Last phase of the movement of INA and Netaji

(courtsey Anuj Dhar, Face Book)
নেতাজি রাশিয়ায় - জানতেন গান্ধি, নেহরু, প্যাটেল সবাই : অনুজ ধর

নেতাজি কোথায়, কী ভাবে, কী দশায় মারা গেছেন, এই প্রশ্নই তাড়িয়ে বেড়াচ্ছে আজও দেশের মানুষকে। একেক সময় একেক তত্ত্ব সামনে এসেছে, যা নিয়ে কয়েকদিন ধরে আমরা একটি সিরিজ় প্রকাশ করছি। কিন্তু এরই মাঝে আরও একবার সাধারণ মানুষের দাবি প্রতিহত
On Nov 1, 1944, Netaji accompanied by his top aides , Kiani, Chatterjee, and Habibur Rahman Khan, flew to Tokyo for a series of discussions with Japanese leaders and also to participate in various other events arranged by his Japanese hosts. Returning to his hotel Netaji took a long time composing a letter addressed to the Soviet Ambassador The letter came back unopened within three days through the messenger who went with the letter. The Soviet Union entered the war against Japan violating the non-aggression pact for a possible gift of japan's northern islands to the Soviet Union.
The Provisional Govt. of Free India got a loan of 100 million Yen (worth about $20 million) of which 90 million Yen remained unused when Japan surrendered to the Allies in August 1945. Netaji spent all the remaining funds as discgarge allowance to all members and employees of the INA and the Provisional Govt. Japan waived claims of its repayment.
On  23 rd January 1945, Netaji oberved his 48th Birth day in Rangoon and the people of Rangoon of Indian Origin donated gold and jewels weighing in total in one and  half times his weight. Subhas Chandra Bose was a tall and big man weighing about 100 kilograms. Netaji rushed out to join the INA on the Irrawaddy front.
Two days later Netaji learned that Japan had radioed its readiness to surrender . In subsequent two days, he discharged civilian employees of his Government , disbanded some 23,000 troops of the INA based in and around Singapore and paid them off. On the eve of the Japanese surrender Netaji held a meeting of his cabinet ans issued a special  message to his countrymen in East Asia and assured them to keep up spirits to enslave India in no  time. Netaji with six top adjutants arrived by plane in Bangkok shortly after Japan officially surrendered to the Allies at noon on 15 August 1945. Netaji expressed his desire to join the Soviet forces in Manchuria to seek a way for continuing his campaign against Britain.
The plane, with an estimated one metric ton of excess load , took off from Saigon at about 5 p.m. and flew north. About two hrs. later, the bomber touched down at Tourane, a Japanese base roughly midway between Saigon and Hanoi. The plane halted for the night and dismantled about 6oo kilos. By that time Netaji developed a friendship with Shidei
and talked in the room of the barrack which they shared.   The plane left at 2 p.m. but involved in sn accident shortly after take off allegedly killing Netaji, General Shidei, two pilots and two other crews keeping Habibur Rahman , Nonogaki, Kono and five other persons with minor-to-serious injuries.
( A newspaper clip reporting the death of Lieutenant General Shidei and Subhas Chandra Bose)
This story of the death of Netaji is yet to be proved.

Moirang (pictures) under INA control for three months

Last days of struggle of INA

A loan of 100 million yen (then worth about $ 20 million ) About 90 million yen remained unused when Japan surrendered to the Allies in August 1945, Netaji spent all the remaining funds as discharge allowance to all members and employees of the INA and the Provisional Govt. . Japan waived claims to its repayment.
On 23 Jan 1945, Netaji observed his 48th birth day . Indian Residents of Rangoon held a rally and donated gold and jewels weighing in total one and half times his weight i.e., about 100 Kilograms. Netaji rushed out to join the vINA troops on the Irrawadi front after learning that the First Division along with the Japanese 15th were falling back under the powerful push of the enemy. When he finished inspection of the new position of the INA at Pyinmana, Netaji declared , "I will fight to the death here, right here. In the Irish revolution , new patriots continued to emerge and climbed over the fallen comrades  - until they won. I am convinced that the same will happen to our
 campaign ".
On 29th April, 1945, General Heitaro Kimura who relieved Kawabe as the Commander-in- Chief of Japanese Army Forces in Burma, advised Netaji of his decision to withdraw from Rangoon , adding that Ba Maw had already left. Kimura urged Netaji to also withdraw along with his troops to Thailand. Kimura took sufficient times for acceptance of Netaji to withdraw his troops.
Netaji's car had covered just about 100 Kilometers when it reached Sittang River
where bridges were down.
The Soviet Union entered the war against Japan on 9 August 1945 and forces at once invaded Manchuria and Northern Japanese Islands.

