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Eternal India
encyclopedia
FREEDOM MOVEMENT
(Now we shall have to forget all pleasures and
face sorrows for the sake of our country. Oh
free Indians, arise and gird up your loins. We
shall have to save our land which is being
looted by foreigners. -
Song of the legionaries
)
The German army was to provide the
necessary training, staff and facilities to the
Legion. Its emblem was the springing tiger
which once adorned the flag of Tippu Sultan.
Provisional Government
of Free India
Learning about Japan's spectacular victories
in South-East Asia, Bose decided to solicit
Japan's help for his cause. Bose left Berlin by
train for Kiel on February 8, 1943 to board the
German submarine B-190. The voyage took
nearly three and a half months, Bose being
later transferred to the Japanese submarine 1-
29 at a pre-arranged rendezvous, 400 miles
SSW of Madagascar.
After
an
uneventful
but
hazardous
voyage, he landed on the west coast of
Sumatra, where Col. Yamamoto received him.
He then flew to Singapore and from there to
Tokyo, to consult the Japanese government
and finalise his plans. Japan promised him all
aid to expel the British from India and enable
India to achieve full independence.
On July 5, 1942 in Singapore Bose took
over as the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian
National Army and addressed his soldiers.
Bose then gave the INA its battle cry
“Comrades! My soldiers! let your battle cry
be 'To Delhi! To Delhi! ” We stand up with
Arms in our hands! Our war cry is Delhi Ko!
Delhi ko ko... there, there is the Distance...
beyond that river, beyond those jungles, beyond
those hills, lies the promised land... the soil
from which all sprang... the land to which we
shall now return. Hark! India is calling ...
India's metropolis is calling... 380million of
our countrymen are calling.... Blood is calling
to Blood.... Get up, we have no time to lose.
Take up your arms there in front of
you is the road that our pioneers have
built. We shall march along that road.
We shall carve our way through enemy's
ranks or if God wills, we shall die a
martyr’s death, and in our- last sleep we
shall kiss the road that will bring our
army to DELHI. The road to DELHI is
the road to Freedom...
A5
soldiers you
will have to cherish and live upto the
three ideals of faithfulness, duty and
sacrifice.
Soldiers who are always faithful to the
nation, who perform their duty under all
circumstances and who are prepared to
sacrifice their lives are INVINCIBLE.
Conduct yourself that your countrymen
may bless you and posterity may be proud of
you.
I assure you that I shall be with you
in darkness and sunshine, in sorrow and
in joy, in suffering and in victory’. For the
present I can offer nothing except hun-
ger, thirst, forced marches and death..
But if you follow me in life and death...
as I am confident that you will.... I shall
lead you to victory and freedom.
”
A provisional government of Free India
was formed. Subhas took the oath :
“
In the name of God, I take this
sacred oath that to liberate India and 38
crores of my countrymen, I, Subhas
Chandra Bose, will continue this sacred
war of freedom till the last breath of my
life...”
FREE INDIA GOVERNMENT
FORMED
Bose made head of Provisional
Administration.
Tribune... Manila
Meanwhile Japan's Prime Minister, made
the historic declaration at the Assembly of
Greater East Asiatic Nations' in Tokyo on 6th
November, 1943 .... that the Andaman and
Nicobar islands would be transferred to the
Provisional Government of Azad Hindustan.
It was renamed by Bose as
'Shahid
and
'Swaraj
islands'
respectively.
The battle was one of the most prolonged
and hard fought battles of the Second World
War, and it ultimately proved catastrophic for
the Japanese Armyin South East Asia. The
Japanese soldiers fought with their customary
bravery and reckless courage. But they were
outgeneralled, outgunned and outfought. In
June 1944, the battered and exhausted Japa-
nese army started its disastrous retreat. Fifty
thousand Japanese were killed.
In Europe the Allies under the Americans
and the Soviet Union were driving back the
Nazis. In August 1945, Russia declared war
on Japan. On August 15,1945 Japan
surrendered. Bose left Singapore in a plane
bound for Saigon, on August 16,1945. With
him were his close associates of the INA. At
Saigon he got into a plane bound for an un-
known destination (probably Manchuria,
China). A few days later his plane was re-
ported to have crashed killing Bose.
“Future generations would read the
amazing story of his life with pride and
reverence, and salute him as one of the
great heroes who heralded India's
dawn. ”
- Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
With his death, the curtain finally dropped
on the provisional government of Free India
and the Indian National Army.
PROVISIONAL
AZAD HIND GOVERNMENT
Declares war on Britain and U.S.A
“The Syonan Sinbun ” 24, Oct, 1943
Meanwhile the war raged ferociously. The
INA took part in the Japanese offensive in the
Imphal and Kohima sector.