Indian National Army

Anwar Fazal is more than just the President of The Dr Wu Lien-Teh Society. He is a renowned Malaysian activist, writer and leader in the field of social advocacy and public health. He asked me today about the Indian National Army (INA) in Penang, and I told him that I had covered it on page 167 of Let the Aisles Proclaim. To the best of my knowledge, there's not much info out there about the INA's activities in Penang. For my book, I mainly referenced Subhas Chandra Bose: The Man and His Times by Lt Gen Eric A Vas (published in 2005) and The Indian National Army and Japan by Joyce Chapman Lebra (published in 1971). I also spoke to an Old Free, JC Rajarao, who in his youth had been a leader of the Balak Sena movement. With a few tweaks to the original manuscript, here's what I wrote:

The Free School became a regional base for the Indian National Army (I.N.A.) which considered the impressive premises a god-send to them. The I.N.A. was an armed force formed in February 1942 by Indian nationalists in South-East Asia with the aim of securing Indian independence from British rule. The army was first formed under Mohan Singh and consisted of Indian Prisoners of War of the British Indian Army captured by Japan in Malaya and Singapore. However, differences between the leadership and the Japanese military caused the collapse of this original I.N.A. in December 1942. The army was revived in 1943 under the charismatic leadership of the Indian nationalist leader, Subhas Chandra Bose, after he arrived in Singapore. Declaring the I.N.A. to be the army of Bose's Azad Hind or the Provisional Government of Free India, the members were drawn from ex-prisoners and thousands of Indian civilian volunteers. 

Having established his Azad Hind Command Headquarters in Singapore, Bose’s first task was to build up morale in his troops. The reformed I.N.A. First Division was sent to Penang for rigorous training with the intention to create a fifth column and send them to India. The training structure for new entrants was supported by training schools for commissioned and non-commissioned officers. Other units that were also trained were the Osman group with Sikhs, the Gilani group with Muslims, a Buddhist group destined for Ceylon and finally a group with Gurkhas meant for infiltrating into Nepal. There was also the I.N.A. Boys Organisation known as the Balak Sena consisting of boys not older than 14 years. Along with revitalising the army, Bose revamped his intelligence organisation. Spy schools were set up in Rangoon and Penang, and the teams were given special training in espionage, propaganda, intelligence gathering, chemical warfare, incendiaries and explosives, photography, use of firearms and surveying.  

To accommodate the training of the I.N.A. recruits, the Free School was renamed as the Hind Swaraj Vidyalaya or Indian Swaraj Institute. The classrooms were converted into dormitories while the army supervisors and instructors stayed at the nearby teachers’ quarters with the Balak Sena youth. A typical day would start at 7 a.m. with breakfast, lunch would be at 1 p.m., tea with some snacks at 4 p.m. and a light dinner at 8 p.m. All meals were strictly vegetarian. “Lights off” was observed at 10.00 p.m. There were physical and drill training daily, followed by marching practices in the mornings and afternoons. As part of the physical training, a portion of the school field was left unattended. The grass and other plants were allowed to over-grow and remain unkempt; the intention was to simulate conditions for jungle warfare training. The former European masters’ quarters at the side of the school field opposite from the school buildings were used to house the espionage section, but the people in the spy school were generally kept apart from the rest of the I.N.A.

Talking about the Balak Sena, Rajarao was just 11 years old when he joined up. Like any young kid, it sounds like he had a whale of a time. When the Second World War ended in 1945, Rao resumed his formal education and two years later, he enrolled at Penang Free School. Here's what I wrote based on our chat:

Activities would include having to attend Hindi classes on weekdays – a few hours in the late mornings and again in the late afternoons – and sometimes listening to motivational speeches. “I was there for about six months and I finished my Theesri Kithab (a Standard III Hindi book) by the time I left. I could read, write and speak Hindi fluently and was awarded a prize for the best student,” he said. There were the same marching practices for the youth every morning and evening. They were also taught how to handle weapons like rifles, machine guns and hand grenades. “Yes, we knew all about the weapons and we were taught how to shoot or kill the enemy,” Rajarao continued, “Soon, I was appointed the leader of the 60-odd Balaks. My basic role was to help them to march well, sing the various patriotic songs with gusto, and encourage them to speak Hindi and take part in odd sketches that we were asked to participate in and become performers.” During the Sunday morning marches along the main roads, the youth would sing patriotic songs, carry the tri-colour flag of India, and handle light mock wooden rifles. From the Balak Sena campus, the route would follow Green Lane, Dato’  Kramat Road and then through Prangin Road into Beach Street before reaching Weld Quay, a distance of about 16 kilometres. At Weld Quay, waiting military trucks would bring them back to camp.