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Este artículo trata sobre la organización formada durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial en Singapur. Para el Gobierno Provisional formado por Raja Mahendra Pratap durante la Primera Guerra Mundial, ver Gobierno Provisional de la India . Para la unidad militar levantada durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial en la Alemania nazi, vea Legión India .

Gobierno Provisional de la India LibreArzi Hakumat-e-Azad Hind आर्ज़ी हुकूमत-ए-आज़ाद हिन्द عارضی حکومتِ آزاد ہند
1943-1945
Lema:  Ittehad, Itmad aur Qurbani
( Hindustani : Unidad, Fe y Sacrificio)
Light green: Claimed territory Dark green: Controlled territory (with Imperial Japanese assistance)
Verde claro: territorio reclamado
Verde oscuro: territorio controlado (con ayuda imperial japonesa)
EstadoGobierno títere del Imperio de Japón [1] [2]
CapitalPort Blair (provisional) Nueva Delhi (de jure)
Capital en el exilioRangún , Singapur y Tokio
Lenguajes comunesindostánico
Demonym (s)indio
GobiernoGobierno provisional
Jefe de Estado y Primer Ministro 
• 1943–1945 Subhas Chandra Bose
Era historicaSegunda Guerra Mundial
• Establecido 21 de octubre de 1943
• Desestablecido 18 de agosto de 1945
Población
•  5,000 ( ejército )
DivisaRupia
Precedido por		Sucesor
India británica
India británica

El Gobierno Provisional de la India Libre ( Arzi Hakumat-e-Azad Hind ) o, más simplemente, Azad Hind , [3] [4] fue un gobierno Provisional de la India establecido en el Singapur ocupado por los japoneses durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial . Fue creado en octubre de 1943 y cuenta con el apoyo del Imperio de Japón y también depende en gran medida de él .

Fue parte del movimiento político que se originó en la década de 1940 fuera de la India con el propósito de aliarse con las potencias del Eje para liberar a la India del dominio británico . Fue establecido por nacionalistas indios en el exilio durante la última parte de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en Singapur con la ayuda monetaria, militar y política del Japón imperial . [5] Fundado el 1 de septiembre de 1942, el gobierno se inspiró en los conceptos de Subhas Chandra Bose, quien también fue el líder del gobierno y Jefe de Estado.. El gobierno proclamó autoridad sobre el personal civil y militar indio en el territorio colonial británico del sudeste asiático y la autoridad potencial sobre el territorio indio para caer en manos de las fuerzas japonesas y el Ejército Nacional Indio durante el avance japonés hacia la India .

El gobierno de Azad Hind tenía su propia moneda, corte y código civil, y a los ojos de algunos indios, su existencia dio una mayor importancia a la lucha por la independencia contra los británicos. [6] [7] [8] Japón también entregó la autoridad nominal de las islas Andaman y Nicobar ocupadas por los japoneses en 1943, aunque el gobierno siguió dependiendo del apoyo japonés.

Inmediatamente después de la formación del gobierno provisional, India Libre declaró la guerra a las fuerzas aliadas en el Frente Indo-Birmano. [9] Su ejército, el Ejército Nacional Indio ( Azad Hind Fauj ), entró en acción contra el Ejército Indio Británico y las fuerzas aliadas como parte del Ejército Imperial Japonés en el sector Imphal-Kohima. El INA tuvo su primer enfrentamiento importante en la Batalla de Imphal donde, bajo el mando del XV Ejército Japonés , rompió las defensas británicas en Kohima, alcanzando el saliente de Moirang.antes de sufrir una derrota catastrófica mientras las fuerzas aliadas resistieron, y el dominio aéreo aliado y las líneas de suministro comprometidas obligaron tanto a los japoneses como a la INA a retirarse. [10]

La existencia de Azad Hind coincidió esencialmente con la existencia del Ejército Nacional Indio. Mientras que el propio gobierno continuó hasta que la administración civil de las Islas Andamán fue devuelta a la jurisdicción de los británicos hacia el final de la guerra, el poder limitado de Azad Hind terminó efectivamente con la rendición del último gran contingente de tropas del INA en Rangún. . La muerte de Bose se considera el final de todo el Movimiento Azad Hind.

