Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary will be observed everywhere in the country today and on this occasion Free Press brings a story on the Azad Hind Fauj of Netaji which was formed on October 21, 1943. The Azad Hind Fauj is also known as Indian National Army.
Countries—including Japan, Croatia, Indonesia, Germany, Italy and Burma, along with a few others—had given recognition to the Azad Hind Government formed by Netaji. The Azad Hind Fauj was initiated during World War II to secure complete Indian Independence from British rule.
The INA’s officers used to get salaries ranging from Rs 85 to Rs 330. City Historian Zafar Ansari, on the basis of archives in his Zafar Ansari Museum of Indore, said that, in the years 1942 to 1943, the pay of the INA officers was comparatively less than that of the British Army officers.
He said, “A lieutenant in the British Army was paid Rs 425, whereas, in the INA, they used to get Rs 85. Similarly, Rs 555 was paid to a captain in the British Army and only Rs 125 in the INA. An amount of Rs 915 was paing to a major in the British and only Rs 225 in the INA. Similarly, Rs 1,225 was paid to a lieutenant-colonel in the British Army but a person in the same rank in the INA used to get Rs 330.”
Ansari added that the honours given for the bravery of soldiers in the Azad Hind Fauj were Shaheed Bharat, Sardar Jung, Sevak-e-Hind, Veer-e-Hind, Sher-e-Hind, Shatru Nash and Tamgaye Bahaduri.
Bose’s Oath of Freedom
Ansari said that, on September 28, 1943, Subhas Chandra Bose visited the mazhar of Bahadur Shah Zafar and took an oath on it that he would make India independent
‘More than 15 INA posters’
‘In the museum, there are many important original items related to the Azad Hind Fauj. Along with the original photographs of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s parents, there’s also a collection of hundreds of original newspapers from 1942 to 1945, in which the news of the Azad Hind Fauj was published. I have more than 15 posters of the INA’ — Zafar Ansari, historian, archivist & conservationist.
