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When was Azad Hind Fauj First Formed?
Azad Hind Fauj had two avatars – under Captain Mohan Singh and Subhash Chandra Bose. It was first formed on 17 February 1942, comprising captured Indian prisoners of war of the British Indian Army. This was done on the initiative of the Imperial Japanese Army.
World war II was at its peak and British had lost Singapore to Japan. Under an overcast sky, around 45000 Indian soldiers gathered in a football field called Farrer Park in Singapore. Addressing the crowd, Major Fujiwara of the Imperial Japanese Army gave a call to form Azad Hind Fauj.
Subhash Chandra Bose Forms the Second Azad Hind Fauj:
A Year later came the second avatar of Azad Hind Fauj, formed under Subhash Chandra Bose.
By December 1942, differences had emerged between Captain Mahon Singh and the Japanese. Almost half of the Indian Soldier who had joined the INA at Farrer Park had left.
In June 1943, Bose arrived at Singapore to revive the Azad Hind Fauj on the behest of Japanese.
After Bose took over, he established the “Provisional Government of Free India,” to give political legitimacy to Azad Hind Fauj. Bose was the president, premium, foreign secretary and Defense Minister of the government. With this, Azad Hind Fauj became the military arm of a “government-in-exile”.
Recruiting soldiers was next on Bose’s priority list. Apart from the prisoners of war working in rubber plantations in Malay, he also recruited Indian civilians working in the region. Through his speeches, he gave Indians the idea of “the sacred soil of the motherland” and the dream of “raising the flag of Free India.”
Bose was also established a military hierarchy in Azad Hind Fauj – Lt Col Shah Nawaz Khan was the Chief of General Staff, Major PK was the Military Secretary, and Major Habib ur Rahman was the Commandant of officers’ training school.
The INA also had an all-women regiment called “Rani of Jhansi Regiment”. Estimates say that under Bose, the strength of Azad Hind Fauj was, once again, to 40,000 soldiers.
Which War Campaigns did Azad Hind Fauj Partake in?
Azad Hind Fauj participated in two military encounter during the Second World War – in Arakan in Burma (now Myanmar) in January-February 1944 and in Imphal in Manipur in March 1944.
Japan had two wartime objective for Azad Hind Fauj.
One was the presence of an army fighting for India’s freedom under Bose’s strong leadership would spark mass defections by Indian soldiers in the British Indian Army to Azad Hind Fauj. Two, Azad Hind Fauj troops could be used in forward reconnaissance for Japanese troops.
However, the INA’s combat performance is also reported to be a result of the “reluctance of the Japanese to employ the INA in anything more than secondary roles,” Havers noted.
There were also accusations that Japanese troops provided the INA with outdated and rusty weaponry. But Bose insisted that the INA accompany the Imperial Japanese Army on its assault on Burma.
This led to the first encounter between British-Indian and INA troops in Arakan in Burma (now Myanmar) in January-February 1944. Three battalions of five companies each, called the “Bose Brigade,” fought alongside the Japanese.
During the encounter, INA soldiers reportedly used "trickery and civilian disguise" to overpower British Indian sentries and aided the Japanese in capturing a divisional headquarters.
In March 1944, three INA regiments crossed the Chindwin in Manipur for the “March to Delhi.” They reached as far as Imphal in Manipur. But by June, along with Japanese troops, they were forced to retreat because of disease and inadequate supplies.
By March 1945, the INA troop strength is estimated to have declined to 35,000. When Rangoon (now Yangon) in Burma was captured in May 1945, Azad Hind Fauj disbanded and its troops surrendered.
In August 1945, Bose reportedly died in a plane crash in Taiwan. He was on his way to USSR, where he hoped he could get support to continue his fight against the British.
Written by: Gopal Prasad
Edited by: Gourav Chowdhury
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