Sin embargo, el legado de Azad Hind está abierto a juicio. Después de la guerra, el Raj observó con alarma la transformación de la percepción de Azad Hind de traidores y colaboradores a "el más grande entre los patriotas". [11] [12] Dada la marea de nacionalismo militante que se extendió por la India y el resentimiento y las revueltas que inspiró, es discutible que su objetivo principal, fomentar el resentimiento público y las revueltas dentro de las fuerzas indias del ejército británico de la India para derrocar al Raj , finalmente tuvo éxito. [13]

Establecimiento [ editar ]

Celebración nacional en la fundación del gobierno nacional indio provisional en el Free India Center, Berlín, con el secretario de Estado Wilhelm Keppler hablando, el 16 de noviembre de 1943.

Los orígenes directos de Azad Hind pueden vincularse a dos conferencias de expatriados indios de todo el sudeste asiático, la primera de las cuales se celebró en Tokio en marzo de 1942. [14] En esta conferencia, convocada por Rash Behari Bose , un expatriado indio que vive en Japón, la Liga de la Independencia de la India se estableció como el primer paso hacia un estado indio independiente alineado políticamente con el Imperio de Japón . Rash también se movió para crear una especie de ejército de independencia que ayudaría a expulsar a los británicos de la India; esta fuerza más tarde se convertiría en el Ejército Nacional de la India. La segunda conferencia, celebrada más tarde ese año en Bangkok, invitó a Subhas Chandra Bosepara participar en el liderazgo de la Liga. Bose vivía en Alemania en ese momento e hizo el viaje a Japón en submarino.

Rash Behari Bose, que ya estaba envejeciendo cuando se fundó la Liga, luchó por mantener la Liga organizada y no pudo asegurar los recursos para el establecimiento del Ejército Nacional de la India. Subhas Chandra Bose lo reemplazó como presidente de la Liga de la Independencia de la India; Existe cierta controversia sobre si renunció por su propia voluntad o por la presión de los japoneses, que necesitaban una presencia más enérgica y concentrada al frente de los nacionalistas indios. [ cita requerida ]

Bose llegó a Tokio el 13 de junio de 1943 y declaró su intención de realizar un asalto contra las provincias orientales de la India en un intento de expulsar a los británicos del control del subcontinente. Bose llegó a Singapur el 2 de julio y en octubre de 1943 anunció formalmente el establecimiento del Gobierno Provisional de la India Libre en el Cathay Cinema Hall . Al definir las tareas de este nuevo establecimiento político, Subha declaró: "Será tarea del Gobierno Provisional lanzar y conducir la lucha que traerá consigo la expulsión de los británicos y sus aliados del suelo de la India". [15] Bose, taking formal command of the demoralised and undermanned Indian National Army from Rash Bose, turned it into a professional army with the help of the Japanese. He recruited Indian civilians living in Japanese-occupied territories of South-east Asia and incorporated vast numbers of Indian POWs from British forces in Singapore, Malaya and Hong Kong to man the brigades of the INA.

Ministers[edit]

The Provisional Government of Free India consisted of a Cabinet headed by Subhas Chandra Bose as the Head of the State, The Prime Minister and the Minister for War and Foreign Affairs.

Captain Doctor Lakshmi Swaminadhan (later married as Lakshmi Sahgal) was the Minister in Charge of Women's Organization. She held this position over and above her command of the Rani Jhansi Regiment, a brigade of women soldiers fighting for the Indian National Army. For a regular Asian army, this women's regiment was quite visionary; it was the first of its kind established on the continent. Dr. Lakshmi was one of the most popular and prosperous gynaecologists in Singapore before she gave up her practice to lead the troops of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment.

