The Indian National Army (INA) was a Japanese sponsored Indian military wing in Southeast Asia during the World War II, particularly active in Singapore, that was officially formed in April 1942 and disbanded in August 1945. It was formed with the help of the Japanese forces and was made up of roughly about 45 000 Indian prisoner of war (POWs) of British Indian Army, who were captured after the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942. It was initially formed by Rash Behari Bose who headed it till April 1942 before handing the lead of INA over to Subhas Chandra Bose in 1943.
INA was involved in various military operations fighting under the command of the Japanese forces against the British and Allied forces. They are notable for their contributions to the battle fought in Burma, Imphal and Kohima.
Following the defeat of the Japanese, the INA was dissolved in August 1945. 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. These trials became a galvanising point in the Indian Independence movement for the Indian National Congress. 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.
Background and Context
Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement
One of the more significant independent movements which brought together hundreds of thousands of Indians was Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement between 1920 and 1922 which aimed to reject British rule through non-violent means such as boycotting British products and consuming only local products. This movement also strengthened nationalistic feelings amongst the Indian population both in India as well as other parts of the world. As a result of this movement Gandhi was arrested and he spent two years in jail. However, the effects of this movement were far reaching as it spurred the emergence of a newer generation of Indians from the Congress Party such as, Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari and Subhas Chandra Bose (who would eventually become the leader of the INA) who would later on actively advocate for India's independence.
Pre-1942 Conditions in Singapore and Malaya
In 1941, with the impending arrival of the Japanese troops to the Malay Peninsula during the World War II, the British government had begun sending a large number of Indian troops to the Malay Peninsula and Singapore. It was estimated that were some 37 000 Indian troops stationed in these areas, making up roughly about the 40 percent of the total military strength of the British forces. However, the British-Indian troops stationed begun to experience various problems.
Firstly, the British military was beginning to be spread too thinly and they were unable to allocate much of their resources to the military set up in the Malay Peninsula and Singapore. Secondly, although it appears that the number British-Indian troops swelled from 200,000 to 900,000 between 1939 and 1941, it was made up of very young boys (as a result of the open recruitment policy of the British) who had very little or no combat training and experience, leading to anxiety amongst the British-Indian forces.
Thirdly, the British had already begun to suspect that not all of their Indian Army personnel were loyal to them. This was largely because, towards the end of 1942, the British government had to resort to indiscriminate recruitment in order to maintain the numbers for its army, meaning that it was no longer carefully curating its selection for the armed forces and consequently the British Indian Army was no longer filled with single minded individuals fighting for the same cause. The antagonistic feeling towards the British amongst the Indian soldiers were due to numerous instances of poor treatment they received. By 1941, significant discontent at the abusive attitudes of their British officers was widespread among Indian soldiers.
As such, due to a combination of the above-mentioned factors and conditions, by 1941, the morale of the Indian Army troops was very low and this set up the stage for many soldiers to switch loyalties to the Japanese in 1942.