Chalo Dilli !- Remembering India’s First Army

"Chalo Dilli !" ever heard this call?  Well its safe to say that this was India's first ever Army war-cry said by Netaji in Singapore that set the tone for India's first army-Azad Hind Fauj to march up to Delhi and fight against the British. Astonishingly it took 71 years for the independent India to actually fulfill this pledge and formally bestow on four veterans of the fauj, the honour of being escorted in a procession to the ramparts of Delhi’s Red Fort during Republic Day in 2019.

“Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs, we were all one, he made us realize what it means to be Indian.” -I.Poonampalan a veteran of the Indian National Army who fondly reminisces Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose as the pioneer of not just military foundation of India but also as an extremely progressive visionary of his times.

Today marks the 125th birth anniversary of the most beloved and influential leaders of India whose popularity towered even that of Mahatma Gandhi’s and so what better way to remember this great leader than to remember one of his most enduring contributions to India, the one to the armed forces.

Our history chapters do make us aware of the great freedom fighter Netaji was and a few good ones also manage to shed some light on the Azad Hind Fauj. However, doesn’t it ever surprise you that despite the innumerous revolts and marches to end the British raj, the very thought of having an 'own' independent army to fight for the nation’s independence never came across the Indian soil?

The origin of the fauj dates back to Malaysia and Singapore where the recruits were sent to Japan’s Imperial Military Academy to train as fighter pilots and army officers by netaji after taking charge of its chief commandant. Ironic as it sounds, Netaji although wearing military uniform, never gave himself any military rank.

This army boasted of a diasporic diversity ranging from the prisoners of war to local
civilians with no military experience and barristers to plantation workers and not to forget the women who joined the forces to form a historic one of a kind ‘all-women’ combat regiment.

In a world where women were idealized to be gullible and submissive, women fighting along with men on the war front proved to be the biggest testimony to Netaji’s much progressive thoughts about empowerment and ideals of nurturing a society that could provide equal set of opportunities to both men and women. 

In fact its saddening to see the many debates that spur around recognition and involvement of women in the armed forces which is so contrary to the beliefs that were foreseen by Netaji almost 78 years back!

Imagine the stature India could have attained under such enlightened leadership!

What makes the Azad Hind fauj stand apart is the spirit they retained despite several adversaries. “We had artillery, armour. those chaps had nothing left eventually. But instead of surrendering, they fought on. It was madness” recalled Major General Douglas Gracey. Their struggle sparked off massive unrest across the country, including the strike by Royal Indian Navy and Air Force.

As a matter of fact did you know that the British history describes them as the ‘the toughest enemy any British army has had to fight along with the Japanese’ as quoted by historian Robert Lyman on the battle of Imphal and Kohima.

Netaji’s fauj however never made it to India, with the loss of Imphal and lack of logistics along with the unending monsoon, the soldiers had rather started dying of malaria and dysentery. What a tragic climax to such daunting spirits.

Things could have turned uphill for the INA had it not been for Netaji’s enigmatic disappearance which till date remains unsolved.

If this wasn’t sufficient for a tragic end, the surviving soldiers of the azad hind fauj were denied the status of freedom fighters post independence in 1947 and never got inducted into the Indian army in the Nehru or Gandhi government, the reason being that they had rebelled against British Indian army which consisted of many Indians and reinstating them would be unwise and rather disruptive. For quite a couple of decades the veterans of INA were faced with social stigma and ignorance from the very nation they had once dared to free. 

All this quietly points towards our collective negligence of our own people, our own pride and our own history. While we show no hesitancy in memorizing and filling our history books with repetitive names of the British governors or any Afghani invader, there’s an apparent stalling for creating space for the names of our own people.

What does this say about India as a nation? About Netaji’s vision for our country? About us as Indians? 

A change in our attitude towards recognizing and honoring our past above others is long due, don't you think?

Do give it a thought.

JAI HIND

Fun fact 'Jai Hind', the very popular slogan was a creation of Netaji himself. Quite a long one this time but this forgotten sect of Indian Army deserves a little more space  at least on IndianBuff :) . We hope to have done some justice by telling a little piece of their revolution. Love to hear your thoughts on this in the comment section below !

Till then stay safe, stay happy!

Adios!