Other public administration ministers of the Provisional Government of Free India included:

  • Mr. S. A. Ayer – the Minister of Broadcasting and Publicity
  • Lt. Col. A. C. Chatterji – the Minister of Finance

The Indian National Army was represented by Armed Forces ministers, including:

  • Lt. Col. Aziz Ahmed[16][17]
  • Lt. Col. N. S. Bhagat
  • Lt. Col. J. K. Bhonsle
  • Lt. Col. Guizara Singh
  • Lt. Col. M.Z. Kiani
  • Lt. Col. A. D. Loganathan
  • Lt. Col. Ehsan Qadir
  • Lt. Col. Shahnawaz Khan

The Provisional Government was also constituted and administered by a number of Secretaries and Advisors to Subhas Chandra Bose, including:

  • Capt. Dilip Singh Siwach
  • A.M.Sahay – Secretary
  • Karim Ghani
  • Debnath Das
  • D.M. Khan
  • A. Yellapa
  • J. Thivy
  • Sardar Ishar Singh Narula
  • A. N. Sarkar – the government's official Legal Advisor

All of these Secretaries and Advisory officials held Ministerial rank in the Provisional Government. The extent of the Provisional Government's day-to-day management of affairs for Azad Hind is not entirely well-documented, so their specific functions as government officials for the state outside their positions as support ministers for Subhas Chandra Bose is not entirely certain.

Recognition[edit]

Greater East Asia Conference in November 1943, participants left to right: Ba Maw, Zhang Jinghui, Wang Jingwei, Hideki Tojo, Wan Waithayakon, José P. Laurel, Subhas Chandra Bose.

Azad Hind was recognised as a legitimate state by only a small number of countries limited solely to Axis powers and their allies.[18] Azad Hind had diplomatic relations with nine countries: Nazi Germany, the Empire of Japan, Italian Social Republic, Independent State of Croatia and Wang Jingwei Government, Thailand, the State of Burma, Manchukuo and the Second Philippine Republic.[19] On the declaration of its formation in occupied Singapore the Taoiseach of Ireland, Éamon de Valera, sent a note of congratulations to Bose. Vichy France, however, although being an Axis collaborator, never gave formal political recognition to Azad Hind. This government participated as an observer in the Greater East Asia Conference in November 1943.

Government administration and World War II[edit]

Main articles: Indian National Army, India during World War II, and Invasion and Occupation of the Andaman Islands during World War II

The same night that Bose declared the existence of Azad Hind, the government took action to declare war against the United States and Britain. The government consisted of a Cabinet ministry acting as an advisory board to Subhas Bose, who was given the title "Netaji" (translating roughly to "leader"[citation needed]) and was no doubt the dominant figure in the Provisional Government. He exercised virtual authoritarian control over the government[citation needed] and the army.[citation needed] With regards to the government's first issuances of war declarations, the "Cabinet had not been unanimous about the inclusion of the U.S.A. Bose had shown impatience and displeasure – there was never any question then or later of his absolute authority: the Cabinet had no responsibility and could only tender advice..."[citation needed]

Currency issued by the Azad Hind Bank

At the end of October 1943, Bose flew to Tokyo to participate in the Greater East Asia Conference as an observer to Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere; it could not function as a delegate because India had technically fallen outside the jurisdiction of Japan's definition of "Greater East Asia", but Bose gave speeches in opposition to Western colonialism and imperialism at the conference. By the end of the conference, Azad Hind had been given a limited form of governmental jurisdiction over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which had been captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy early on in the war.

Unreleased postage stamps of the Azad Hind government.

