The Indian independence movement was a series of activities whose ultimate aim was to end the British Raj and encompassed activities and ideas aiming to end the East India Company rule (1757–1857) and the British Raj (1857–1947) in the Indian subcontinent. The movement spanned a total of 90 years (1857–1947) considering movement against British Indian Empire. The Indian Independence movement includes both protest and militant (violent) mechanisms to root out British Administration from India.
Subhas Chandra Bose was an Indian nationalist whose defiant patriotism made him a hero in India, but whose attempt during World War II to rid India of British rule with the help of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan left a troubled legacy. The honorific Netaji, first applied in early 1942 to Bose in Germany by the Indian soldiers of the Indische Legion and by the German and Indian officials in the Special Bureau for India in Berlin, was later used throughout India.
Lakshmi Sahgal was a revolutionary of the Indian independence movement, an officer of the Indian National Army, and the Minister of Women's Affairs in the Azad Hind government. Sahgal is commonly referred to in India as "Captain Lakshmi", a reference to her rank when taken prisoner in Burma during the Second World War.
During the Second World War (1939–1945), India was controlled by the United Kingdom, with the British holding territories in India including over five hundred autonomous Princely States; British India officially declared war on Nazi Germany in September 1939. The British Raj, as part of the Allied Nations, sent over two and a half million soldiers to fight under British command against the Axis powers. The British government borrowed billions of pounds to help finance the war. India also provided the base for American operations in support of China in the China Burma India Theater.
The Provisional Government of Free India, or, more simply, Free India, was an Indian provisional government established in occupied Singapore in 1943 and supported by the Empire of Japan, Nazi Germany, Italian Social Republic, and their allies.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero is a 2004 Indian biographical war film, written and directed by Shyam Benegal. The film starred an ensemble cast of Sachin Khedekar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rajit Kapur, Arif Zakaria, and Divya Dutta, among others. The film depicts the life of the Indian independence leader Subhas Chandra Bose in Nazi Germany: 1941–1943, and In Japanese-occupied Asia 1943–1945, and the events leading to the formation of Azad Hind Fauj.
The Indian Legion, officially the Free India Legion or Infantry Regiment 950 (Indian) and later the Indian Volunteer Legion of the Waffen-SS, was a military unit raised during the Second World War in Nazi Germany. Intended to serve as a liberation force for British-ruled India, it was made up of Indian prisoners of war and expatriates in Europe. Because of its origins in the Indian independence movement, it was known also as the "Tiger Legion", and the "Azad Hind Fauj". Initially raised as part of the German Army, it was officially assigned to the Waffen-SS from August 1944. Indian independence leader Subhas Chandra Bose initiated the legion's formation, as part of his efforts to win India's independence by waging war against Britain, when he came to Berlin in 1941 seeking German aid. The initial recruits in 1941 were volunteers from the Indian students resident in Germany at the time, and a handful of the Indian prisoners of war who had been captured during the North Africa Campaign. It would later draw a larger number of Indian prisoners of war as volunteers.
Shah Nawaz Khan was an Indian politician who served as an officer in the Indian National Army during World War II. After the war, he was tried, convicted for treason, and sentenced to death in a public court-martial carried out by the British Indian Army. The sentence was commuted by the Commander-in-chief of the Indian Army following unrest and protests in India.
The Indian National Army trials, which are also called the Red Fort trials, were the British Indian trial by courts-martial of a number of officers of the Indian National Army (INA) between November 1945 and May 1946, for charges variously for treason, torture, murder and abetment to murder during World War II. The first, and most famous, of the approximately ten trials held in the Red Fort in Delhi. In total, approximately ten courts-martial were held. The first of these, and the most celebrated one, was the joint court-martial of Colonel Prem Sahgal, Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon, and Major General Shah Nawaz Khan. The three had been officers in the British Indian Army and were taken as prisoners of war in Malaya, Singapore and Burma. They had, like a large number of other troops and officers of the British Indian Army, joined the Indian National Army and later fought in Imphal and Burma alongside the Japanese forces in allegiance to Azad Hind. These three came to be the only defendants in the INA trials who were charged with "waging war against the King-Emperor" as well as murder and abetment of murder. Those charged later only faced trial for torture and murder or abetment of murder. The trials covered arguments based on Military Law, Constitutional Law, International Law, and Politics. These trials attracted much publicity, and public sympathy for the defendants who were considered patriots of India and fought for the freedom of India from the British Empire. Outcry over the grounds of the trial, as well as a general emerging unease and unrest within the troops of the Raj, ultimately forced the then Army Chief Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck to commute the sentences of the three defendants in the first trial.
