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{{Short description|Political organization}}
{{Distinguish|text = the [[India League]], an Indian Freedom Fighting organisation based in the UK}}

{{Use Indian English|date=September 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
The '''Indian Independence League''' (also known as '''IIL''') was a [[Resistance movement|political organisation]] operated from the 1920s to the 1940s to organise those living outside India into seeking the removal of British colonial rule over India. Founded by Indian nationalists, its activities were conducted in various parts of [[Southeast Asia|Southeast]] Asia. It included Indian expatriates, and later, Indian nationalists in-exile under Japanese occupation following Japan's successful [[Malayan Campaign]] during the first part of the [[Second World War]]. During the Japanese Occupation of [[British Malaya|Malaya]], the Japanese encouraged Indians in Malaya to join the League.<ref>Sankar, Uthaya. (11 February 2004) [[New Straits Times]]. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20110516170410/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-91041258.html What Tamil writers?]''</ref>

Established primarily to foster Indian nationalism and to obtain Japanese support for the [[Indian Independence Movement]], the League came to interact and command the first [[Indian National Army]] under [[Mohan Singh Deb|Mohan Singh]] before it was dissolved. [[Rash Behari Bose]] handed over the INA to [[Subhas Chandra Bose]]. Later, after the arrival of [[Subhas Chandra Bose]] in [[South East Asia]] and the revival of the INA, the League came under his leadership, before giving way to [[Azad Hind]].

==Background==
With the occupation of South-East Asia,
a large expatriate Indian population had come under the Japanese occupation. A framework of local Indian associations had existed even before the war reached Malaya. ''The biggest'' of these included the likes of the pre-war Central Indian Association, the Singapore Indian Independence league and other organisations, and had amongst their members eminent Indian expatriates, e.g. [[K. P. Kesava Menon|K. P. K. Menon]], Nedyam Raghavan, Pritam Singh, S.C. Goho and others. With the occupation authority's encouragement, these groups began amalgamating into the local Indian Independence leagues and became the predominant liaising organisation between the local Indian population and the Japanese occupation force.

Joining the Indian Independence League brought security and perks.<ref name="recruit">Balachandran, PK. (17 April 2006) [[Hindustan Times]]. ''[http://www.tamilweek.com/Netaji_Army_0423.html Netaji's army as seen by a Ceylonese recruit.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817161204/http://www.tamilweek.com/Netaji_Army_0423.html |date=17 August 2018 }}'' Colombo diary.</ref> Displaying an IIL card smoothed the purchase of a railway ticket and allowed purchase at the IIL headquarters of hard-to-get items like tooth paste and soap at reasonable prices.<ref name="recruit"/> It was also the means by which rations were issued.<ref name="Fay 1993 p=92">{{Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=92}}</ref> In addition, since the IIL was allowed to work with the [[International Committee of the Red Cross|Swiss Red Cross]], members could receive and send letters to then hard to reach places, such as [[Ceylon]].<ref name="recruit"/>

==Rash Behari Bose==
{{Main|Rash Behari Bose}}
Rash Behari Bose was an Indian revolutionary noted for his planning of the [[Rash Behari Bose#Revolutionary activities|Delhi-Lahore conspiracy of 1912]] to assassinate the then [[Viceroy of India|Viceroy]] [[Charles Hardinge|Lord Hardinge]], and his involvement in the [[Kartar Singh Sarabha#Revolt in Punjab|Ghadr Conspiracy]] of 1915. Sought by the Raj, Rash Behari fled to Japan where he found sanctuary among Japanese patriotic societies. Rash Behari subsequently learned the [[Japanese Language]], married a Japanese woman, and became a naturalised Japanese citizen.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=90}}</ref>

Before and during the Malayan Campaign, Rash Behari had tried to interest Japanese efforts to aims of the [[Indian Independence movement]]. With encouraging reports from Fujiwara and the establishment of the local Independence leagues, the [[IGHQ]] sought Rash Behari's help to expand and amalgamate the Indian movement taking shape.