Once under the jurisdiction of Azad Hind, the islands formed the government's first claims to territory. The islands themselves were renamed "Shaheed" and "Swaraj", meaning "martyr" and "self-rule" respectively. Bose placed the islands under the governorship of Lt Col A. D Loganathan,[20] and had limited involvement with the official governorship of the territory, instead involving himself in plans to expand the Indian National Army, ensure adequate men and materiel, and formulate its course of actions and the administrations and relations of the Indian population in southeast Asia and determining Japanese designs in India and his provisional government. In theory, the government itself had the power to levy taxes on the local populace, and to make and enforce laws: in practice, they were enforced by the police force under Japanese control.[citation needed] Indians were willing to pay these taxes at first but became less inclined to do so towards the end of the war when the Provisional Government enacted legislation for higher war-time taxes to fund the INA. During his interrogation after the war, Loganathan admitted that he had only had full control over the islands' vestigial education department, as the Japanese had retained full control over the police force, and in protest, he had refused to accept responsibility for any other areas of Government. He was powerless to prevent the Homfreyganj massacre of 30 January 1944, where forty-four Indian civilians were shot by the Japanese on suspicion of spying. Many of them were members of the Indian Independence League, whose leader in Port Blair, Dr. Diwan Singh, had already been tortured to death in the Cellular Jail after doing his best to protect the islanders from Japanese atrocities during the first two years of the occupation.[21][22]

Azad Hind's military forces in the form of the INA saw some successes against the British and moved with the Japanese army to lay siege to the town of Imphal in eastern India. Plans to march towards Delhi,[citation needed] gaining support and fresh recruits along the way, stalled both with the onset of monsoon season and the failure to capture Imphal. British bombing seriously reduced morale, and the Japanese along with the INA forces began their withdrawal from India.

In addition to these setbacks, the INA was faced with a formidable challenge when the troops were left to defend Rangoon[citation needed] without the assistance of the Japanese in the winter of 1944–1945. Loganathan was relocated from the Andaman Islands to act as field commander. With the INA garrison about 6,000 strong, he manned the Burmese capital in the absence of any other police force or troops during the period between the departure of the Japanese and the arrival of the British. He was successful in maintaining law and order to the extent that there was not a single reported case of dacoity or of looting during the period from 24 April to 4 May 1945.[citation needed]

Indian areas under the administration of the Provisional Government[edit]

Almost all of the territory of the Provisional Government lay in the Andaman Islands, although the Provisional Government was allowed some authority over Indian enclaves in Japanese-occupied territories. Provisional Government civil authority was never enacted in areas occupied by the INA; instead, Japanese military authority prevailed and responsibility for administration of occupied areas of India was shared between the Japanese and the Indian forces.[citation needed]

The defeat of the INA and the collapse of the Provisional Government[edit]

Left to defend[citation needed] Rangoon from the British advance without support from the Japanese, the INA was soundly defeated. Bose was suggested to leave Burma to continue his struggle for Indian independence and returned to Singapore before the fall of Rangoon; the government Azad Hind had established on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands collapsed when the island garrisons of Japanese and Indian troops were defeated by British troops and the islands themselves retaken. Allegedly Bose himself was killed in a plane crash departing from Taiwan attempting to escape to Russia. The Provisional Government of Free India ceased to exist with the deaths of the Axis, the INA, and disappearance of Bose in 1945.

The troops who manned the brigades of the Indian National Army were taken as prisoners of war by the British. A number of these prisoners were brought to India and tried by British courts for treason, including a number of high-ranking officers such as Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon. The defence of these individuals from prosecution by the British became a central point of contention between the British Raj and the Indian Independence Movement in the post-war years.

Relations with the Axis Powers[edit]

See also: Collaboration with the Axis Powers
(left) Bose with Heinrich Himmler, the Nazi Minister of Interior, head of the SS, and the Gestapo, 1942; (right) Subhas Bose shaking hands with Adolf Hitler.

Since Subhas Chandra Bose aligned with Empire of Japan and the Axis Powers, which also included Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, Britain portrayed him as a controversial figure for his official stance against imperialism which would run in opposition against Japanese imperialism in Asia during World War II. Bose himself claimed to oppose all manner of colonial practices but claimed Britain as hypocritical in "fighting a war for democracy" but refusing to extend the same respect for democracy and equal rights to their colonial subjects in India[citation needed]. Bose opposed British racial policy and declared working for the abolition of racial discrimination with Burmese, Japanese and other Asians.