Major General Arcot Doraiswamy Loganadan was an officer of the Indian National Army, and a minister in the Azad Hind Government as a representative of the Indian National Army. He also served briefly as the Azad Hind Governor for the Andaman islands and Burma.
Colonel Shaukat Ali Malik was an officer of the Indian National Army notable for having led a unit of the Bahadur Group in the capture of Moirang during the initial phases of the INA's Imphal Campaign during World War II. Moirang was the first territory within India to be captured by the INA and also the first place within the mainland of India to be held by the Azad Hind Government. Col. Malik Commander of the Intelligence (Bahadur) Group of INA, planted the Indian tricolor flag at the sacred place of Moirang Kangla on 14 April 1944 at about 5 pm, where he would also narrate the history of the Azad Hind Fauj. Malik was awarded the Sardar-e-Jung for leading his troops into Moirang. Prior to joining the INA, Shaukat Malik fought in the Burma theatre as an officer in the Bahawalpur State Forces.
Major-General Mohammed Zaman Kiani was an officer of the British Indian Army who later joined the Indian National Army and was appointed its Chief of General Staff. He earned Soward-of-Honour from IMA and joined 14/1 Punjab Regiment . While at Burma front, he alongwith his regiment joined the Azadi Movement, led by Neta Jee Subhash Chandar Bosse; and fought against the British Raj. After partition he shifted to Pakistan, he served as political agent of Gilgit Agency and also remained Minister of Information in Zia Government. After his death, his contributions for Azad Hind were acknowledged and he was awarded with Neta Jee Medal,by Indian Government.
The U Go offensive, or Operation C, was the Japanese offensive launched in March 1944 against forces of the British Empire in the northeast Indian regions of Manipur and the Naga Hills. Aimed at the Brahmaputra valley, through the two towns of Imphal and Kohima, the offensive along with the overlapping Ha Go offensive was one of the last major Japanese offensives during the Second World War. The offensive culminated in the Battles of Imphal and Kohima, where the Japanese and their allies were first held and then pushed back.
The Goa liberation movement was a movement which sought to end Portuguese colonial rule in Goa, India. The movement built on the small scale revolts and uprisings of the 19th century, and grew powerful during the period 1940-1961. The movement was conducted both inside and outside Goa, and was characterised by a range of tactics including nonviolent demonstrations, revolutionary methods and diplomatic efforts. However, Portuguese control of its Indian colonies ended only when India invaded Goa in 1961 and incorporated the territories into the Indian Union.
Abbas Ali was an Indian freedom fighter and politician who was a captain in the Indian National Army led by Subhas Chandra Bose. Later he joined the Socialist movement and was a close associate of Ram Manohar Lohia.
The Insurgency in Manipur is an ongoing armed conflict between India and a number of separatist rebel groups, taking place in the region of Manipur. The Insurgency in Manipur is part of the wider Insurgency in Northeast India; it combines elements of a national liberation war as well as an ethnic conflict.
The Indian National Army (INA) and its leader Subhash Chandra Bose are popular and emotive topics within India. From the time it came into public perception in India around the time of the Red Fort Trials, it found its way into the works of military historians around the world. It has been the subject of a number of projects, of academic, historical and of popular nature. Some of these are critical of the army, some — especially of the ex-INA men — are biographical or autobiographical, while still others historical and political works, that tell the story of the INA. A large number of these provide analyses of Subhas Chandra Bose and his work with the INA.
The INA Martyr's Memorial complex is a war memorial at Moirang, India, dedicated to the soldiers of the Indian National Army. The main feature of the complex is a reconstruction of the INA's memorial to its fallen soldiers as it stood in Singapore, before its destruction at the hands of British-Indian Army sappers in 1945. The complex also contains a museum dedicated to the INA along with a library and an auditorium and a statue of Subhas Chandra Bose. Work on the cenotaph itself began in October 1968 and was completed in September 1969, when it was unveiled by Indira Gandhi. Work on expanding the monument complex to present-day size was completed in 2005, when it was unveiled. The total cost in building the memorial was Rs 6.23 crores. A stone monument has also been erected at the historic Moirang Kangla, where Colonel S. A. Malik leading an INA unit raised the flag of Azad Hind in April 1944. The Imphal state government has administered the site since 1985. Close to the complex is the peace memorial at Lotpaching, raised by the Japanese government.
