1. Japan, Hikari Kikan, and Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army: The Defining, Yet Unfinished 1940s Connect
- Author:
- Monika Chansoria
- Publication Date:
- 02-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Japan Institute Of International Affairs (JIIA)
- Abstract:
- India gained freedom from the British rule following a long, protracted independence struggle, which had many phases, and defining moments. A significant one amongst them was the role of the Indian National Army (INA) under Subhash Chandra Bose with crucial assistance and aid from Imperial Japan. Bose’s view of India’s struggle for independence differed radically from Mahatma Gandhi’s. For him, the war presented a golden opportunity to reach out to the adversaries of Britain, namely Germany and Japan, and seek their assistance to free India from under the oppressive British rule. Gandhi opposed this realist mode of thought and as a consequence Bose found himself marginalized within the Congress. Subhash Chandra Bose, popularly known as Netaji (Respected Leader) among Indians the world over, became the undisputed leader of this militant wing of India’s nationalist movement, over the disagreement of using force against the British Empire with Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Notably, despite the opposition of Gandhi, Bose was elected President of the Indian National Congress in 1938, and once again in 1939.
- Topic:
- History, World War II, Army, and Independence
- Political Geography:
- Japan, India, and Asia