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Introduction [1]

I remember reading from one of the books written by Hugh Toye that theIndian National Army was started by Captain Mohan Singh. Contrary to thisfact every where in the history text books this fact is never mentioned andname of Captian Mohan Singh has been erased from the minds of the

general public. I have grown up reading that INA (Indian National Army) wasstarted by Subhas Chandra Bose, so are other people back in India and otherplaces. The book by Hugh Toye is very well written and he has put quotesfrom the diaries of Captain Mohan Singh and Subash Chandra Bose as well.With these quotes one can clearly understand what the situation was at thattime. There is no doubt that Subash Chandra Bose was a great leader, butshould we forget the person who initiated the idea of INA?

Captain Mohan Singh was POW (Prisoner of War) along with his battalion andBritish officers in Japan. Mohan Singh was a man of great statesmanship andwas instrumental in convincing the Japanese that if the Japanese themselvesattacked British India, Indians will fight shoulder to shoulder with theBritishers against the Japanese. The reason he told the Japanese was that -the Indians have won some minor right from the Britishers after long struggleand they do not want to see a new ruler again as they will again have tostruggle to win some rights. Mohan Singh convinced the Japanese that if they(Mohan Singh and other Indian POWs) formed an army and attacked BritishIndia, their Indian brothers will not fight them with much of enthusiasm. Hetotally convinced the Japanese for this and they agreed to form an armyunder Captain Mohan Singh. Mohan Singh had very good leadership qualitiesand he could encourage all the POWs to join the army simply byencouragement, even though he made it clear that no one should be forcedto join this army. The name of this army was not initially kept as IndianNational Army, they used some other name.

Captain Mohan Singh was very well aware of the nature of the Japanese, sohe was very cautious in dealing with them. Before the new formed armycould start their endeavors Mohan Singh convinced the Japanese that hisarmy will not be a puppet army but an independent army which will take itsown decisions and all the territory won back from the British will not besubjugated by the Japanese. Such was the situation and convincing power ofMohan Singh that the Japanese agree to this contract. Mohan Singhembarked this campaign by a set of speeches which infused pride andbravery in the new formed army from the POWs in Japan.

As the army formed by Mohan Singh jumped into the war and won backsome areas from the British, the Japanese started showing their originalcolors, they started taking away the property won by Mohan Singhs army.Mohan Singh was not happy about this violation of the contract. He shot backa letter to the Japanese telling them that his army was not a puppet of the

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Japanese and they did not like the violation of the contract. In reply theJapanese wrote,

Puppets? What puppets? You are paupers, you should be proud to bepuppets of the Japanese?

This letter enraged Captain Mohan Singh, but he knew very well thatJapanese will not like to fight on their own now as they have seen the idea ofPOWs fighting for them. He cleverly disbanded the army telling clearly to theJapanese that they will not fight as Japanese puppets and all the propertythat his army will free from British will not be part of Japanese subjugation,rather will be set free. His army officers knew very well that disbanding thearmy was not for ever, they knew what was in the head of their leader andso they never threw away their badges and uniforms but kept thempreciously. As time passed, Mohan Singh and army came out strong willedand the Japanese were reconsidering their thoughts and were planning to

listen to the demands of Mohan Singh. Right at that time Ras Bihari Bosecame to the scene and started convincing the army to listen to the Japaneseand assemble again, he also started telling the Japanese that he will do thetask that Mohan Singh was doing. He played the spoilsport and wasinterested in leading the army. The Japanese got what they wanted, theywere already looking for a person who could break apart from Mohan Singhsarmy Ras Bihari Bose played that role. Right after Ras Bihari startingnegotiating with the Japanese, the Japanese put Captain Mohan Singh in jailand asked Ras Bihari Bose to lead the army.

Ras Bihari Bose did not have the personality and convincing power of Mohan

Singh. He kept addressing the army for some time but nobody was lookingconvinced to accept him as a leader. Having failed multiple times with hisattempts to lead the army, Ras Bihari Bose finally gave up and then ran toSubash Chandra Bose for help. Subhash Chandra Bose was in Germany atthat time hoping to get assistance from Adolf Hitler. When Ras Bihari Bosetold Subhas the idea of the army in Japan formed from POWs, Subhash wasnot convinced and he sent Ras Bihari Bose back were he again kept trying tomake fruitless efforts to lead the army. It was only when Adolf Hitler did notgive any response to Subhas Chandra Bose, that Subhas thought to try theidea of having a look at the army in Japan. When he saw the army and itsconfidence, he started to see the potential in these men who were filled up

with hope and bravery by Mohan Singh. Therefore, the hard work and idea ofCaptain Mohan Singh was passed over to Subhas Chandra Bose readymade.

Does Captain Mohan Singh deserve getting lost in the history like this? Whythis fact is not told in the history books that the formation of Indian NationalArmy was the idea of Captain Mohan Singh and he was the one who infusedcourage in the POWs and organised the army? The electric bulb was the ideaof the brain of Thomas Alva Edison, whom do we remember and respect

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more? Edison or the companies who got ready made idea and justproduced more bulbs?

Formation of Indian National Army [2]

At the stage on Farrer Park Capt. Mohan Singh addressed the POWs anddecided to form an organized and disciplined power in the form of IndianNational Army. The erstwhile POWs were to become now the soldiers ofIndias Army of Liberation, the army that was to fight under its ownleadership, with a real and just cause to wage war.

