Indian National Army

This article is about the second Indian National Army under Subhash Chandra Bose. For the organisation under Mohan Singh, see First Indian National Army. For the modern Indian military, see Indian Armed Forces. For the army of the British Raj, see British Indian Army. For the regiment raised in Germany, see Free India Legion.

Indian National Army
Azad Hind Fauj
Flag of Azad Hind
ActiveAugust 1942 – September 1945
Country Azad Hind (puppet state of Japanese empire)
AllegianceEmpire of Japan Empire of Japan
RoleGuerrilla, infantry, special operations
Size~43,000 Soldiers: Gandhi Brigade, Nehru Brigade, Azad Brigade, Subhas Brigade, Rani of Jhansi regiment
Motto(s)Ittefaq, Itmad aur Qurbani
(Hindustani: Unity, Faith and Sacrifice)
MarchQadam Qadam Badhaye Ja
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Commander-in-ChiefMohan Singh (1942)
Subhas Chandra Bose (1943–1945)
Chief of StaffJaganath Rao Bhonsle
Notable
commanders		Prem Sahgal
Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon
Shah Nawaz Khan
Monument of INA Martyrs at Kolkata

The Indian National Army (INA; Azad Hind Fauj /ˈɑːzɑːð ˈhinð ˈfɔːdʒ/; lit. 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed unit of Indian collaborators that fought under the command of the Japanese Empire.[1] It was founded by Mohan Singh in September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II.

It fought under the command of the Japanese military in the British campaign in the Southeast Asian theatre of WWII, with its aim to secure Indian independence from British rule.[2] The army was first formed in 1942 under Mohan Singh by Indian prisoners of war (PoWs) of the British Indian Army captured by Japan in the Malayan campaign and at Singapore.[3][4][5] This first INA, which had been handed over to Rash Behari Bose and Mohan Singh, collapsed and was disbanded in December that year after differences between its leadership and the Japanese military over its role in Japan's war in Asia. The INA was handed over to Subhas Chandra Bose.[6] It was revived under the leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose after his arrival in Southeast Asia in 1943. The army was declared to be the army of Bose's Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind (the Provisional Government of Free India). The INA came to be known as the puppet army of the Japanese empire.[7][8]

Subhas Chandra Bose named the brigades/regiments of INA after Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Azad, and himself.[9] There was also an all-women regiment named after Rani of Jhansi, Lakshmibai. 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.[10] This second INA fought under 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.[11][12]

After the INA's initial formation in 1942, there was concern in the British Indian Army that further Indian troops would defect. This led to a reporting ban and a propaganda campaign called "Jiffs" to preserve the loyalty of the Sepoy.[13] Historians consider the INA not to have had significant influence on the war.[14]

The British Raj, never seriously threatened by the INA, charged 300 INA officers with treason in the INA trials, but eventually backtracked in the face of opposition by the Congress.[15][16] These trials became a galvanising point in the Indian Independence movement for the Indian National Congress.[17][18] 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.[19]

The military unit 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.[20] The INA's members were viewed as Axis collaborators and traitors by British soldiers and Indian PoWs who did not join the army,[21] but after the war they were seen as patriots by many Indians.[21] Although they were widely commemorated by the Indian National Congress in the immediate aftermath of Indian independence, some of the members of the INA were denied freedom fighter status by the Government of India.[22][10][21][23]

  1. ^ Henry Heller (2006). The Cold War and the New Imperialism: A Global History, 1945–2005. Monthly Press. p. 87. By 1943 Bose had organized the 40,000 - strong Indian National Army, a force based in Malaya and commanded by the Japanese
  2. ^ Fay 1993, p. viii
  3. ^ Ray, N.R. (1984). Challenge, a Saga of India's Struggle for Freedom. People's Publishing House. p. 586.
  4. ^ Ghosh, R. (2006). Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Indian Freedom Struggle (Set in 2 Vols.). Deep & Deep Publications. p. 32. ISBN 978-81-7629-842-1.
  5. ^ Lebra 2008, Foreword, pp. viii–x
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lebra2008p99 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Seaman, Harry (1989). The Battle At Sangshak: Prelude to Kohima. L. Cooper. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-85052-720-9. puppet army composed of Indian prisoners of war
  8. ^ Yuki Tanaka (2017). Hidden Horrors: Japanese War Crimes in World War II. Asian Voices. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 215. ISBN 978-1-5381-0270-1. a puppet army under Japanese control
  9. ^ "Subhas Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru: Admirers or adversaries? A myth buster". 23 January 2020.
  10. ^ a b Lebra 2008, p. xv
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fayp283and284 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Fay 1993, p. 330
  13. ^ Fay 1993, p. 423
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fay138 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Moreman, Tim (2013). The Jungle, Japanese and the British Commonwealth Armies at War, 1941–45: Fighting Methods, Doctrine and Training for Jungle Warfare. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-76456-2.
  16. ^ Marston2014, pp. 130–132: "Many Indian Army POWs were perplexed by Congress's sudden support for the INA"
  17. ^ Singh 2003, p. 98.
  18. ^ Sarkar 1983, p. 420
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lebra2008p219 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Fay 1993, pp. 423–424, 453
  21. ^ a b c Toye 1959, Mason, in Foreword, p. xiv
  22. ^ Cohen 1971, p. 132
  23. ^ Fay 1993, p. 228