The Indian National Army and Japan

13. Retrospect

210 CHAPTER฀THIRTEEN Retrospect INDIA฀ was฀ an฀ intriguing฀ problem฀ for฀ Japan฀ on฀ the฀ verge฀ of฀ war฀ in฀ Southeast฀ Asia.฀ The฀ tentacles฀ of฀ the฀ British฀ empire฀ were฀ athwart฀ most฀ of฀ the฀ sea฀ routes฀ in฀ Southeast฀ Asia,฀ and฀ the฀ British-DutchAmerican ฀military฀and฀economic฀agreements฀in฀the฀Indies฀had฀created฀ a฀ blockade฀ which฀ Japan฀ had฀ to฀ break฀ through฀ to฀ reach฀ vital฀ sources฀ of฀oil,฀tin,฀and฀rubber.฀India฀was,฀in฀addition,฀the฀stronghold฀of฀Britain ’s฀ power฀ in฀ Southeast฀ Asia.฀ Geography฀ dictated฀ confrontation. India฀ lay฀ west฀ of฀ the฀ expanding฀ periphery฀ of฀ Japan’s฀ wartime฀ Greater฀ East฀ Asia฀ Co-Prosperity฀ Sphere.฀ But฀ nowhere฀ in฀ the฀ most฀ extreme฀ versions฀ of฀ the฀ Co-Prosperity฀ Sphere฀ was฀ there฀ any฀ notion฀ of฀ incorporating฀ hundreds฀ of฀ millions฀ of฀ Indians฀ into฀ the฀ Japanese฀ empire.฀ It฀ would฀ not฀ have฀ been฀ militarily฀ feasible฀ or฀ economically฀ advantageous฀ for฀ Japan฀ to฀ have฀ envisioned฀ a฀ Japanese฀ regime฀ in฀ India.฀ Nevertheless,฀ some฀ Indians฀ in฀ the฀ independence฀ movement฀ feared฀ the฀ Japanese฀ were฀ planning฀ the฀ conquest฀ of฀ India,฀ using฀ the฀ ฀ INA฀to฀soften฀the฀blow฀to฀Indian฀opinion. Instead,฀ the฀ nationalist฀ aspirations฀ of฀ the฀ Indian฀ independence฀ movement฀became฀a฀natural฀target฀for฀a฀Japanese฀propaganda฀offensive ,฀ a฀ logical฀ counter฀ against฀ Britain.฀ Anti-British฀ sentiment฀ in฀ India฀ could฀ be฀ converted฀ into฀ a฀ political฀ and฀ hence฀ military฀ asset฀ for฀Japan.฀There฀was฀no฀need฀for฀Japan฀to฀create฀an฀Indian฀independence ฀movement;฀she฀could฀co-operate฀with฀and฀foster฀the฀movement฀ which฀ had฀ existed฀ for฀ nearly฀ a฀ century.฀This฀ co-operation฀ fitted฀ also฀ ฀ into฀Japan’s฀pattern฀of฀a฀drive฀against฀Western฀imperialism฀in฀Southeast฀ Asia. This฀possibility฀occurred฀to฀some฀highly฀placed฀Japanese฀by฀early฀ 1941฀ when฀ the฀ portents฀ of฀ war฀ in฀ the฀ Pacific฀ were฀ unmistakable.฀ 13฀IndNatArmy.indd฀฀฀210 4/21/08฀฀฀2:31:07฀PM 211 Diplomatic฀communiques฀from฀Calcutta฀to฀Foreign฀Minister฀Matsuoka฀ described฀the฀Indian฀independence฀movement,฀particularly฀in฀Bengal.฀ The฀attention฀of฀the฀Gaimushō฀was฀drawn฀to฀Subhas฀Chandra฀Bose,฀ Indian฀revolutionary฀exile฀in฀Berlin,฀by฀both฀Calcutta฀and฀the฀Japanese฀ Embassy฀in฀Berlin. Imperial฀ General฀ Headquarters฀ in฀Tokyo฀ also฀ took฀ some฀ notice฀ of฀ the฀ independence฀ movement฀ in฀ 1941.