SUBASH CHANDRA BOSE - NETAJI
DECLARED FREE INDIA-
MINISTRY OF PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT
FORMED 1943 OCTOBER 21
Subhas declared: "It will be the task of the Provisional Government to launch and conduct the struggle that will bring about the expulsion of the British and their allies from the soil of India."[15]
Light green: Territory claimed.
Dark green: Territory controlled (with Japanese assistance). | ||
| Capital | Port Blair (provisional) | |
| Capital-in-exile | Rangoon Singapore | |
| Languages | Hindustani | |
| Government | Provisional government | |
| Head of State | ||
| • | 1943–1945 | Subhas Chandra Bose |
| Prime Minister | ||
| • | 1943–1945 | Subhas Chandra Bose |
| Historical era | World War II | |
| • | Established | 21 October 1943 |
| • | Disestablished | 18 August 1945 |
Ārzī Hukūmat-e-Āzād Hind (Hindi: आर्ज़ी हुक़ूमत-ए-आज़ाद हिन्द; Urdu: عارضی حکومتِ آزاد ہند;), the Provisional Government of Free India, or, more simply, Free India[1][2] (Azad Hind), was an Indian provisional government established in occupied Singapore in 1943 and supported by Japan and by Nazi Germany.
| Provisional Government of Free India | ||||||
| आर्ज़ी हुक़ूमत-ए-आज़ाद हिन्द عارضی حکومتِ آزاد ہند Ārzī Hukūmat-e-Āzād Hind | ||||||
| Provisional government supported by Imperial Japan | ||||||
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| Anthem Subh Sukh Chain | ||||||
The government proclaimed authority over Indian civilian and military personnel in Southeast Asian British colonial territory and prospective authority over Indian territory to fall to the Japanese forces and the Indian National Army during the Japanese thrust towards India during the Second World War.[4] The government of Azad Hind had its own currency, court and civil code, and in the eyes of some Indians its existence gave a greater legitimacy to the independence struggle against the British.[5][6][7]
Immediately after the formation of the government-in-exile, Azad Hind declared war against the Anglo-American allied forces on the Indo-Burma Front.[9] Its army, the "Azad Hind Fauj", (Indian National Army or the INA) went into action against the British Indian Army and the allied forces as part of the Imperial Japanese Army in the Imphal-Kohima sector.
The INA had its first major engagement at the Battle of Imphal where, under the command of the Japanese Fifteenth Army, it breached the British defences in Kohima, reaching the salient of Moirang before suffering a catastrophic defeat as the Allied forces held, and Allied air dominance and compromised supply lines forced both the Japanese and the INA to retreat.[10]
Some historians contend that the Azad Hind was a free and independent government.[11]
The legacy of Azad Hind is, however, open to judgment. After the war, the Raj observed with alarm the transformation of the perception of Azad Hind from traitors and collaborators to "the greatest among the patriots".[12][13] Given the tide of militant nationalism that swept through India and the resentment and revolts it inspired, it is arguable that its overarching aim, to foster public resentment and revolts within the Indian forces of the British Indian Army to overthrow the Raj, was ultimately successful
Establishment[edit]
National celebration at the founding of the Provisional National Indian government at the Free India Center, Berlin, with Secretary of State Wilhelm Keppler speaking, on 16 November 1943
government at the Free India Center, Berlin, with Secretary of State
Wilhelm Keppler speaking, on 16 November 1943
The direct origins of Azad Hind can be linked to two conferences of Indian expatriates from across Southeast Asia, the first of which was held in Tokyo in March 1942. At this conference, convened by Rash Behari Bose, an Indian expatriate living in Japan, the Indian Independence League was established as the first move towards an independent Indian state politically aligned with the Empire of Japan.
Rash also moved to create a sort of independence army that would assist in driving the British from India – this force would later become the Indian National Army. The second conference, held later that year in Bangkok, invited Subhas Chandra Bose to participate in the leadership of the League. Bose was living in Germany at the time and made the trip to Japan via submarine.
