Indian National Army

Indian National Army (INA), unit of armed Indian freedom fighters inspired by the ideals of the Indian nationalist movement and intent on securing India’s independence from the British Empire during World War II. It was formed in Malaya in February 1942 by members of the radical nationalist Indian Independence League, with Japanese support, from among 40,000 Indian prisoners of war captured in the Malayan campaigns and Burma campaigns in 1941-1942 and members of the local expatriate community. Although many volunteered to fight, others were coerced into joining or regarded it as a means of escaping from captivity. The Indian National Congress and mainstream Indian nationalist opinion had little sympathy with such ventures, regarding a Japanese invasion of India even less desirable than continued English rule. Under the leadership of Mohan Singh, and later Subhas Chandra Bose, three INA divisions were organized, trained, and equipped with captured British weapons. Their goal was to “liberate” India with Japanese help. While its leaders earnestly believed that it formed part of the national liberation movement, their Japanese allies regarded the INA more as a propaganda tool for furthering their pan-Asian dreams of dominance than as a fighting force. INA units participated in the Japanese offensive in north-eastern India in 1944, and in later fighting in Burma (now Myanmar). Although the Bose Brigade planted a flag on Indian soil, in combat the INA proved incapable of offering serious resistance to Allied troops, while large numbers of its men deserted or surrendered in the Arakan Range highlands in early 1944, at Imphal during the abortive Japanese offensive of March-June 1944, and later during the crossings of the Irrawaddy River in February 1945. Attempts to suborn the loyalty of Indian units fighting alongside the British Army proved nearly entirely unsuccessful. Following the Japanese surrender, the demoralized remnants—regarded as traitors by the British—were returned to India, where most were immediately released. Several senior INA officers, however, were tried for treason at the Red Fort at Delhi in 1945. The Indian nationalist movement championed the defendants, who were popularly regarded as heroes. Although found guilty, they were immediately released to curb civil disorder. Other trials were abandoned, and the few men imprisoned were released following Indian independence in 1947.