The Indian National Army and Japan

5. Japanese Policy toward India

60 CHAPTER฀FIVE Japanese฀Policy฀toward฀India I฀ POLICY-MAKERS฀IN฀TOKYO JAPAN’S฀wartime฀aims฀in฀India฀were฀never฀as฀clearly฀defined฀as฀her฀aims฀ in฀Southeast฀Asia.฀India฀was฀not฀embraced฀in฀the฀grand฀design฀for฀the฀ Greater฀East฀Asia฀Co-Prosperity฀Sphere฀first฀conceived฀in฀1940.฀Greater฀ East฀Asia฀would฀sweep฀through฀Southeast฀Asia฀westward฀to฀the฀IndoBurmese ฀border.฀Everywhere฀in฀Asia฀Western฀colonial฀rule฀would฀be฀ driven฀out฀and฀independence฀movements฀encouraged.฀Asia฀for฀Asians฀ became฀the฀goal฀and฀shibboleth.฀The฀Greater฀East฀Asia฀Co-Prosperity฀ Sphere฀ would฀ constitute฀ an฀ economically฀ self-sufficient฀ entity฀ under฀ Japanese฀ tutelage.฀ Both฀ diplomatic฀ and฀ military฀ means฀ would฀ be฀ employed฀to฀realize฀the฀blueprint.฀But฀Japanese฀military฀administration฀ would฀respect฀existing฀local฀organizations฀and฀customs.1 ฀By฀late฀1941฀ control฀of฀resources฀necessary฀for฀the฀war฀effort฀became฀a฀focal฀point฀ of฀the฀plan. Still,฀India฀bordered฀the฀western฀perimeter฀of฀the฀Greater฀East฀Asia฀ Co-Prosperity฀Sphere.฀And฀Japan฀was฀at฀war฀with฀the฀colonial฀power฀ occupying฀India;฀Britain฀must฀be฀expelled฀from฀India.฀As฀Japan฀wished฀ to฀see฀Britain฀purged฀from฀Asia฀so฀also฀Indian฀nationalists฀aspired฀to฀ free฀India.฀Japan฀had฀to฀reckon฀with฀India฀for฀the฀mutual฀advantage฀of฀ both฀Japan฀and฀India. What฀ agencies฀ or฀ individuals฀ in฀ Tokyo฀ would฀ do฀ the฀ reckoning?฀ The฀ Foreign฀ Ministry฀ was฀ one฀ obvious฀ possibility.฀ Japan฀ had฀ no฀ ambassador฀ in฀ India฀ under฀ Britain,฀ but฀ there฀ were฀ consuls฀ in฀ the฀ major฀ Indian฀ cities.฀ In฀April฀ 1941,฀ Consul-General฀ Okazaki฀ in฀ Calcutta ,฀ in฀ a฀ secret฀ communiqué฀ to฀ Foreign฀ Minister฀ Matsuoka,฀ described ฀ the฀ independence฀ movement฀ of฀ the฀ Forward฀ Bloc,฀ a฀ radical฀ ฀ 05฀IndNatArmy.indd฀฀฀60 4/21/08฀฀฀4:36:30฀PM 61 party฀in฀Bengal.฀Okazaki฀suggested฀establishing฀contact฀with฀this฀leftwing ฀ party฀ in฀ India฀ and฀ also฀ with฀ its฀ leader,฀ Subhas฀ Chandra฀ Bose,฀ then฀in฀exile฀in฀Berlin.฀Going฀even฀further,฀he฀suggested,฀“We฀should฀ secretly฀transport฀large฀quantities฀of฀weapons฀and฀substantially฀increase฀ the฀ actual฀ strength฀ of฀ the฀ Forward฀ Bloc.”2 ฀ While฀ Okazaki฀ felt฀ the฀ movement฀would฀burgeon฀into฀a฀genuinely฀popular฀revolt,฀he฀felt฀Japan฀ should฀ do฀ her฀ part฀ by฀ establishing฀ contact฀ with฀ Bose฀ and฀ aiding฀ his฀ party.