Mohan Singh was from the same unit from which was Gurbaksh SinghDhillon. He was a close friend of Dhillon. On 17 February 1942, Dhillondecided to join the Indian National Army and took the vow not to drink till

India became free. Next morning Capt. Mohan Singh issued orders to marchoff all the units of various camps on the island where the units were tooccupy their allotted accommodation. Dhillons unit was to proceed toNeesoon Camp.

After the conclusion of the historic meeting at Farrer Park, 45,000 Indianprisoners of war, moved to different camps, each commanded by the senior-most officer who was designated as Station Commander. Capt. Mohan Singhset up his own headquarters, generally known as Supreme Headquarters, atMount Pleasant, a European residential area in Singapore where mostly theBritish police officials lived before the capitulation of Singapore.

Gen. Mohan Singh called meetings of senior officers from time to time todiscuss the problems of raising the Indian National Army. He had made itabsolutely clear that membership of INA would be strictly on a voluntarybasis. He advocated freedom of political thought so far unknown in theIndian Army under the British. The senior officers did the imparting ofpolitical education. Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon took up this work in NeesoonCamp. Neesoon village was situated 13 miles away from main town ofSingapore. This camp was the Regimental Centre of the Hong Kong andSingapore Royal Artillery.

The Japanese Headquarters had asked the Supreme Headquarters to provide200 officers to guard the British and Australian prisoners of war at ChangiCamp. Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon took the risk and volunteered his services forthis unpleasant task.

Gurbaksh Singh Dhillons health improved at Seletar Camp. He along withover thirty important senior officers from among the Indian Prisoners of warattended the Bidadari conference called by Captain Mohan Singh at Bidadari

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Camp in Singapore on 24 April 1942. The resolutions of this Conference,came to be known as the Bidadari Resolutions, formed the backbone offormation of INA. As resolved at the Tokyo Conference, a representativeconference of the Indians who lived in East Asian countries was held atBangkok on 15 June 1942, which continued for 10 days. 30 INA volunteers

nominated by Mohan Singh among the Indian prisoners of war attended it. Aresolution was passed at this conference known as Bangkok Resolution.

Armed with Bangkok Resolution, General Mohan Singh went around all thePOW Camps. He addressed all the officers and men and appealed to them tovolunteer themselves for the INA. The response was so good that some42000 POWs volunteered their services. Immediately enough of volunteerswere available to raise three divisions. Looking to readily available weaponsit was decided to go ahead with the raising of 1st Division of the INA. MohanSingh appointed Lt. Col. Mohammad Zaman Kiani as Chief of the Generalstaff of the INA. Along with chosen team of capable officers, Zaman Kiani

took his job in right earnest with his headquarters at the Bidadari Camp.Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon got his National Commission on 1 September 1942and was posted as major on the 10th September 1942. He was still ill so hewas attached to the Reinforcement Group. The first review of INA was held atSingapore Padaung in front of the Municipal Buildings on 2nd October 1942,the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon attended thisfunction as an observer. The progress in recuperating Gurbaksh SinghDhillons health was slow. He was recommended a months leave and sent toPenang. He returned to Singapore in the middle of November 1942. TheJapanese had not yet ratified the Bangkok resolutions not recognized the INAas an independent army. General Mohan Singh had lost confidence in the

Japanese. In the beginning of December 1942, the Japanese asked the INAHeadquarters to dispatch an advance party to move to Burma so as toprepare camps and accommodation for the main body of INA. Meanwhiledifferences developed between Mohan Singh and the Japanese. The Japanesearrested General Mohan Singh on 29 December 1942. There was a period ofcrisis due to suspense and indecision. On the advice of Rash Behari BoseGurbaksh Singh Dhillon continued in INA. They went all over the Island andup-country to urge men to remain in the INA.

Meanwhile Subhas Chandra Bose (Netaji) was trying to come to the East. Inanticipation of Netajis arrival, the revived INA was reorganized under its new

headquarters known as Directorate of Military Bureau (DMB) with Col.J.K.Bhonsle as the Director. Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon was appointed as DeputyQuartermaster General (DQMG) in the Q Branch at the Army Headquarters.He was to look after the Technical Branch and was responsible for theaccommodation also. The Army Headquarter was organized by the middle ofMarch 1943 and was duly gazetted on 17 April 1943. On appointmentGurbaksh Singh Dhillon took up the task of collection of kit and clothing ofthose personnel who decided to leave the INA. When Netaji arrived on 2 July

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1943 in Singapore and the Army was enlarged in December 1943, Dhillonwas transferred to be the 2nd-in-Command of the 5th Guerilla Regiment.

References: -

Toye, Hugh, Springing Tiger A study of a revolutionaryGurbaksh Singh Dhillon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaGeneral Mohan Singh INAAn interview of the son of INA official KPK Menon

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007J7M00/ref=nosim/sikhphilosoph-20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurbaksh_Singh_Dhillonhttp://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/personalities/military/mohan_singh_ina.htmlhttp://singapore.kaumudiglobal.com/news.php?newsid=807http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurbaksh_Singh_Dhillonhttp://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/personalities/military/mohan_singh_ina.htmlhttp://singapore.kaumudiglobal.com/news.php?newsid=807http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007J7M00/ref=nosim/sikhphilosoph-20