's members were viewed as Axis collaborators by British soldiers and Indian PoWs who did not join the army, but after the war they were seen as patriots by many Indians. It 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.

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.

Historians like Sumit Sarkar, Peter Cohen, Fay and others suggest that these events played a crucial role in hastening the end of British rule. The Bombay mutiny in the Royal Indian Navy and other mutinies in 1946 are thought to have been caused by the nationalist feelings that were caused by the INA trials. These trials became a galvanising point in the Indian Independence movement. The end of the war saw many of the troops repatriated to India where some faced trials for treason. Fay who have written about the army, however, consider the INA not to have had significant influence on the war. This led to a reporting ban and a propaganda campaign called ' Jiffs' to preserve the loyalty of the Sepoy. ДЄfter the INA's initial formation in 1942, there was concern in the British-Indian Army that further Indian troops would defect. This second INA fought along with the Imperial Japanese Army against the British and Commonwealth forces in the campaigns in Burma: at Imphal and Kohima, and later against the Allied retaking of Burma. 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. There was also an all-women regiment named after Rani of Jhanshi, Lakshmibai. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose named the brigades/regiments of INA after Gandhi, Nehru, Maulana Azad, and himself.

#Indian national congress formed free#

The army was declared to be the army of Bose's Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind (the Provisional Government of Free India). It was revived under the leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose after his arrival in Southeast Asia in 1943. Rash Behari Bose handed over INA to Subhas Chandra Bose. This first INA,which had been handed over to Rash Behari Bose, collapsed and was disbanded in December that year after differences between the INA leadership and the Japanese military over its role in Japan's war in Asia. The army was first formed in 1942 under Captain Mohan Singh by Indian PoWs of the British-Indian Army captured by Japan in the Malayan campaign and at Singapore. It fought alongside Japanese soldiers in the latter's campaign in the Southeast Asian theatre of WWII. Its aim was to secure Indian independence from British rule. The Indian National Army ( INA Azad Hind Fauj / Л€ Й‘Лђ z Й‘Лђ Г° Л€ h i n Г° Л€ f Й”Лђ dК’/ lit.: Free Indian Army) was an armed force formed by Indian freedom fighters/ collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II.