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Indian Freedom Struggle (1707–1947 A.D.)

Notes The great significance of this historic movement was that it placed the demand for independence
on the immediate agenda of the national movement. After ‘Quit India,’ there could be no retreat.
Any future negotiations with the British Government could only be on the manner of the transfer
of power. Independence was no longer a matter of bargain. And this became amply clear after
the War.
With Gandhiji’s release on 6 May 1944, on medical grounds, political activity regained momentum.
Constructive work became the main form of Congress activity, with a special emphasis on the
reorganization of the Congress machinery. Congress committees were revived under different
names — Congress Workers Assemblies or Representative Assemblies of Congressmen — rendering
the ban on Congress committees ineffective. The task of training workers, membership drives and
fund collection was taken up. This re-organization of the Congress under the ‘cover’ of the
constructive programme was viewed with serious misgivings by the Government which saw it as
an attempt to rebuild Congress influence and organization in the villages in preparation for the
next round of struggle. A strict watch was kept on these developments, but no repressive action
was contemplated and the Viceroy’s energies were directed towards formulating an offer (known
as the Wavell Offer or the Simla Conference) which would pre-empt a struggle by effecting an
agreement with the Congress before the War with Japan ended. The Congress leaders were released
to participate in the Simla Conference in June 1945. That marked the end of the phase of
confrontation that had existed since August 1942.
Before we end this chapter, a brief look at the Indian National Army is essential. The idea of the
INA was first conceived in Malaya by Mohan Singh, an Indian officer of the British Indian Army,
when he decided not to join the retreating British army and instead went to the Japanese for help.
The Japanese had till then only encouraged civilian Indians to form anti-British organizations, but
had no conception of forming a military wing consisting of Indians.
Indian prisoners of war were handed over by the Japanese to Mohan Singh who then tried to
recruit them into an Indian National Army. The fall of Singapore was crucial, for this brought
45,000 Indian POWs into Mohan Singh’s sphere of influence. By the end of 1942, forty thousand
men expressed their willingness to join the INA. It was repeatedly made clear at various meetings
of leaders of the Indian community and of Indian Army officers that the INA would go into action
only on the invitation of the Indian National Congress and the people of India. The INA was also
seen by many as a means of checking the misconduct of the Japanese against Indians in South-East
Asia and a bulwark against a future Japanese occupation of India.
The outbreak of the Quit India Movement gave a fillip to the INA as well. Anti-British
demonstrations were organized in Malaya. On 1 September 1942, the first division of the INA was
formed with 16,300 men. The Japanese were by now more amenable to the idea of an armed
Indian wing because they were contemplating an Indian invasion. But, by December 1942, serious
differences emerged between the Indian army officers led by Mohan Singh and the Japanese over
the role that the INA was to play. Mohan Singh and Niranjan Singh Gill, the senior-most Indian
officer to join the INA, were arrested. The Japanese, it turned out, wanted only a token force of
2,000 men, while Mohan Singh wanted to raise an Indian National Army of 20,000.
The second phase of the INA began when Subhas Chandra Bose was brought to Singapore on 2
July 1943, by means of German and Japanese submarines. He went to Tokyo and Prime Minister
Tojo declared that Japan had no territorial designs on India. Bose returned to Singapore and set up
the Provisional Government of Free India on 21 October 1943. The Provisional Government then
declared war on Britain and the United States, and was recognised by the Axis powers and their
satellites. Subhas Bose set up two INA headquarters, in Rangoon and in Singapore, and began to
reorganize the INA. Recruits were sought from civilians, funds were gathered, and even a women’s
regiment called the Rani Jhansi regiment was formed. On 6 July 1944, Subhas Bose, in a broadcast
on Azad Hind Radio addressed to Gandhiji, said: ‘India’s last war of independence has begun
. . . Father of our Nation! In this holy war of India’s liberation, we ask for your blessing and good
wishes.’

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