The Indian National Army and Japan

8. Bose, the FIPG, and the Hikari Kikan

128 CHAPTER฀EIGHT Bose,฀the฀FIPG,฀and฀the฀Hikari฀Kikan I฀ BIRTH฀OF฀THE฀PROVISIONAL฀GOVERNMENT฀OF฀ AZAD฀HIND฀(FIPG) THE฀ next฀ step฀ for฀ Bose฀ in฀ Southeast฀ Asia฀ was฀ the฀ creation฀ of฀ the฀ Provisional฀ Government฀ of฀ Azad฀ Hind.฀ The฀ Japanese฀ had฀ been฀ reluctant ฀ to฀ recognize฀ the฀ INA฀ as฀ an฀ allied฀ army,฀ since฀ it฀ represented฀ not฀ a฀ government฀ but฀ an฀ organization,฀ the฀ IIL.฀ The฀ remedy,฀ then,฀ was฀ to฀ establish฀ a฀ government฀ which฀ could฀ deal฀ diplomatically฀ on฀ an฀ equal฀ basis฀ with฀ the฀Axis฀ powers.฀ The฀ government฀ would,฀ Bose฀ hoped,฀ ultimately฀ replace฀ the฀ British-controlled฀ government฀ in฀ India฀ when฀ India฀ became฀ independent.฀ This฀ new฀ government฀ would฀ gain฀ ฀ prestige฀ and฀ status฀ in฀ international฀ law฀ for฀ the฀ independence฀ movement . The฀ Provisional฀ Government฀ of฀ Free฀ India฀ came฀ into฀ being฀ at฀ an฀ inaugural฀meeting฀on฀21฀October฀1943฀in฀the฀Cathay฀cinema฀building,฀ where฀the฀IIL฀had฀welcomed฀Bose฀to฀Singapore.฀Again฀Indians฀from฀ all฀parts฀of฀Southeast฀Asia฀assembled.฀There฀was฀a฀capacity฀audience.฀ Chatterji฀ as฀ general-secretary฀ for฀ the฀ IIL฀ read฀ a฀ brief฀ history฀ of฀ the฀ League. Netaji฀ next฀ rose฀ to฀ speak.฀ He฀ announced฀ the฀ formation฀ of฀ the฀ government฀ and฀ the฀ composition฀ of฀ its฀ first฀ cabinet.1 ฀ “It฀ will฀ be฀ the฀ task฀ of฀ the฀ Provisional฀ Government฀ of฀ Azad฀ Hind฀ to฀ launch฀ and฀ conduct฀ the฀ struggle฀ that฀ will฀ bring฀ about฀ the฀ expulsion฀ of฀ the฀ British ฀and฀of฀their฀allies฀from฀the฀soil฀of฀India.฀It฀will฀then฀be฀the฀task฀ of฀ the฀ Provisional฀ Government฀ to฀ bring฀ about฀ the฀ establishment฀ of฀ the฀ Permanent฀ National฀ Government฀ of฀ Azad฀ Hind฀ constituted฀ in฀ ฀ 08฀IndNatArmy.indd฀฀฀128 4/14/08฀฀฀10:49:19฀AM 129 accordance฀ with฀ the฀ will฀ of฀ the฀ Indian฀ people฀ and฀ enjoying฀ their฀ confidence,”฀2 ฀he฀proclaimed. Bose฀ read฀ a฀ Proclamation฀ of฀ Independence฀ on฀ behalf฀ of฀ the฀ cabinet ฀ of฀ the฀ new฀ government.฀ He฀ praised฀ the฀ heroes฀ of฀ the฀ independence ฀ movement,฀ tracing฀ their฀ deeds฀ back฀ to฀ 1757฀ when฀ they฀ first฀ fought฀ British฀ power฀ in฀ Bengal.฀ “British฀ rule฀ in฀ India฀ has฀ forfeited฀ the฀ good฀ will฀ of฀ the฀ Indian฀ people฀ altogether฀ and฀ is฀ now฀ living฀ a฀ precarious฀ existence.฀ It฀ needs฀ but฀ a฀ flame฀ to฀ destroy฀ the฀ last฀ vestige฀ of฀that฀unhappy฀rule.฀To฀light฀that฀flame฀is฀the฀task฀of฀India’s฀Army฀ of฀ Liberation,”฀ Bose฀ exhorted฀ his฀ audience.