UKPSC Prelims 2024 General Studies Paper-I · Question 135 of 147

Correct — B, Singapore.

The Azad Hind Fauj was built out of Indian soldiers of the British Indian Army who were taken prisoner when the garrison at Singapore surrendered to Japan on 15 February 1942. Captain Mohan Singh raised the force from those men, announcing the Indian National Army on 1 September 1942.

Singapore stayed the centre of the story. Subhas Chandra Bose reached the city in July 1943 and took over the leadership from Rash Behari Bose, and on 21 October 1943 he proclaimed the Provisional Government of Azad Hind there.

Carry away the reason behind the place: an army recruited from prisoners of war has to be raised where those prisoners are held, which is why the INA belongs to the South-East Asian theatre.

• (a)
  India — The men who formed the force were already outside India when it was raised — prisoners in Japanese hands in Malaya and Singapore, joined by Indian residents of South-East Asia recruited through the Indian Independence League. The INA then advanced towards India from the Burma side in 1944.

  India is the right answer to where the INA's officers were put on trial — the court martial of Prem Kumar Sahgal, Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon and Shah Nawaz Khan opened at the Red Fort in Delhi in November 1945.

• (c)
  Japan — Japan is the power that made the force possible rather than the place it was raised. Its army took Singapore, handed the Indian prisoners over to Mohan Singh in February 1942, and armed and supplied the INA through the campaign. Sponsorship and location are separate facts.

  Japan is the right answer to where Rash Behari Bose lived in exile and where Subhas Chandra Bose met Prime Minister Tojo in June 1943 — Tokyo, which also hosted the March 1942 conference of Indian expatriates.

• (d)
  Germany — Germany is where Subhas Chandra Bose spent 1941 to early 1943 after escaping from Calcutta. He ran the Free India Centre in Berlin, broadcast to India over Azad Hind Radio, and left by submarine in February 1943 for South-East Asia.

  Germany is the right answer to where the Indian Legion was raised from Indian prisoners captured in North Africa — a separate unit that stayed in the European theatre, while the army of Imphal, Kohima and the Red Fort trials was raised at Singapore.

The Azad Hind Fauj, or Indian National Army, was an armed force recruited in Japanese-occupied South-East Asia from Indian prisoners of war and from the Indian civilian population of Malaya, Singapore, Burma and Thailand.

It ran in two phases. The first INA was announced under Mohan Singh on 1 September 1942 and broke up that December amid disputes with the Japanese over the army's standing and Mohan Singh's arrest.

The second was rebuilt by Subhas Chandra Bose, who took charge at Singapore in July 1943, proclaimed a provisional government in October and led the force into the Burma campaign of 1944.

• The British garrison at Singapore surrendered to Japan on 15 February 1942, and the Indian troops in it became prisoners of war.
• Captain Mohan Singh announced the formation of the Indian National Army at Singapore on 1 September 1942.
• The Tokyo conference of March 1942 and the Bangkok conference of June 1942 organised the Indian Independence League under Rash Behari Bose.
• Rash Behari Bose handed the leadership of the movement to Subhas Chandra Bose at Singapore in July 1943.
• Subhas Chandra Bose proclaimed the Provisional Government of Azad Hind at Singapore on 21 October 1943.
• The Rani of Jhansi Regiment, the INA's women's unit, was raised in October 1943 and led by Lakshmi Swaminathan.
• The provisional government's headquarters were shifted to Rangoon in January 1944, and the INA fought at Imphal and Kohima that year.
• In Germany, Bose ran the Free India Centre at Berlin, and the Indian Legion was raised there from Indian prisoners captured in North Africa.
• Prem Kumar Sahgal, Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon and Shah Nawaz Khan were court-martialled at the Red Fort in Delhi from November 1945.

• Treating the sponsoring power as the place of raising: Japan supplied the arms and released the prisoners, but the force was raised at Singapore.
• Reading 'Azad Hind Fauj' as Bose's German unit; the Indian Legion in Europe is a different formation from the army that fought on the Burma front.
• Attaching the whole INA to Subhas Chandra Bose, when the first INA was announced under Mohan Singh in September 1942, before Bose reached Singapore in July 1943.
• Mixing the place of proclamation with the later seat of government — proclaimed at Singapore in October 1943, headquarters moved to Rangoon in January 1944.
• Answering 'India' because the INA's objective was India; the objective and the place of formation are different facts.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Provisional Government of Azad Hind (Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind) was proclaimed by Subhas Chandra Bose in October 1943 at:

  • (a)Rangoon
  • (b)Tokyo
  • (c)Singapore
  • (d)Berlin
  Answerc — Bose proclaimed the provisional government at Singapore on 21 October 1943, three months after taking over the leadership there.

  Rangoon became the government's headquarters in January 1944, which makes it the later seat rather than the place of proclamation. Tokyo hosted the March 1942 conference of Indian expatriates and Bose's meeting with Prime Minister Tojo in June 1943.

  Berlin belongs to Bose's earlier European phase — the Free India Centre and the Azad Hind Radio broadcasts — which he had left in February 1943.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Indian National Army first announced in September 1942 was organised under the command of:

  • (a)Rash Behari Bose
  • (b)Mohan Singh
  • (c)Shah Nawaz Khan
  • (d)Subhas Chandra Bose
  Answerb — Captain Mohan Singh formed the first INA from Indian prisoners of war at Singapore and announced it on 1 September 1942.

  Rash Behari Bose led the political wing, the Indian Independence League, rather than the army itself. Shah Nawaz Khan served as an INA officer and is remembered as one of the three tried at the Red Fort in 1945.

  Subhas Chandra Bose took charge in July 1943, after the first INA had broken up in December 1942.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The court martial of Prem Kumar Sahgal, Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon and Shah Nawaz Khan in November 1945 was held at:

  • (a)Lahore Fort
  • (b)Red Fort, Delhi
  • (c)Cellular Jail, Port Blair
  • (d)Fort William, Calcutta
  Answerb — the three INA officers were tried by court martial at the Red Fort in Delhi from November 1945, and the Congress organised a defence committee for them.

  Lahore Fort is associated with the interrogation of revolutionaries in earlier conspiracy cases, and Fort William was the army's eastern command headquarters, not the venue of this trial.

  Cellular Jail at Port Blair held political prisoners transported to the Andamans; Bose had visited the islands in December 1943, but the 1945 trial was held in Delhi.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Subhas Chandra Bose assumed the leadership of the Indian independence movement in East Asia in July 1943, taking over from:

  • (a)Mohan Singh
  • (b)Rash Behari Bose
  • (c)Lakshmi Swaminathan
  • (d)A. M. Sahay
  Answerb — Rash Behari Bose, who had lived in exile in Japan since 1915 and presided over the Indian Independence League, handed the leadership to Subhas Chandra Bose at Singapore in July 1943.

  Mohan Singh had commanded the first INA but was removed in December 1942, so the transfer did not come from him. Lakshmi Swaminathan led the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, a command created after Bose's arrival.

  A. M. Sahay worked in the League's leadership in East Asia but was not the figure who made the handover.