Freedom's Battle. I. N. A. in Action 1942-1945

Bombay: Vithalbhai K. Jhaveri: Sital Mahal, Walkeshwar, Bombay, 1947. Book. Very Good. Printed Wrappers. 1st Edition. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. Stitch-bound folio. 61 unnumbered pages, color and b&w illus. Inkstamp at front wrapper reading "With Com- pliments from Dhirajlal Bhulabhai Desai. Warden Road, Bombay." CONDITION: Good, spine largely perished, wrappers and text-block with vertical fold, rear wrap- per with some chipping to extremities, binding holding with all leaves present and illus. clear and clean. The scarce illustrated history of the first army composed solely of Indian nationals since the British Raj's suppression of the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, celebrating the courage of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the bravery of those who served under him, and declar- ing the accomplishments and aspirations of the Provisional Azad Hind Government in exile. This volume documents the goals and activities of the Indian National Army, an organization formed by Bengali freedom fighter, Subhas Chandra Bose, to "break the chains of slavery" wrought by the British rule of India. Bose's creation and recruitment for a National Army was the "first time since 1857 that the Indian sol- dier gave his loyalty to his motherland and not to the oppressor." While the army saw minimal action, having only fought (and lost) in one battle against the British, "undoubtedly it has captured the people's imagination" in revolutionary and post-independence India. Contents consist of quotations from Subhas Chandra Bose and first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, accompanying a plenary of propagandistic illustrations. Among the subjects shown are soldiers of the National Army; General Mohansingh; the "Proclamation of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind;" postage stamps and insignia used by the Provisional government; the Provisional Government's governance of the Andaman and Nicobar islands including views of the tribal peoples there; Netaji's meetings with officials from Thailand, Japan, Burma, and Singapore; members of the all-women Rani of Jhansi Regiment of the National Army; the INA's military operations in Burma; the flag and slogans of the Provisional Government; and the trial of soldiers from the National Army against the British High Court at Agra. The Indian National Army (INA), also known as the Azad Hind Fauj, was a military force formed during World War II by Indian nationalists living across Southeast Asia and prisoners of war, supported by the Japanese. While the Indian nationals' goal was to liberate India from British rule, for the Japanese, the goal was thwarting British progress in World War II. The British trials of captured INA officers, known as the Red Fort Trials, had a major impact on turning the tide of the loyalties within the British Indian military, and strengthening nationalist sentiments among South Asians. While it was ultimately non-violent civil disobedience and political negotiation that led to Indian independence, the activities of the INA helped to unite Indian conscience for military, as well as political, sovereignty. Dhirajlal Bhulabhai Desai (1908-1951) was the son of Bhulabhai Desai, the lawyer who, in 1945, represented the three soldiers from the Indian National Army captured by the British and tried for treason at the Red Fort, in Agra, just outside of Delhi. Dhirajlal went on to become independent India's first ambassador to Switzerland in 1948, before dying of a heart attack in 1951. Jhaveri (1916-1985) and Tendulkar (1909-1972), respectively a photographer and a writer, were both life-long supporters of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The two independently documented Gandhi's life and work from 1930 until the Mahatma's death in 1948 and together produced a massive documentary film and eight-volume biography of Gandhi-ji. OCLC locates 5 holdings, at the Hoover Institute, UC Berkely, the Li- brary of Congress, Harvard, and the University of Minnesota. (listing credit Pico Banerjee, Peek A Boo Rare Books & Ephemera) .