Last months with the Indian National Army

Map of Central Burma showing the route taken by Subhas Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army (INA) group of 500 from Rangoon toMoulmein. The group traveled in a Japanese military convoy until they reached the riverSittang. After crossing the river, they walked the remaining 80 miles. At Moulmein, Bose, his party, and another INA group of 500, boarded Japanese trains on the Death Railway (which had been constructed earlier by British, Australian, and Dutch prisoners of war) to arrive inBangkok in the first week of May 1945.

During the last week of April 1945, Subhas Chandra Bose along with his senior Indian National Army (INA) officers, several hundred enlisted INA men, and one hundred women from the INA's Rani of Jhansi Regiment leftRangoon by road for Moulmein in Burma. Accompanied by Lieutenant General Saburo Isoda, the head of the Japanese-INA liaison organization Hikari Kikan, their Japanese military convoy was able to reach the right bank of the Sittang river, albeit slowly. (See map 1.) However, very few vehicles were able to cross the river because of American strafing runs. Bose and his party walked the remaining 80 miles (130 km) to Moulmein over the next week. Moulmein then was the terminus of theDeath Railway, constructed earlier by British, Australian, and Dutch prisoners of war, linking Burma to Siam (now Thailand). At Moulmein, Bose's group was also joined by 500 men from the X-regiment, INA's first guerrilla regiment, who arrived from a different location in Lower Burma.

A year and a half earlier, 16,000 INA men and 100 women had entered Burma from Malaya. Now, less than one tenth that number left the country, arriving in Bangkokduring the first week of May. The remaining nine tenths were either killed in action, died from malnutrition or injuries after the battles of Imphal andKohima. Others were captured by the British, turned themselves in, or simply disappeared. Bose stayed in Bangkok for a month, where soon after his arrival he heard the news of Germany's surrender on May 8. Bose spent the next two months between June and July 1945 in Singapore, and in both places attempted to raise funds for billeting his soldiers or rehabilitating them if they chose to return to civilian life, which most of the women did. In his nightly radio broadcasts, Bose spoke with increasing virulence against Gandhi, who had been released from jail in 1944, and was engaged in talks with British administrators, envoys and Muslim League leaders. Some senior INA officers began to feel frustrated or disillusioned with Bose and to prepare quietly for the arrival of the British and its consequences.

During the first two weeks of August 1945, events began to unfold rapidly. With the British threatening to invade Malaya and with daily American aerial bombings, Bose's presence in Singapore became riskier by the day. His chief of staff J. R. Bhonsle suggested that he prepare to leave Singapore. On 3 August 1945, Bose received a cable from General Isoda advising him to urgently evacuate to Saigon in Japanese-controlled French Indochina (now Vietnam). On 10 August, Bose learnt that the Soviet Union had entered the war andinvaded Manchuria. At the same time he heard about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima andNagasaki. Finally, on 16 August, after being informed of the unconditional surrender of Japan, Bose decided to leave for Saigon along with a handful of his aides.

Tricolour Flag hoisted in Moirang, Assam , India.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose - All Power to the Indian People

16 April 2012 · 

MOIRANG DAY, 14 April 1944

On 14 April 1944 Colonel Mallick of the Indian National Army had hoisted the national tricolour with the symbolic Springing Tiger at the historic Moirang Kangla (ancient seat of power) in Manipur. It was a very proud moment in India’s struggle for independence – the INA had finally reached the sacred soil of mainland India and held it for a time as a liberated area from British control. The advancing INA and Japanese forces had fought and pushed the British out of Moirang and their camps on the hills of Manipur. The INA was welcomed by the freedom fighters of Manipur which had itself a long history of struggle against the foreign occupiers.

In raising the Tricolour Colonel Mallick said:

“…The Indian National Army with the unstinted support of the Japanese Government has now crossed the Indo-Burmese border and in the course of its struggle for the liberation of the people of India from the British yoke we have now reached Moirang, the ancient citadel of Manipur. Our commitment is to march to Delhi and unfurl the Tri-Colour flag there at Lal Killa. Many had died on our way to reach here (Moirang) and many would die on our way to Delhi. However, expulsion of the enemy from the sacred soil of India is a compulsion for us. We shall fight and the people of Manipur would provide supplies to us….Freedom of India is very near; near at hand and we shall win it …”
Moirang remained the ‘advance Headquarters of the INA’ for about three months and the Provisional Government of Azad Hind administered all the liberated areas of Manipur during this time. The people of Manipur from its hills and valleys extended all types of support and cooperation to the INA including food, donations and other materials. Even a couple of hundred Manipuris joined the INA movement.

