Indian National Army

Indian National Army
Azad Hind Fauj
Flag of Azad Hind
Active	August 1942 – September 1945
Country	Azad Hind (puppet state of Japanese empire)
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Role	Guerrilla, infantry, special operations
Size	~43,000 Soldiers: Gandhi Brigade, Nehru Brigade, Azad Brigade, Subhas Brigade, Rani of Jhansi regiment
Motto(s)	Ittehad, Itmad aur Qurbani (Hindustani: Unity, Faith and Sacrifice)
March	Qadam Qadam Badhaye Ja
Engagements	World War II Burma Campaign Battle of Ngakyedauk Battle of Imphal Battle of Pokoku Battle of Central Burma
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief	Mohan Singh (1942) Subhas Chandra Bose (1943–1945)
Chief of Staff	Jaganath Rao Bhonsle
Notable commanders	Mohammed Zaman Kiani Shah Nawaz Khan Prem Sahgal

The Indian National Army (INA; Azad Hind Fauj /ˈɑːzɑːð ˈhinð ˈfɔːdʒ/; lit. 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed unit of Indian collaborators that fought under the command of the Japanese Empire.^[1] It was founded by Mohan Singh on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II.

It fought under the command of the Japanese military in the British campaign in the Southeast Asian theatre of WWII, with its aim to secure Indian independence from British rule.^[2] The army was first formed in 1942 under Mohan Singh by Indian prisoners of war (PoWs) of the British Indian Army captured by Japan in the Malayan campaign and at Singapore.^[3][4][5] This first INA, which had been handed over to Rash Behari Bose and Mohan Singh, collapsed and was disbanded in December that year after differences between its leadership and the Japanese military over its role in Japan's war in Asia. The INA was handed over to Subhas Chandra Bose.^[6] It was revived under the leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose after his arrival in Southeast Asia in 1943. The army was declared to be the army of Bose's Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind (the Provisional Government of Free India). The INA came to be known as the puppet army of the Japanese empire.^[7][8]

Subhas Chandra Bose named the brigades/regiments of INA after Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Azad, and himself.^[9] There was also an all-women regiment named after Rani of Jhansi, Lakshmibai. Under Bose's leadership, the INA drew ex-prisoners and thousands of civilian volunteers from the Indian expatriate population in Malaya (present-day Malaysia) and Burma.^[10] This second INA fought under the Imperial Japanese Army against the British and Commonwealth forces in the campaigns in Burma: at Imphal and Kohima, and later against the Allied retaking of Burma.^[11][12]

After the INA's initial formation in 1942, there was concern in the British Indian Army that further Indian troops would defect. This led to a reporting ban and a propaganda campaign called "Jiffs" to preserve the loyalty of the Sepoy.^[13] Historians consider the INA not to have had significant influence on the war.^[14]

The British Raj, never seriously threatened by the INA, charged 300 INA officers with treason in the INA trials, but eventually backtracked in the face of opposition by the Congress.^[15][16] These trials became a galvanising point in the Indian Independence movement for the Indian National Congress.^[17][18] A number of people associated with the INA during the war later went on to hold important roles in public life in India as well as in other countries in Southeast Asia, most notably Lakshmi Sehgal in India, and John Thivy and Janaki Athinahappan in Malaya.^[19]

The military unit was associated with Imperial Japan and the other Axis powers, and accusations were levelled against INA troops of being involved and complicit in Japanese war crimes.^[20] The INA's members were viewed as Axis collaborators and traitors by British soldiers and Indian PoWs who did not join the army,^[21] but after the war they were seen as patriots by many Indians.^[21] Although they were widely commemorated by the Indian National Congress in the immediate aftermath of Indian independence, some of the members of the INA were denied freedom fighter status by the Government of India.^{[22][10][21][23]}