Subhash Chandra Bose’s provincial government, which served as an alternative to the British government, sought recognition from the international community, issued stamps, currency and passports, and had established courts. (File Photo)
Subhash Chandra Bose established a provincial government of Azad Hind (Free India) in Singapore on October 21, 1943. But even before it, Raja Mahendra Pratap with Maulana Barkatullah of the Ghadar Movement formed the provincial government in Kabul in 1915
Actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut recently made a statement that Subhash Chandra Bose, not Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, was the first prime minister of India. She was heavily criticised for not knowing the history of Indian politics. But why did she say what she said? Is there any weight in her statement?
Interestingly, the historical records do point to the fact that Bose established a provincial government of Azad Hind (Free India) in Singapore on October 21, 1943.
Let us go down the history lane to understand Ranaut’s comments.
During the time of World War II, Bose saw an opportunity to win India from the British, and set up the ‘Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind’, which was supported by the Axis Power of Japan, Nazi Germany, Italy and their allies.
He appointed himself as the prime minister and minister of war. AC Chatterjee was in charge of finance, SA Ayer became minister of publicity and propaganda, and Lakshmi Swaminathan was given the ministry of women’s affairs. Some officers of the Azad Hind Fauj were also given cabinet posts.
Bose’s provincial government, which served as an alternative to the British government, sought recognition from the international community, issued stamps, currency and passports, and established courts.
“In the name of God, in the name of bygone generations who have welded the Indian people into one nation, and in the name of the dead heroes who have bequeathed to us a tradition of heroism and self- sacrifice — we call upon the Indian people to rally round our banner and strike for India’s freedom,” Bose said in a fiery speech in the Cathay Theatre, as quoted in Sugata Bose’s His Majesty’s Opponent, 2011, mentioned in The Indian Express report.
The Azad Hind Government proclaimed authority over Indian civilians and military personnel in the regions of Southeast Asia (Burma, Singapore and Malaya) then occupied by the British. It also claimed authority over the Indian territory that would be taken by Japanese forces.
“It [the Azad Hind government] obtained de jure control over a piece of Indian territory when the Japanese handed over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in late December 1943, though de facto military control was not relinquished by the Japanese admiralty,” Sugata Bose wrote as quoted by The Indian Express.
Bose’s government was diplomatically recognized by the Axis powers, and Japanese states in Croatia, China, Thailand, Burma, Manchuria and the Philippines.
Another Provincial Govt
Before Bose’s Azad Hind government, Raja Mahendra Pratap formed India’s first provincial government in Kabul in 1915, with fellow revolutionary Maulana Barkatuallah of Bhopal as the prime minister.
These leaders formed the Indian Independent Committee (IIC) whose aim much like that of Azad Hind Fauj was to fight for the cause of Independence with the aid from Central Powers.
With the help of Ottoman Caliph and the Germans, the IIC tried to cause a revolt mainly among the Muslims in Kashmir and British India’s northwestern frontier.
Barkatullah was also one of the founders of the Ghadar movement, which began in California in 1913, to overthrow the British government. Lala Har Dayal, one of the movement’s leaders, had told all Ghadarites: “…use the freedom that is available in the US to fight the British…British rule must be overthrown, not by petitions but by armed revolt…carry this message to the masses and to the soldiers in the Indian Army…enlist their support.” (as quoted by Bipan Chandra and others in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1988).
The Ghadar movement ended by the end of the world war, but left a huge impact on the history of India’s freedom struggle.