INA Leadership

The leadership of the Indian National Army (INA), or Azad Hind Fauj, evolved through distinct phases during the Second World War. It transitioned from an initial concept led by British Indian Army defectors to a highly centralized revolutionary government-in-arms under Subhas Chandra Bose. The leadership strategy relied on a non-communal structure that actively challenged the British colonial policy of dividing regiments by “martial races” and religion.

Phase I Leadership: The Pioneers (1942)

The initial phase of the INA was shaped by officers of the British Indian Army who found themselves abandoned in Southeast Asia following the rapid advance of the Japanese military.

Captain Mohan Singh

• The Catalyst: An officer of the 14th Punjab Regiment, Captain Mohan Singh is recognized as the military founder of the first INA. Rather than retreating during the Malayan Campaign, he surrendered to the Japanese and collaborated with Major Fujiwara of the Japanese Intelligence Wing (Fujiwara Kikan).
• The Core Strategy: Singh successfully convinced thousands of Indian Prisoners of War (POWs) to switch their allegiance from the British Crown to the cause of Indian independence.
• The Collapse: His leadership ended due to disagreements with the Japanese High Command. Singh resisted Japanese attempts to relegate the INA to an auxiliary propaganda unit rather than an autonomous allied army, leading to his arrest in December 1942.

Rash Behari Bose

• The Institutional Bridge: A veteran revolutionary who had been living in exile in Japan since the 1915 Ghadar Conspiracy, Rash Behari Bose provided the necessary political framework to sustain the movement after Mohan Singh’s arrest.
• The League Leadership: He founded and chaired the Indian Independence League (IIL) during the Tokyo and Bangkok Conferences of 1942. He kept the organizational infrastructure intact and used his personal diplomatic standing with the Japanese government to secure a leadership transition for the movement.

Phase II Leadership: The Supreme Command of Netaji (1943–1945)

The arrival of Subhas Chandra Bose in Singapore in July 1943 consolidated the political, military, and diplomatic leadership of the external national movement.

Subhas Chandra Bose (Supreme Commander)

• The Proclamation: On July 4, 1943, Rash Behari Bose officially handed over the presidency of the IIL to Subhas Chandra Bose. Shortly after, Bose assumed the title of Supreme Commander of the Azad Hind Fauj.
• The Structural Change: Bose expanded the INA from a loose assembly of POWs into a structured military force by recruiting civilian volunteers from the Indian diaspora in Malaya, Burma, and Thailand.
• The Provisional Government: On October 21, 1943, he formed the Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind (Provisional Government of Free India), combining political leadership with military command to claim sovereign belligerent status under international law.

The Operational Brigade Commanders

Bose reorganized the INA into distinct, integrated combat brigades. He selected high-ranking professional military officers to lead these units during the Arakan, Imphal, and Kohima campaigns of 1944.

Major General Shah Nawaz Khan

• Background and Role: A former officer of the 1/14th Punjab Regiment, Khan initially had reservations about collaborating with the Axis powers but became one of Bose’s most trusted military commanders.
• The Subhas Brigade: He commanded the elite Subhas Brigade, directing the frontline offensive across the Chin Hills and advancing toward the strategic operational theater of Tidim and Bishnupur.

Colonel Prem Kumar Sahgal

• Background and Role: Formerly of the 10th Baluch Regiment, Sahgal served as the Military Secretary to the Provisional Government and later took operational command of the 2nd Division of the INA.
• The Irrawaddy Defense: He led defensive actions along the Irrawaddy River, holding off superior Anglo-American mechanized divisions during the final Axis retreat in Burma.

Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon

• Background and Role: An officer of the 1/14th Punjab Regiment, Dhillon commanded the 4th Guerrilla Regiment (often called the Nehru Brigade).
• The Central Burma Campaign: He was responsible for maintaining the defensive perimeter around Nyaungu, executing asymmetrical warfare against British forces despite severe shortages of anti-tank weapons and medical supplies.

Colonel Shaukat Ali Malik

• The Historic Advance: Commanding units of the Bahadur Group (the specialized intelligence and advance vanguard wing), Malik led the penetration into mainland Indian territory. On April 14, 1944, he hoisted the Indian National Congress tricolor at Moirang, Manipur, establishing the first liberated administrative headquarters on Indian soil.

Captain Lakshmi Swaminathan (Sahgal)

• The Vanguard of Gender Integration: A medical doctor practicing in Malaya, she was appointed by Bose to raise and command the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, one of the earliest all-female combat infantry units in modern history.
• Civilian and Military Role: She held a cabinet portfolio as the Minister of Women’s Affairs in the Azad Hind Government, managing both frontline nursing operations and military training for female volunteers.

Leadership Ideology and Strategy

The leadership style of the INA differed fundamentally from that of both the mainstream domestic politicians and the British military establishment.

The Breakdown of Communal Divisions

• The British Indian Army relied heavily on the “Martyr and Martial Race” theory, keeping regiments segregated by religion and caste (e.g., Sikh, Dogra, or Rajput regiments).
• The INA leadership eliminated these divisions. Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, and Christian officers and soldiers lived in shared quarters, ate from common kitchens (Langar), and fought in fully integrated units.

Synergy with the Quit India Underground

• While the domestic Congress leadership was imprisoned during the Quit India Movement, the INA leadership used Azad Hind Radio to provide strategic guidance.
• Under the direction of the INA intelligence wing, officers trained secret agents at the Penang Swaraj Institute and infiltrated them into India via submarines. Their objective was to coordinate with the underground socialist networks of Jayaprakash Narayan’s Azad Dastas to prepare for a synchronized internal rebellion.

The Historical Impact of the Joint Trials

The leadership of the INA left its final mark on the national movement after the war concluded, during the public court-martial proceedings held by the British Raj.

The Red Fort Court-Martial (November 1945)

• The Choice of Defendants: In an attempt to make an example of the defectors, the British selected three high-ranking operational commanders to be tried together at the Red Fort for treason: Shah Nawaz Khan (Muslim), Prem Kumar Sahgal (Hindu), and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon (Sikh).
• The Backfire: The multi-religious composition of the defendants served as a powerful symbol of national unity for a communally tense country. It prompted the creation of the INA Defence Committee, which brought veteran legal minds like Bhulabhai Desai, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, and Jawaharlal Nehru back to the courtroom.
• The Structural Consequence: The popular unrest following the conviction of these leaders triggered the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) Revolt of February 1946 and subsequent mutinies within the Royal Indian Air Force and regular army units in Jabalpur. This demonstrated to the British command that they could no longer rely on Indian soldiers to maintain colonial rule.