Rash Behari advised the IGHQ to attach the evolving INA to a political organisation that would also speak for the civilian Indian population in South-east Asia.<ref name="Fay 1993 p=91">{{Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=91}}</ref>

==The Tokyo Conference==
In March 1942, he invited the local leaders of the Indian Independence leagues to a conference in [[Tokyo]]. This invitation was taken up and the delegation met at a Tokyo hotel in late March 1942.

The Tokyo conference, however, failed to reach any definitive decisions. A number of the Indian delegation held differences with Rash Behari, especially given his long connection with [[Japan]] and the current position of Japan as the occupying power in South-east Asia, and were wary of vested Japanese interests.<ref name="Fay 1993 p=91"/> The conference agreed to meet again in [[Bangkok]] at a future date.<ref name="Fay 1993 p=91"/> The Indian delegation returned to Singapore in April with Rash Behari.

==All Malayan Indian Independence League==
In [[Singapore]], Rash Behari was invited to chair a public meeting that saw the proclamation of the All-Malayan Indian Independence League.<ref name="Fay 1993 p=91"/> The League was headed by Nedyam Raghavan, a [[Penang]] [[Barrister]] and a prominent Malayan Indian. The governing board included [[K. P. Kesava Menon|K.P. Kesava Menon]] and S.C Goho, the latter the chairman of the Singapore Indian Independence League. The league made a number of proposals including creation of a Council of Action as the executive arm, formation of a body which the regional leagues would report to, as well as the relations between the INA and the council as well as those between the council and the Japanese authority.<ref name="Fay 1993 p=91"/> The decision was made to vote on these proposals by a representation larger than that had met at Tokyo, and meeting elsewhere than on Japanese soil.<ref name="Fay 1993 p=91"/> There also remains suggestions that members of the League, including Niranjan Singh Gill who directed the PoW camps, were apprehensive about Japanese intentions with regards to the league, and the Independence movement.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=93}}</ref>

The league found widespread support among the Indian population; membership was estimated to be close to a hundred-thousand at the end of August. Membership in the league was of advantage for the population in the middle of war-time emergency and when dealing with the occupation authorities. The League's membership card identified the holder as Indian (and thus an ally), it was used to issue rations.<ref name="Fay 1993 p=92"/> Further, the League took efforts to improve the conditions of the local Indian populace, including the cause of the now jobless plantation labourers.<ref name="Fay 1993 p=91"/>

==Bangkok Conference==
{{Main|Bangkok Conference}}
In June 1942, the Bangkok conference was held. This saw the constitution of the Indian Independence League. The league consisted of a Council for Action and a Committee of representatives below it. Below the committee was to be the territorial and local branches.<ref name="Fay 1993 p=108">{{Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=108}}</ref> Rash Behari Bose was to chair the council, while [[K. P. Kesava Menon|K.P. Kesava Menon]], Nedyam Raghavan were among the civilian members of the council. Mohan Singh and an officer by the name of Gilani were to be the INA's members.<ref name="Fay 1993 p=108"/>
The committee of representatives took members from the 12 territories with Indian population, with representation proportional to the representative Indian population.<ref name="Fay 1993 p=108"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Green|1948|p=61}}</ref>
The Bangkok resolution further decided that the Indian National Army was to be subordinate to it.<ref name="Fay 1993 p=108"/>

The Bangkok conference adopted a thirty-four point resolution to and expected the Japanese government to respond to each point. These included the demand that the Japanese government clearly, explicitly and publicly recognise India as an independent nation and the league as the nation's representatives and guardians.<ref name="Fay 1993 p=108"/> Other points also demanded assurances of Japanese respect for her [[sovereignty]] and her territorial integrity, to all of which the council unanimously demanded that Japan clearly and unequivocally commit themselves before the league proceeded any further in collaboration.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=144}}</ref> The resolution further demanded that the Indian National Army be accorded the status of an allied army and be treated as such, and that all Indian POWs be released to the INA. The Japanese must help the army with loans, and not to ask it to march in any other purpose than for the liberation of India.<ref name="Fay 1993 p=108"/> The resolution was duly forwarded to what was then the Japanese liaising office, the [[Indian National Army#Iwakuro Kikan|Iwakuro Kikan]].