฀This฀early฀Japanese฀notice฀of฀Bose฀preceded฀by฀several฀months฀ Major฀ Fujiwara’s฀ remarks฀ about฀ Bose฀ to฀ the฀ 8th฀ Section,฀ Second฀ Bureau,฀IGHQ. From฀ Ambassador฀ General฀ ฀ Ōshima฀ Hiroshi฀ in฀ Berlin฀ also฀ came฀ communiqués฀regarding฀the฀Indian฀revolutionary฀Bose฀and฀his฀desire฀ to฀go฀to฀East฀Asia.฀In฀January฀1941฀Bose฀had฀already฀begun฀to฀visit฀ Ambassador฀ ฀ Ōshima฀ and฀ military฀ attaché฀ Yamamoto฀ Bin฀ in฀ Berlin฀ ฀ with฀ plans฀ for฀ military฀ co-operation฀ with฀ Japan฀ against฀ Britain฀ in฀ Asia.฀ The฀ Gaimushō฀ (Foreign฀ Ministry)฀ then฀ learned฀ of฀ the฀ presence฀ of฀ Bose฀ in฀ Berlin฀ and฀ of฀ his฀ political฀ significance฀ from฀ sources฀ both฀ in฀ India฀ and฀ in฀ Germany.฀ The฀ Foreign฀ Ministry,฀ however ,฀ refrained฀ from฀ any฀ positive฀ proposal฀ regarding฀ India฀ or฀ Bose฀ ฀ during฀1941.฀And฀when฀war฀erupted,฀the฀initiative฀obviously฀lay฀with฀ the฀military฀rather฀than฀the฀Gaimushō. From฀ within฀ the฀ Cabinet฀ Prime฀ Minister฀ Töjö฀ made฀ several฀ declarations ฀ of฀ policy฀ toward฀ India฀ in฀ early฀ 1942.฀ These฀ pronouncements ฀were฀articulated฀in฀speeches฀before฀the฀Diet.฀They฀represented฀ official฀ policy฀ aims฀ toward฀ India.฀ The฀ statements฀ were฀ made฀ during฀ the฀ four-month฀ interval฀ from฀ January฀ to฀ April,฀ and฀ the฀ timing฀ of฀ the฀ pronouncements฀ suggested฀ that฀ by฀ late฀ March฀ or฀ early฀April฀ the฀ fundamental฀ lines฀ of฀ Japan’s฀ India฀ policy฀ had฀ already฀ been฀ drawn.3 ฀ The฀ policy฀ aims฀ had฀ yet฀ to฀ be฀ implemented,฀ and฀ measures฀ were฀ later฀adopted฀to฀implement฀some฀of฀the฀goals.฀Announcements฀made฀ by฀ Töjö฀ during฀ 1943฀ and฀ 1944฀ were฀ designed฀ to฀ realize฀ earlier฀ ฀ decisions. Major฀policy฀decisions฀on฀India฀also฀emanated฀from฀Liaison฀Conferences ฀ and฀ Imperial฀ Conferences.฀ Liaison฀ Conferences฀ included฀ important฀members฀of฀both฀the฀Cabinet฀and฀military฀high฀command,฀ including฀the฀Prime฀Minister,฀Foreign฀Minister,฀and฀Army฀and฀Navy฀ chiefs฀ of฀ staff฀ and฀ vice-chiefs฀ of฀ staff.฀ The฀ Liaison฀ Conferences฀ were฀ inaugurated฀ by฀ imperial฀ order฀ in฀ late฀ 1937฀ to฀ provide฀ liaison฀ between฀ the฀ Cabinet฀ and฀ military฀ on฀ crucial฀ policy฀ questions.฀ For฀ a฀ time฀ Conferences฀ lapsed,฀ but฀ they฀ were฀ resumed฀ in฀ November฀ ฀ 05฀IndNatArmy.indd฀฀฀61 4/21/08฀฀฀4:36:30฀PM 62 1940฀and฀continued฀until฀1944.4 ฀A฀major฀decision฀reached฀at฀a฀Liaison ฀Conference฀was฀not฀final฀until฀ratified฀at฀an฀Imperial฀Conference,฀ that฀is,฀the฀Liaison฀Conference฀plus฀the฀Emperor฀and฀President฀of฀the฀ Privy฀ Council.฀ This฀ imperial฀ ratification฀ in฀ effect฀ made฀ a...