Is the INA liberation of Andaman and Nicobar a major myth?

Kolkata: On 23rd March 1942, the Imperial Japanese forces landed in Port Blair and the paltry British garrison offered no resistance. Tactically, the Gurkhas were diverted to the Arakan and after the fall of Singapore and Rangoon, the Allies voluntarily surrendered the Andamans, to regroup elsewhere. On December 29, 1943, so-called political control over these islands was granted to the Azad Hind ‘Government’ of Netaji, a clear 21 months after the Japanese landed.

The Japanese were ruthless occupiers, with no regard for the Geneva Convention or basic humanity, and this will be the subject of a later article. Historians suggest that their brutal streak emanated from a divine sense of duty to Emperor Hirohito, thus earning the dubious licence to murder, maim and butcher. Aligned with this was an institutional distaste for POWs, as surrender in their ‘honour’ culture was the choice of the cowards. More than 30 million innocent prisoners and civilians are estimated to be killed by the Japanese since their exploits in China - the Nanking massacre, the Bataan Death March and innumerable other horrors are recorded in print and video by writers and survivors. This figure is five times the number of holocaust murders and a record 27% of Allied prisoners were killed in captivity, way above the Nazi data points.

Perhaps, the only reason why Emperor Hirohito, the sotto voice spiritual boss, was spared was the future-first vision of General Douglas Mccarthur and his peers, which overrode intense pressure to try him as a brand criminal. The Allies realised that General Hideki Tojo, his Prime Minister, could be made the fall guy and Hirohito tactically absolved of criminality, to ensure the compliance of the Japanese masses. If he has been punished then, there would be endless rebellion causing further bloodshed for occupying forces and perhaps opening the doors for Soviet communism, the public enemy number one in the post-war West. Thus an International Military Tribunal for the Far East was formed ensuring death for Tojo and his boys while America smartly partnered with Japan for free-market dominance, thus an ally for life.

In case you think the above is an irrelevant diversion, that is clearly not the case. True to their dishonourable streak, the Japanese destroyed all public records of their tenure before fleeing. A few prominent sources include an unpublished report by local resident Rama Krishna ‘The Andaman Islands under Japanese Occupation 1942–5, ‘ A Titan in the Andamans - Diwan Singh Kalepani’ and another similar narrative by a British espionage officer, D. McCarthy; The Andaman Interlude’, in tandem with the accounts of the older residents. Every piece of evidence confirms, in no uncertain terms, that the Japanese continued their sadistic patterns here as well.

Initially, though, locally educated folks (mostly officials and doctors) were persuaded to join Rash Behari Bose's Indian Independence League, with a 'Peace Committee' formed from its members, headed by Dr Diwan Singh. When Netaji finally visited the Andamans, his exposure to the locals was carefully regulated by the Japanese authorities. A few unsuccessful attempts were made to apprise him of the brutalities with local Indian Nationalists being tortured in the Cellular Jail. The islands were renamed "Shaheed'' and "Swaraj'' respectively but the realities were far removed from the projections.

As per due protocol, Bose appointed General A. D. Loganathan as governor of the islands, but he clearly had kindergarten involvement with the administration of the territory. During his post-war revelations, Loganathan admitted that he only had full control over the education department, with the Japanese managing the police force and other strategic functions. Even if one was to give his version a post-war concession for avoiding punitive actions, the truth was surely close to this stated reality.

Most clearly, he was powerless to prevent the worst Japanese atrocity of the occupation, the Homfray Ganj massacre on 30 January 1944, where 44 Indian civilians, mostly from the Indian Independence League, were shot by the Japanese on suspicion of spying. In total, approximately 2,000 people in the Andamans are thought to have died as a result of the occupation, and at least 501 were tortured by the Japanese, in sum 10% of the pre-war population of Port Blair. When Vice Admiral Teizo Hara and Major-General Tamenori Sato surrendered the islands to Lt Col Nathu Singh Commandant 1/7 Rajputs on 15 August 1945 on board the Royal Navy warship HMS Sandbar, the bitterness of the locals towards the occupiers was at its peak, the INA just a side cast. Incidentally, this was the only instance when a significant Japanese force surrendered to Indian officers, a fact that deserves due recognition.

When the Japanese ceremonially handed over the islands to the INA, a number of strategic factors were at play. India was clearly a prime target for the Axis powers and Netaji was the emotional tipping point for the mainlanders, at least from their perception. The symbolic act of making him the boss of the Andamans would have given credibility to the notion that Bose would lead the Government in India when the British were toppled. Most likely, a straight-faced lie considering their abysmal human rights track record in every occupied territory, utter and sheer subjugation the only shining path.

The deeply passionate and super-committed Netaji would also have recognised the multi-faceted utility of declaring a part of India independent, however token. It would be immensely morale-boosting for his forces and many countrymen wedded to his cause and clearly, there were no CNN reporters sharing accounts of the oppression and atrocities. War propaganda was through the radio waves and old timers I have spoken to confirm the adrenaline rush caused by the appointment of the Provisional Government. If the Japanese had managed to enter any part of real India, the carnage of the Great Bengal Famine would have looked like a school picnic please revisit their impeccable massacre track record, Nanking et al, in case you disagree.

Netaji’s truest greatness lay in his unstoppable passion for the motherland and provocative leadership acumen that effortlessly connected thought to action. His choice of allies was clearly dubious in intent and action but logically suitable for a strategic alliance to eliminate the British. His unique exploits are worthy of limitless respect and adulation but the twin episodes of ‘Swadheen’ and ‘ Swaraj’ do not qualify in the elite panel. A brutal and scheming Japanese occupation of a peace-loving people whose self-respect was ironically restored when the British Indian soldiers came back in 1945.