Subhas Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army

T HIS ARTICLE ATTEMPTS to re-assess the impact of the Indian National Army (I.N.A.) and its leader, Subhas Chandra Bose, upon the democratic future and political stability of an independent India. The analysis concentrates upon the relationship between Bose and the I.N.A. and two important institutions of India which are to a great extent responsible for her present democratic orientation and political viability-the nationalist movement and the Indian armed forces. The re-evaluation of certain crucial events in the transitional period in which India obtained her freedom from British rule is not merely a matter of historical concern, for it was during this period that both the nationalist movement which today governs India and the military organization which today defends India came into their own, each being subjected to prolonged and severe challenges and each emerging substantially in the form that they exist today. The major component of the nationalist movement successfully transformed itself from an agitational, divided, and powerless organization to the democratically committed leadership of free India-a profound accomplishment, considering the fate of many nationalist movements of other excolonial areas. The transformation of the Indian armed services from a colonial tool to a national instrument, while maintaining high standards of professionalism, has been no less a remarkable achievement. When one compares the behavior of the officer corps of the Indian armed forces in the postwar period with that of such countries as Burma and Pakistan, one is impressed with the fact that not only is India not dominated by the military but the channels of advice and influence of the military have been institutionalized and regularized in a way which is compatible with a democratic policy-making process. In the following pages, the first section deals with the impact of the I.N.A. upon the Indian Army in the I940'S, special attention being paid to the motivations of those who fought with the I.N.A. and those who rejected it. In the next section the relationship of the ILN.A. and its leader, Subhas Bose, to the nationalist movement are examined and an attempt is made to separate out the impact upon the component elements of the nationalist movement. The concluding section presents an evaluation of the net impact

Political science · Indian History and Philosophy · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · South Asian Studies and Conflicts

• The Re-making of Indian Foreign Policy

  Open Access•C Raja Mohan•International Studies•2009

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