Britain accused him of fascism, citing his control over the Provisional Government as strict as evidence of this; and pointed to him wanting to establish a totalitarian state in India with the blessings of the Axis powers. It is accurate to term Bose solely as a fascist, as he believed that parliamentary democracy was unsuitable for India immediately after independence and that a centrally organised, self-sufficient, semi-socialist India under the firm control of a single party was the best course for Indian government. Some of his ideas would help shape Indian governmental policy in the aftermath of the country's independence from Britain.

It has been argued that the fact that Azad Hind was aligned politically with Japan and the Axis Powers may have had more to do with what Bose saw as a pragmatic approach to Indian independence. Disillusioned with Gandhi's philosophies of non-violence, Bose was clearly of the camp that supported exploiting British weakness to gain Indian independence. Throughout the existence of Azad Hind, Bose sought to distance himself from Japanese collaboration and become more self-sufficient but found this difficult since the existence of Azad Hind as a governmental entity had only come about with the support of the Japanese, on whom the government and army of Azad Hind were entirely dependent. Bose, however, is considered a hero by some in present-day India and is remembered as a man who fought fiercely for Indian independence.[23] However, Subhas Chandra Bose had supported Fascism and Nazism before the start of WWII, declaring that Indian needed "a synthesis of what modern Europe calls socialism and fascism" in a speech in made in Calcutta in 1930.[24]

Although Japanese troops saw much of the combat in India against the British, the INA was certainly by itself an effective combat force,[citation needed] having faced British and allied troops and making their mark in the Battle of Imphal. On 18 April 1944 the suicide squads led by Col. Shaukat Malik broke through the British defence and captured Moirang in Manipur. The Azad Hind administration took control of this independent Indian territory.[25] Following Moirang, the advancing INA breached the Kohima road, posing a threat to the British positions in both Silchar and Kohima. Col. Gulzara Singh's column had penetrated 250 miles into India. The Azad Brigade advanced, by outflanking the Anglo-American positions.

However, INA's most serious, and ultimately fatal, limitations were the reliance on Japanese logistics and supplies and the total air-dominance of the allies, which, along with a supply line deluged by torrential rain, frustrated the INA's and the Japanese bid to take Imphal.[citation needed]

With the siege of Imphal failing, the Japanese began to shift priority for resource allocation from South Asia to the Pacific, where they were fighting United States troops advancing from island to island against Japanese holdings there. When it had become clear that Bose's plans to advance to Delhi from the borders of Burma would never materialise due to the defeat of the INA at Imphal and the halt of Japanese armies by British aerial and later naval superiority in the region, Japanese support for Azad Hind declined.

Contributions to Indian independence[edit]

Bose with Gandhi in 1938

The true extent to which the INA's activities influenced the decision to leave India is mirrored by the views of Clement Attlee, the British prime minister at the time of India's Independence. Attlee cites several reasons, the most important of which were the INA activities of Subhas Chandra Bose, which weakened the very foundation of the British Empire in India, and the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny which made the British realise that the support of the Indian armed forces could no longer be relied upon.[26]

See also[edit]

  • List of Indian independence activists
  • Subhas Chandra Bose
  • Indian National Army
  • Azad Hind Bank
  • Azad Hind stamps
  • Azad Hind Radio
  • Decorations of Azad Hind
  • Hindu–German Conspiracy
  • Indian Legion
  • Battaglione Azad Hindoustan