฀ “The฀ Provisional฀ ฀ Government฀is฀entitled฀to,฀and฀hereby฀claims,฀the฀allegiance฀of฀every฀ Indian.฀It฀guarantees฀religious฀liberty฀as฀well฀as฀equal฀rights฀and฀equal฀ opportunities฀ to฀ all฀ its฀ citizens.”3 ฀ When฀ Bose฀ had฀ read฀ the฀ independence ฀ proclamation฀ he฀ took฀ an฀ oath฀ of฀ allegiance฀ to฀ India฀ as฀ Head฀ of฀ State,฀ Prime฀ Minister฀ and฀ Minister฀ for฀ War,฀ Minister฀ for฀ Foreign฀ Affairs,฀ and฀ Supreme฀ Commander฀ of฀ the฀ INA.฀ Each฀ member฀ of฀ the฀ new฀ cabinet฀ followed฀ Bose’s฀ example,฀ taking฀ the฀ oath฀ to฀ liberate฀ India.฀Bose฀repeatedly฀wiped฀his฀eyes฀with฀his฀handkerchief฀during฀the฀ ฀ ceremony. In฀ Tokyo,฀ IGHQ฀ and฀ the฀ cabinet฀ had฀ already฀ been฀ informed฀ through฀ the฀ Hikari฀ Kikan฀ of฀ Bose’s฀ plans฀ to฀ establish฀ a฀ Free฀ India฀ Provisional฀ Government.฀ In฀ a฀ Liaison฀ Conference฀ on฀ 9฀ October฀ it฀ was฀ decided฀ that฀ when฀ Bose฀ should฀ establish฀ the฀ FIPG฀ it฀ would฀ be฀ recognized฀ by฀ Japan฀ “in฀ order฀ to฀ strengthen฀ the฀ propaganda฀ offensive ฀in฀its฀India฀policy”.4 ฀Bose,฀informed฀of฀this฀assurance฀of฀Japanese ฀recognition,฀had฀in฀turn฀hastened฀preparations฀for฀creation฀of฀the฀ ฀ new฀government. Following฀ the฀ birth฀ of฀ the฀ FIPG฀ by฀ only฀ two฀ days,฀ the฀ Japanese฀ Government฀ on฀ 23฀ October฀ announced฀ its฀ recognition.฀At฀ the฀ same฀ time,฀ the฀ Imperial฀ Government฀ declared,฀ it฀ would฀ give฀ “the฀ utmost฀ help฀for฀the฀achievement฀of฀the฀objectives฀of฀the฀Provisional฀Government ”.5 ฀ Japan’s฀ recognition฀ of฀ the฀ FIPG฀ was฀ followed฀ immediately฀ by฀ eight฀ other฀ governments:฀ Germany,฀ Italy,฀ Croatia,฀ Manchukuo,฀ Nanking,฀ the฀ Philippines,฀ Thailand฀ and฀ Burma.฀ Eamon฀ de฀ Valera,฀ President฀ of฀ the฀ Irish฀ Free฀ State,฀ sent฀ his฀ personal฀ congratulations฀ to฀ Bose.6 ฀ With฀ his฀ fascination฀ for฀ Irish฀ history,฀ Bose฀ had฀ been฀ a฀ special฀ admirer฀ of฀ de฀Valera.฀Within฀ both฀ the฀ Gaimushō฀ and฀ IGHQ,฀ however,฀ some฀ highly฀ placed฀ officials฀ and฀ generals฀ felt฀ Japan’s฀ recognition ฀ was฀ not฀ full฀ diplomatic฀ recognition,฀ since฀ the฀ government฀ was฀ only฀ provisional.7 ฀ This฀ opinion฀ was฀ not฀ publicized฀ at฀ the฀ time. 08฀IndNatArmy.indd฀฀฀129 4/14/08฀฀฀10:49:20฀AM 130 The฀ next฀ day,฀ the฀ FIPG฀ declared฀ war฀ on฀ the฀ United฀ States฀ and฀ Britain.฀ Bose฀ as฀ chief฀ of฀ state฀ and฀ commander฀ of฀ the฀ INA฀ ordered฀ the฀ INA฀ to฀ begin฀ its฀ attack.฀ Bose฀ proclaimed฀ the฀ declaration฀ of฀ war฀ to฀ a฀ rally฀ of฀ fifty฀ thousand฀ Indians฀ on฀ 24฀ October฀ in฀ a...