This study traces the origins of the Indian National Army in the imagination of Iwaichi Fujiwara, a young Japanese intelligence officer, and the relationship between the Imperial Japanese Army and the Indian National Army as it evolved under the leadership of Bengali revolutionary, Subhas Chandra Bose. The study is unique in its use of Japanese archival sources for analysis of the relationship between Japanese policy formulation and the Indian independence movement in its military phase.
“It all started on 7 December 1941, when Japan unleashed its surprise attack on a place called Pearl Harbor. To think that something that was happening a thousand miles away would affect the lives of so many people, including me, was unimaginable then. But it did touch my life. In fact it dictated my whole future.” Ramesh Benegal, recipient of the Maha Vir Chakra, was born in Burma and was seventeen when the Japanese captured British-occupied Burma. He tells this extraordinary, first-person story of his career with the Indian National Army in Burma and Japan in the years from 1941 to 1945. A series of chances lead the young Ramesh to enrol for the selection of cadets to be sent to Japan for military training at the initiative of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. We follow his journeys on land, sea and air as the young voice narrates in sharp and often visceral detail the experience of travelling from Burma to Thailand, Singapore and Japan. The years are long and hard and alternate between deprivation and plenty and between disaster and hope—before the turning point of the War changes everything. What opens before us is not only a war memoir but the transformation of a boy as he steeps himself in the cultures of food, behaviour, customs and the ethnic aspirations of the countries he finds himself in.
This is the story of the women from the Indian Subcontinent who fought against British imperial power from the 1600s until the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. It begins by looking at the Partition of India, and the unique impact this had on women who – in addition to the displacement and violence which affected millions of South Asians, suffered uniquely through a campaign of rape, abduction, and forced suicides which left a lasting impact on the souls of women from every community. It then seeks to shine a light on the often-forgotten story of these women – who were not just passive victims of British, and later, communal violence, but who fought alongside (or sometimes at the head of) their male counterparts to secure the fall of the British Raj and the independence of their own nation. The stories of up to forty women, are examined, from various religious and racial communities across South Asia who advocated for Indian Independence and should be remembered and celebrated as influential freedom fighters in the same way that their male contemporaries have been. The book concludes by briefly examining the role of women in Indian nationalist movements today, and how this can be traced to the precedent set by their ancestors during the colonial era.
Operating from outside their homelands, exile armies have been an understudied phenomenon in history and international politics. From avoiding the fate of being a mere tool for a patron power to facing issues regarding their military efficacy and political legitimacy, exiled armies have found their journey home a tortuous one. This collection of essays covers the experience of exiled forces in the Second World War, principally in Europe, and also covers their activities around the globe during the Cold War and beyond.
A unique examination of the role of the Indian army in post-World War II India in the run-up to Partition. Daniel Marston draws upon extensive archival research and interviews with veterans of the events of 1947 to provide fresh insight into the final days of the British Raj.
The great Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose arrived in Singapore in 1943 to revitalize the Indian National Army (INA). Taking the opportunity of the Japanese occupation of parts of Southeast Asia, he launched armed struggle against British colonial rule in India. Two years later, that attempt failed at the eastern gates of India. Yet, it was a temporary failure because the INA helped set in motion a series of developments within India. These would culminate in its freedom in a further two years. Bose is household name in India. He is remembered in Southeast Asia as well, particularly among Indians. However, while his contributions to India's independence movement have been recorded exhaustively, less is known about the legacy that he left behind in Southeast Asia. This book seeks to fill that gap in the international understanding of a great Indian nationalist and pan-Asianist. It records how participation in the nationalist struggle invested Southeast Asian Indians with a rare sense of dignity and helped foster a mushrooming of militant trade unions, making it difficult for the returning British planters to perpetuate their control over what had been a docile workforce. The INA's Rani of Jhansi movement proved to be a pioneering effort at drawing Southeast Asian Indian women out of their traditional roles and expectations. It inspired some of them to take up mainstream roles for the cause of equality and emancipation. A Gentleman's Word retraces this journey of self-discovery of those who were inspired by Subhas Chandra Bose. The great Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose arrived in Singapore in 1943 to revitalize the Indian National Army (INA). Taking the opportunity of the Japanese occupation of parts of Southeast Asia, he launched armed struggle against British colonial rule in India. Two years later, that attempt failed at the eastern gates of India. Yet, it was a temporary failure because the INA helped set in motion a series of developments within India. These would culminate in its freedom in a further two years. Bose is household name in India. He is remembered in Southeast Asia as well, particularly among Indians. However, while his contributions to India's independence movement have been recorded exhaustively, less is known about the legacy that he left behind in Southeast Asia. This book seeks to fill that gap in the international understanding of a great Indian nationalist and pan-Asianist. It records how participation in the nationalist struggle invested Southeast Asian Indians with a rare sense of dignity and helped foster a mushrooming of militant trade unions, making it difficult for the returning British planters to perpetuate their control over what had been a docile workforce. The INA's Rani of Jhansi movement proved to be a pioneering effort at drawing Southeast Asian Indian women out of their traditional roles and expectations. It inspired some of them to take up mainstream roles for the cause of equality and emancipation. A Gentleman's Word retraces this journey of self-discovery of those who were inspired by Subhas Chandra Bose.