฀ The฀ Japanese฀ military฀ attaché฀ in฀Berlin฀was฀instructed฀to฀contact฀Bose฀and฀submit฀a฀report฀on฀him.฀ At฀nearly฀the฀same฀time,฀a฀young฀major฀was฀sent฀to฀Bangkok฀by฀the฀ Intelligence฀ Bureau฀ of฀ Headquarters฀ on฀ a฀ three-pronged฀ intelligence฀ mission.฀He฀would฀contact฀and฀co-operate฀with฀Malay฀groups,฀overseas ฀ Chinese฀ organizations,฀ and฀ Indians฀ organized฀ for฀ the฀ independence ฀struggle.฀Beyond฀this฀IGHQ฀took฀no฀action฀and฀made฀no฀concrete ฀ plans฀ for฀ India.฀ There฀ were฀ no฀ India฀ experts฀ in฀ IGHQ.฀ There฀ was฀no฀overall฀plan฀at฀the฀time฀or฀later฀for฀a฀large-scale฀invasion฀of฀ India.฀A฀strong฀tradition฀in฀the฀Army฀dictated฀that฀the฀best฀staff฀officers ฀be฀assigned฀to฀north฀China฀to฀guard฀especially฀against฀a฀military฀ threat฀ from฀ Soviet฀ Russia.฀ Major฀ Fujiwara,฀ setting฀ out฀ on฀ a฀ smallscale ฀intelligence฀mission฀to฀Bangkok,฀could฀find฀no฀accounts฀of฀India฀ in฀ IGHQ฀ archives.฀At฀ the฀ same฀ time,฀ he฀ was฀ instructed฀ by฀ Chief฀ of฀ General฀Staff฀Sugiyama฀to฀keep฀in฀mind฀the฀problem฀of฀India฀in฀relation ฀to฀the฀total฀Greater฀East฀Asia฀Co-Prosperity฀Sphere.฀Fujiwara’s฀ instructions฀were฀very฀general,฀allowing฀him฀much฀leeway฀in฀the฀use฀ of฀his฀own฀initiative,฀in฀line฀with฀Japanese฀Army฀policy฀of฀assigning฀ ฀ important฀projects฀to฀middle-ranking฀officers. Two฀events฀forced฀India฀on฀the฀attention฀of฀IGHQ฀once฀hostilities฀ broke฀ out฀ in฀ the฀ Pacific:฀ Japanese฀ military฀ successes฀ in฀ Malaya฀ and฀ Thailand,฀particularly฀the฀capture฀of฀Singapore฀and฀with฀it฀thousands฀ of฀ Indian฀ POWs,฀ and฀ reports฀ by฀ Major฀ Fujiwara฀ of฀ the฀ creation฀ of฀ a฀ revolutionary฀ Indian฀ army฀ eager฀ to฀ fight฀ the฀ British฀ out฀ of฀ India.฀ Fujiwara฀presided฀at฀the฀birth฀of฀the฀Indian฀National฀Army,฀together฀ with฀ a฀ young฀ Sikh,฀ Captain฀ Mohan฀ Singh.฀ Two฀ generals฀ sent฀ by฀ ฀ IGHQ฀to฀review฀Fujiwara’s฀project฀reported฀favourably฀on฀his฀proposals฀ to฀step฀up฀intelligence฀activities฀through฀the฀civilian฀and฀military฀arms฀ of฀the฀independence฀movement. Töjö฀ and฀ Chief฀ of฀ General฀ Staff฀ Sugiyama฀ took฀ passing฀ notice฀ of฀ India,฀ while฀ the฀ campaigns฀ in฀ the฀ Pacific฀ were฀ piling฀ up฀ impressive฀ victory฀ after฀ victory฀ for฀ the฀ Japanese.฀ In฀ the฀ first฀ four฀ months฀ of฀ 1942฀ Töjö฀ several฀ times฀ in฀ the฀ Japanese฀ Diet฀ called฀ on฀ Indians฀ to฀ rise฀ and฀ shrug฀ off฀ the฀ oppressive฀ grip฀ of฀ British฀ rule.฀ IGHQ฀ called฀ ฀ 13฀IndNatArmy.indd฀฀฀211 4/21/08฀฀฀2:31:07฀PM 212 Indian฀ representatives฀ from฀ Southeast...