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ C. A. Bayly & T. Harper Forgotten Armies. The Fall of British Asia 1941–5 (London) 2004 p. 325
  2. ^ Dasgupta Red Sun over Black Water pp. 67, 87, 91–95; Mathur Kala Pani pp. 249–251
  3. ^ Rudolph, Lloyd I.; Hoeber Rudolph, Susanne (2008). Explaining Indian Democracy: The realm of institutions : state formation and institutional change. Oxford University Press; Original from: University of California Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-19-569365-2.
  4. ^ Ghose, Sankar (1975). Political ideas and movements in India. Allied Publishers; Original from: University of Michigan Press. p. 136.
  5. ^ Toye, Hugh (1959). The Springing Tiger: A Study of the Indian National Army and of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Allied Publishers. p. 187. ISBN 978-8184243925.
  6. ^ Singh, Harkirat (2003) The INA trial and the Raj. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. pp. 102–103. ISBN 81-269-0316-3
  7. ^ Sarkar, S. (1983), Modern India: 1885–1947, Delhi: Macmillan India, p. 412, ISBN 978-0-333-90425-1
  8. ^ Bandyopādhyāẏa, Śekhara (2004) From Plassey to partition. Orient Blackswan. p. 428. ISBN 81-250-2596-0
  9. ^ Pandit, HN. (1988) Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sterling Publishers, New Delhi. p. 331
  10. ^ Das S. "Indian National Army in South East Asia". The Hindustan Times. Special Edition. "Hindustan Times – Archive News". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
  11. ^ Edwardes, Michael (1964) The Last Years of British India, Cleveland, World Pub. Co. p. 93: "The Government of India had hoped, by prosecuting members of the INA, to reinforce the morale of the Indian army. It succeeded only in creating unease, in making the soldiers feel slightly ashamed that they themselves had supported the British. If Bose and his men had been on the right side – and all India now confirmed that they were – then Indians in the Indian army must have been on the wrong side. It slowly dawned upon the Government of India that the backbone of the British rule, the Indian army, might now no longer be trustworthy. The ghost of Subhas Bose, like Hamlet’s father, walked the battlements of the Red Fort (where the INA soldiers were being tried), and his suddenly amplified figure overawed the conference that was to lead to independence."
  12. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Indian National army. After returning to India the veterans of the INA posed a difficult problem for the British government. The British feared that a public trial for treason on the part of the INA members might embolden anti-British sentiment and erupt into widespread protest and violence. URL Accessed on 19 August 2006.
  13. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Indian National army.
  14. ^ Cao, Yin (2017). From policemen to revolutionaries : a Sikh diaspora in global Shanghai, 1885–1945. Leiden: Brill. pp. 144–145. ISBN 9789004344082. OCLC 982651998.
  15. ^ "Indian National Army". aicc.org.in. Archived from the original on 23 April 2009.
  16. ^ "The Provicial Government of Free India in Exile". netajiliveson.org. Archived from the original on 24 February 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  17. ^ "Indian National Army". nas.sg. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  18. ^ "Indian National Army : Provisional Government of Azad Hind". National Archives of Singapore. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  19. ^ "Can we declare Bose as India's first head of the state of a provisional government?". The Times of India. Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. he Times Group. 20 October 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  20. ^ "The Last Straw That Broke the Back of the British Empire". Archived from the original on 5 June 2003.
  21. ^ Dasgupta, Jayant (2002) Japanese in Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Red Sun over Black Water. Delhi: Manas Publications. pp. 67, 87, 91–95. ISBN 9788170491385
  22. ^ Mathur, L.P. (1985) Kala Pani. History of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands with a study of India's Freedom Struggle. Delhi: Eastern Book Corporation. pp. 249–251.
  23. ^ [1]
  24. ^ Pasricha, Ashu (2008), "The Political Thought of Subhas Chandra Bose", Encyclopaedia Eminent Thinkers, 16, Concept Publishing Company
  25. ^ The Hindustan Times "Hindustan Times – Archive News". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  26. ^ Majumdar, R.C. (1978) Jibanera Smritideepe (Bengali), Calcutta, General Printers and Publishers. pp. 229–230

External links[edit]

  • "The Last Straw That Broke the Back of the British Empire". Archived from the original on 5 June 2003.
  • Netaji Subhas
  • Lecture notes on Bose