15 Facts About Azad Hind

Provisional Government of Free India or, more simply, Azad Hind, was an Indian provisional government established in Japanese occupied Singapore during World War II.

The government of Azad Hind had its own currency, court and civil code, and in the eyes of some Indians, its existence gave a greater importance to the independence struggle against the British.

The existence of Azad Hind was essentially coterminous with the existence of the Indian National Army.

Direct origins of Azad Hind can be linked to two conferences of Indian expatriates from across Southeast Asia, the first of which was held in Tokyo in March 1942.

Azad Hind was replaced as president of the Indian Independence League by Subhas Chandra Bose; there is some controversy as to whether he stepped down of his own volition or by pressure from the Japanese who needed a more energetic and focused presence leading the Indian nationalists.

Related searches

Azad Hind recruited Indian civilians living in Japanese-occupied territories of South-east Asia and incorporated vast numbers of Indian POWs from British forces in Singapore, Malaya and Hong Kong to man the brigades of the INA.

Azad Hind held this position over and above her command of the Rani Jhansi Regiment, a brigade of women soldiers fighting for the Indian National Army.

The extent of the Provisional Government's day-to-day management of affairs for Azad Hind is not entirely well-documented, so their specific functions as government officials for the state outside their positions as support ministers for Subhas Chandra Bose is not entirely certain.

Azad Hind was recognised as a legitimate state by only a small number of countries limited solely to Axis powers and their allies.

Azad Hind had diplomatic relations with nine countries: Nazi Germany, the Empire of Japan, Italian Social Republic, Independent State of Croatia and Wang Jingwei Government, Thailand, the State of Burma, Manchukuo and the Second Philippine Republic.

Azad Hind exercised virtual authoritarian control over the government and the army.

Azad Hind was powerless to prevent the Homfreyganj massacre of 30 January 1944, where forty-four Indian civilians were shot by the Japanese on suspicion of spying.

Azad Hind was successful in maintaining law and order to the extent that there was not a single reported case of dacoity or of looting during the period from 24 April to 4 May 1945.

Bose was suggested to leave Burma to continue his struggle for Indian independence and returned to Singapore before the fall of Rangoon; the government Azad Hind had established on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands collapsed when the island garrisons of Japanese and Indian troops were defeated by British troops and the islands themselves retaken.

The Azad Hind administration took control of this independent Indian territory.