==Greater East Asia Conference==
[[File:Greater East Asia Conference.JPG|thumb|250px|Participants of the Greater East Asia Conference]]
{{Main|Greater East Asia Conference}}
In November 1943, the Greater East Asia Conference was held in Tokyo. The head of state who were the member of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was gathered. [[Subhas Chandra Bose]] participated as a Head of State of Provisional Government of Azad Hind.

==Later in time==
In 1945, noted Jakarta's Indian community leader Pritam Singh took part in both the Indian Independence League and also Indonesia's struggle for independence.<ref>[[Jakarta Post]]. (3 June 2003) ''Indian community leader dies.'' Section: Features; Page 20.</ref>

In 1972, the Centre introduced the [[Freedom Fighters and Rehabilitation Division|Swathantra Sainik Samman Pension Scheme]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kerala.gov.in/dept_genadmin/synic1.pdf |title=Swathantra Sainik Samman Pension Scheme |access-date=27 June 2007 |archive-date=5 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705165530/http://www.kerala.gov.in/dept_genadmin/synic1.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> through which independence activists were entitled to a pension.<ref name="pension">[[The Hindu]]. (22 August 2006) ''{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20110714061622/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2006/08/22/stories/2006082216680600.htm Centre asked to pay pension to freedom fighter's widow.]}}''</ref> However, there was significant resistance to implementing the scheme.<ref name="pension"/> For example, it took 24 years of legal fighting for S. M. Shanmugam to finally receive his pension in August 2006.<ref name="pension"/>

==Popular culture==
Indian Independence League received a prominent role in film maker K. A. Devarajan's 1998 film "Gopuram."<ref name="mission">[[The Hindu]] (25 September 1998) ''Film maker with a mission.''</ref> In the film, the maternal grandfather of an Indian journalist is a 1930s independence activist in Japan who is wanted by the British police.<ref name="mission"/> Eventually, the grandfather joins the Indian Independence League in Japan and his exploits are presented.<ref name="mission"/>

In [[Amitav Ghosh]]'s novel ''[[The Glass Palace]]'' (2000), Ghosh chronicles the fictional Rangoon teak trade fortunes of Rajkumar Raha and his extended family.<ref name="east">Urquhart, James. (7 August 2000) [[The Independent]] ''Monday Book: A 'Doctor Zhivago' for the Far East - Review of The Glass Palace.''</ref> In that book, Uma Dey is a widow and Indian Independence League activist.<ref name="east"/> Her appearance in the later half of the book is used as a device to characterize the post-colonial divisions for the remainder of the novel.<ref name="east"/>

==Notes==

{{reflist|2}}

==References==
*{{Citation
| surname1 = Fay
| given1 = Peter W.
| year = 1993
| title = The Forgotten Army: India's Armed Struggle for Independence, 1942-1945
| url =
| publisher = Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press.
| isbn = 978-0-472-08342-8
}}.
*{{Citation
| surname1 = Green
| given1 = L.C.
| year = 1948
| title = The Indian National Army Trials. The Modern Law Review, Vol. 11, No. 1. (Jan., 1948), pp. 47-69
| url =
| publisher = London, Blackwell.
| isbn =
}}.
{{Azad Hind Fauj}}
{{Indian independence movement}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Indian Independence League| ]]
[[Category:Azad Hind]]
[[Category:Indian independence movement]]
[[Category:Indian National Army]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora in Singapore]]
[[Category:Subhas Chandra Bose]]
[[Category:South-East Asian theatre of World War II]]
[[Category:1920s establishments in India]]

Indian Independence League - Revision history

Bot at 05:12, 17 October 2022