Road To Freedom

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• For God and Country
• The Empire Builders
• Tribal Uprisings
• Sepoys on the Move
• British Authority Collapses
• The Empire Strikes Back
• Roll of Honour
• The Trial of the Last Emperor
• English Education
• The Blue Mutiny
• Perishing in Peace
• ‘Rani Ka Hookum’
• Barbarous Britannia
• Return to Swadeshi
• The Delhi Durbar
• Hunger Deaths
• The One-Man Army
• Mamool Raj
• The British Raj in Black and White
• Europeans Take To The Street!
• Pressing On !
• The Battle For A Free Press
• The Battle Lines are Drawn
• Women : Crossing the Threshold
• An Old Man's Dream
• Father of Indian Unrest
• The Monk Who Shook The Nation
• The Battle is Taken to the Legislature!
• Partition of Bengal
• The Great Divide
• The New Spirit of India
• Swadeshi Enterprise
• From Swadeshi to Swaraj
• Gandhi in South Africa
• Heroes and Martyrs
• Revolutionaries Outside India
• Carrot and Stick
• Gandhi in Champaran
• The Gentle Satyagrahi
• Massacre at Jallianwala Bagh
• Jallianwala — The Aftermath
• A People Reject Their Rulers
• The Himalayan Blunder
• Gandhiji Withdraws from Political Activities
• Bardoli
• Saga of Indian Revolutionaries
• A Pinch of Salt!
• Gandhi and Ambedkar
• Leave India to God… or to Anarchy
• Quit India
• The Last War of Independence
• Apostle of Peace
• India Wins Freedom
• The Light Has Gone Out
• Under One Flag

The Last War of Independence

The Last War of Independence

Japan inflicted crushing defeats on the British in the early stages of the Second World War in Southeast Asia. Among the prisoners of war taken by the Japanese in Malaya and Singapore, were nearly 45,000 Indian soldiers. An army officer, Captain Mohan Singh crossed over to the Japanese side during the British retreat and suggested to the Japanese that the Indian POWs could form the nucleus of an Indian national army that could be used to liberate India from the British. The idea appealed to the Japanese and they allowed Captain Singh to talk to the Indian POWs. "India is on the threshold of freedom," said Captain Singh in his address to the soldiers. "The Japanese have promised us their full support and now it is up to us to organise ourselves and fight for the freedom of our 400 million countrymen." Over 40,000 POWs enlisted in the Indian National Army which was also known as the Azad Hind Fauj. Mohan Singh did not stay long at the helm of affairs but the INA found another worthy leader in Rash Behari Bose, the great revolutionary who had made Japan his home. The arrival of Subhas Chandra Bose in Singapore came as a shot in the arm for the INA. The charismatic leader had long maintained that the British could be dislodged from India only by force of arms. And now here was an army determined to do just that. On July 4, 1943, Rash Behari Bose handed over the leadership of the INA to Subhas Chandra Bose, who thereafter became known as Netaji. Netaji set up a provisional government of India in Singapore on 21 October 1943, and declared war on Britain and the United States. His government was recognised by the Axis powers and their satellites. Netaji was determined to recapture the spirit of 1857 and to lead a victorious army into Delhi. "Delhi Chalo" was the slogan he gave his men and began to raise funds and enlarge his army even putting together an all-woman unit, the aptly named 'Rani of Jhansi Regiment'. People in India were thrilled to hear Netaji's voice over the Azad Hind Radio broadcasting from Burma while his men were fighting to capture Imphal. "India's last war of independence has begun," declared Bose and sought the blessings of Mahatma Gandhi whom he referred to as the 'Father of the Nation'.

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A detachment of the INA had penetrated into India and planted the Indian tricolour at Moirang in Manipur on 14 April, 1944.
If Kohima and Imphal had been captured, the way to Delhi would have been laid open but it was not to be. Torrential rain disrupted supply lines forcing the INA to withdraw to Rangoon, due to a shortage of food and medicine.
Another retreat became necessary when the tide of battle turned in favour of the British.
When Japan conceded defeat, Netaji decided to seek the help of the Soviet Union. Arrangements were made to fly him to Russian-occupied Manchuria and he boarded the Japanese bomber plane that was to take him there on 17 August, 1945 at Saigon, Vietnam. But apparently the plane never reached its destination. It was reported to have crashed on the island of Formosa, killing all its occupants, including Netaji.
The INA soldiers were captured by the victorious Anglo-American forces and brought to India to stand trial.
To the amazement of the British, not only the civilian population but also their owns sepoys and officers hailed the INA soldiers as patriots and raised money for their defence.
Jawaharlal Nehru donned his lawyer's garb after a gap of fifteen years, to come to the defence of the INA heroes in court. The public outcry against the trial ultimately forced the government to call it off. It was the first time that the British government had bowed down to public opinion in India.
That the people had lost all fear of the government became clear when in February 1946, naval ratings in Bombay, Calcutta and Karachi rose in rebellion.
The immediate provocation for the naval mutiny was the bad food served to the ratings. The mutineers also resented discrimination against Indians who had served the empire loyally in the war. B.C. Dutt, a rating, scrawled 'Quit India' on the HMIS Talwar for which he was promptly arrested. Processions were taken out in Bombay expressing solidarity with the ratings. Strikes, hartals and riots triggered off by the naval mutiny shook Bombay. National leaders intervened and persuaded the ratings to surrender on the assurance that no punitive action would be taken against them. Subsequently all the naval mutineers were discharged from service.
By mid-1946, the British writ no longer ran in India. The countdown to Independence had begun.