Rash Behari Bose, who was already ageing by the time the League was founded, struggled to keep the League organised and failed to secure resources for the establishment of the Indian National Army. He was replaced as president of the Indian Independence League by Subhas Chandra Bose; there is some controversy as to whether he stepped down of his own volition or by pressure from the Japanese who needed a more energetic and focused presence leading the Indian nationalists.[citation needed]
Bose arrived in Tokyo on 13 June 1943, and declared his intent to make an assault against the eastern provinces of India in an attempt to oust the British from control of the subcontinent. Bose arrived in Singapore on 2 July, and in October 1943 formally announced the establishment of the Provisional Government of Free India. In defining the tasks of this new political establishment,
participants left to right: Ba Maw, Zhang Jinghui, Wang Jingwei, Hideki Tojo,
Subhas declared: "It will be the task of the Provisional Government to launch and conduct the struggle that will bring about the expulsion of the British and their allies from the soil of India."[15]Bose, taking formal command of the demoralised and undermanned Indian National Army from Rash Bose, turned it into a professional army with the help of the Japanese. He recruited Indian civilians living in Japanese-occupied territories of South-east Asia, and incorporated vast numbers of Indian POWs from British forces in Singapore, Malaya and Hong Kong to man the brigades of the INA.
Ministers[edit]
The Provisional Government of Free India consisted of a Cabinet headed by Subhas Chandra Bose as the Head of the State, The Prime Minister and the Minister for War and Foreign Affairs.
Other public administration ministers of the Provisional Government of Free India included:
Mr. S. A. Ayer - the Minister of Broadcasting and Publicity
Recognition[edit]
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Azad Hind was recognised as a legitimate state by only a small number of countries limited solely to Axis powers and their puppet states. Azad Hind had diplomatic relations with nine countries: Nazi Germany, the Empire of Japan,
Fascist Italy, the German and Italian controlled Independent State of Croatia and the Japanese controlled states of Wang Jingwei's Government in Nanjing, occupied Thailand, the State of Burma, Manchukuo and the Second Philippine Republic. On the declaration of its formation in occupied Singapore the Taoiseach of Ireland, Éamon de Valera, sent a note of congratulations to Bose. Vichy France, however, although being an Axis collaborator, never gave formal political recognition to Azad Hind. This government participated as an observer in the Greater East Asia Conference in November 1943.
The defeat of the INA and the collapse of the Provisional Government[edit]
Left to defend[citation needed] Rangoon from the British advance without support from the Japanese, the INA was soundly defeated. Bose was suggested to leave Burma to continue his struggle for Indian independence and returned to Singapore before the fall of Rangoon; the government Azad Hind had established on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands collapsed when the island garrisons of Japanese and Indian troops were defeated by British troops and the islands themselves retaken. Allegedly Bose himself was killed in a plane crash departing from Taiwan attempting to escape to Russia. The Provisional Government of Free India ceased to exist with the deaths of the Axis, the INA, and Bose in 1945.
The troops who manned the brigades of the Indian National Army were taken as prisoners of war by the British. A number of these prisoners were brought to India and tried by British courts for treason, including a number of high-ranking officers such as Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon. The defence of these individuals from prosecution by the British became a central point of contention between the British Raj and the Indian Independence Movement in the post-war years.
Lt. Col. A. C. Chatterji - the Minister of Finance
The Indian National Army was represented by Armed Forces ministers, including:
Lt. Col. Aziz Ahmed [16][17]
Lt. Col. N. S. Bhagat
Lt. Col. J. K. Bhonsle
Lt. Colonel Guizara Singh
Lt. Col. M.Z. Kiani
Lt. Col. A. D. Loganathan
Lt. Col. Ehsan Qadir
Lt. Col. Shahnawaz Khan
The Provisional Government was also constituted and administered by a number of Secretaries and Advisors to Subhas Chandra Bose, including:
A.N. Sahay - Secretary
Karim Ghani
Debnath Das
D.M. Khan
A. Yellapa
J. Thivy
Sirdar Isher Singh
A. N. Sarkar - the government's official Legal Advisor
All of these Secretaries and Advisory officials held Ministerial rank in the Provisional Government. The extent of the Provisional Government's day-to-day management of affairs for Azad Hind is not entirely well-documented, so their specific functions as government officials for the state outside of their positions as support ministers for Subhas Chandra Bose is not entirely certain.
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