Today at the scared site where Colonel Mallick had hoisted the Indian flag stands the INA Memorial. I had the privilege of visiting Moirang in April 1993 on the invitation of the Manipur Government. A few miscreants had damaged Netaji’s statue and the Manipur Government had installed a new statue. On this auspicious occasion, many Manipuris were present and it was an emotional experience for me to see how much the local people respected and revered their leader- Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

Not much is known about the role of the INA and its remarkable entry into India in early 1944 and its success in liberating a part of that region, though it was short-lived. The Netaji Subhas Foundation could encourage and support research and documentation of this glorious phase of INA history.

( This article was taken from Chandra Kumar Bose
14 April 2012)

INA crosses Indo-Burma Border

the Imphal operationwas the final offensive of the East Asia war which lasted from 15th March to 9 th July 1944. Japanese code name was operation U.
After the Provisional Govt of Free India moved into Burma for facilitating the joint operations of the INA and the Japanese Army, three battalions of the 15th Army were deployed on the left bank of Chindwin River. Of these the 31st division was deployed to attack Imphal from the east The 33rd division on the left wing had already crossed the River.The INA under the Command of Netaji was deployed for joint operations with the Japanese army. Emboldened by this success , the first line troops started on a march towards the Indo-Burma border at 9.30 p.m. on 15th March 1944. The INA finally crossed the border and set foot on Indian soil on 18th March 1944 - a red letter day.  
Netaji announced this momentous news to the world. The statement issued in Rangoon on 22 March was lashed back to India.
Netaji made his proclamation to Indians in liberated territories on 4 April.
Netaji appointed Lt. Col. Chatterjee as the Governor of  liberated India.
A Rani of Jhansi camp was opened in Rangoon and camps were opened  all over East Asia for the speedy training of Indian civilian youth.
Netaji established his  first National Bank of Azad Hind in Rangoon on 5 April, and the same day he left for the fighting front and moved his headquarters nearer the firing line. This time he took with him a contingent of fully trained and equipped Ranis of Jhansis. This time Japan presented Netaji with an Aeroplane. Netaji proceeded to Maymyo shifting a part of the Provisional Govt. of Free India.
On 8 April, the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters made the following announcement regarding the military development in Burma ;
1. Our crack troops , fighting side by side with the Indian National Army, Captured Kohima early on 6 April,
2. Our attack on the enemy's airborne troops in the Kata area is moving along smoothly.
In the meantime, Indo-Japanese liberation operations came to a standstill , within three miles of Imphal. The monsoon had already set in The torrential rains of Burma cut off the supply lines of INA. As a result INA was ordered to withdraw. This debacle took place june-july 1944.suffering from acute malaria and dysentery, the wounded battle scarred heroes began trekking back to Mandalay and Rangoon.
Some soldiers of the INA Kiani Division operating to parel surendered to the enemy.
Netaji planned to reshuffle the Provisional govt into activities of liberated territories and the fighting division.
At the critical moment Netaji wrote a letter to Mahatma Gandhi apprising him of the situation. the message said , " after the sad demise of Shrimati Kasturba in British custody ...."
The war situation became worse in 18th July followed by the Govt. of Tojo.      

Provisional Govt. of Free India

It was on 7 Jan 1944 that thee Provisional Govt of Free India moved in Netaji declared Independenceangoon. Netaji had always planned to use Burma as a springboard to jump at the enemy in India.Now, with this he made a step forward to India. After moving into  Burma, Netaji declared independence in August.
However, the 15th Army , commanded by Lt. Gen.Mutaguchi ( 1888-1966), which was in charge of the defence of Burma,found it a difficult task to build a defence line strong enough to hold against the enemy because of the paucity of of manpower, numerical inferiority in air power and inadequate logistical support from the rear.
Meanwhile, indications of the enemy's counter-attack were increasing by the day. It was earlyin Jan 1944 that final orders were issued for the regional Army Command in Burma to attack Imphal on 10 March. 1. The operation was already delayed by two months in rain-affected area, 2. it was a joint operation of the INA and the Japanese Army.
The Regional Army Command was first formed in March 1943 and Gen Kawabe was named its commander. Before his departure from Tokyo for Burma to assume the command, Gen. Kaabe was summoned by Premier Tojo and told that " the real purpose of the military operations in Burma is to pave the way for Indian Independence movement". Aware of the significance of his mission , Gen.Kawabe left for Burma.        
In Rangoon, in May, the representatives of the INA visited him . The Japanese made it a principle to help India to achieve its freedom.nce they decided to put the entire territory occupied by them under Indian territory. Gen. Kawabe was highly impressed by Netaji's imposing personality, broad vision, and passion for Independence, and promised to extent Netaji put some conditions to Japanese general,
Netaji arrived in Rangoon on 7 January The Indian National army should be the spearheaded of the whole advance into India. the first drop of blood to be shed on Indian soil should be that of a member of INA, he wrote an article, march forward" on 17th Jan
 

Pictures of Last Phase Of Freedom Struggle by INA