Digital Rare Book:
I. N. A. And Its Netaji
By Maj. Gen.Shahnawaz Khan
Foreword by Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru
Published by Rajkamal Publications, Delhi - 1946

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FOREWORD

When we were in Ahmednagar Prison, we had heard vaguely about the formation of an Indian National Army in Malaya. We knew very little about it. Indeed very few people in India knew much about it at the time. Soon after our release from prison in June 1945, I had some further news and particulars about the formation of this Army. I was naturally interested, but the Japanese war was going on then and I did not think it proper to say anything in public about what I had heard. Soon after the Japanese war ended and I thought the time had come to make public reference to this Army.

My knowledge even then was limited and I was not quite sure in my mind as to how far the formation and activities of this Army had been justified, keeping in view the wider scheme of things and the implications of the world war. But I had no doubt in my mind even then of two facts - that the men and women, who had enrolled themselves in this Army and worked under Shri Subhas Chandra Bose's guidance, had done so because of their passionate desire to serve the cause of India's freedom; also that if, owing to some technical interpretation of military law, large numbers of them received severe sentences, it would be a tragedy for India. It would be a tragedy not only because that might involve the death or long incarceration of brave and vital sons and daughters of India, but also because that would leave a deep wound in the body of India which would take very long to heal. That would mean also an intensification of the ill-will against England which was great already. It might well be an inseparable barrier between the two countries.

So, quite apart from the political background, I was convinced that everything should be done to save these young men and women. I had judged rightly, for immediately there was an amazing reaction in the whole of India and even the remote villages suddenly knew about the I. N. A. and wanted to do something which might help in effecting the release of the men being tried or imprisoned. Those men, whatever they were as individuals, became symbols of India's struggle for freedom and because of this the people of India, with an amazing unanimity, stood by those symbols and sought to protect them. A wave of excitement passed through the land and every other question, more vital in its larger significance, became secondary for the moment. The trial of some of these men conducted with great ability by Shri Bhula Bhai Desai held the stage in India and Shri Bhulabhai's final address became a classic.

Public memory is notoriously short and in any event the public mind could not function at that pitch for long. Nevertheless the I. N. A. made history not only in Malaya and Burma and elsewhere but also in people's minds all over India, and that fact will endure. When the passions of the day have cooled down a very objective estimate of the I. N. A. and its leaders and the work it did will be made. Many books have already come out on this subject reflecting the excitement of the moment. Perhaps it is too early to survey the work of the I. N. A. dispassionately. Opinions will differ about the political aspects of much that was done. But, however that may be, it is desirable to know the facts atleast. My friend and colleague. Major General Shahnawaz Khan of the I. N. A., has presented these facts in sober fashion, and has thus provided an important record of an important undertaking.

I must confess that I have not been able, through lack of time,
to read through this record, but I have read parts of it and it seems to me that this account is far the best we have at present. I commend it, therefore, to others and I hope that a reading of it will bring enlightenment about many aspects of this brave adventure. JAl HIND.

New Delhi, October 10, 1946.

Jawaharlal Nehru