- Bidadary Resolutions
The Bidadari Resolutions were set of resolutions adopted by the nascent
Indian National Army in April 1942 that declared the formation of the INA and its aim to launch an armed struggle for Indian independence. The resolution was declared at the Bidadari PoW camp inSingapore during Japanese occupation of the island.Fall of Singapore
The fall of Singapore on
15 February 1942 brought under the Japanese occupation approximately 45,000 Indian PoWs. The surrender of these PoWs were accepted byMajor Fujiwara Iwaichi , separately from that of British PoWs, on the morning of 17th at Farrer Park. Fujiwara passed on their command to Mohan Singh, who had formulated the conception of a liberation army for India's Independence, accepted their command and invited the PoWs to join his proposed army. A large number of the troops volunteered.Following this, the plans to formally establish theIndian National Army as the armed unit of theIndian Independence League were started. However, officers within the Indian Pow sought to establish clearly the Japanese intentions and designs for the army and clarification of its goals.Bidadary resolution
In April 1942, even as the discussions and the process of setting up the
Indian Independence League and defining the aims of the movement carried on, Mohan Singh convened a meeting of a group of his officers to frame what has now come to be known as the Bidadary resolution. The resolution, declared byMohan Singh Deb , announced that: [Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=94] cquote|Indians stood above all differences of caste, community, or religion. Independence was every Indian's birthright. An Indian National Army would be raised to fight for it.The resolution further specified that the army would go to battle only when the Congress and the people of India asked it to. [Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=94] It did not however, specify the how army was to interact with the Japanese forces. [Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=94]Effects of the resolution
Following the Bidadari resolutions, the Indian PoW camps were dissolved and the staff were transferred to the INA supreme command under Mohan Singh. On
9 May , recruiting for the INA began. [Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=94] Mohan Singh had copies of the resolution circulated among the Indian jawans, followed by tours of the mainland camps by Mohan Singh and Fujiwara to encourage the troops to join the INA.In June, a conference was held inBangkok that saw the proclamation of theIndian Independence League and clearly established the relationship between the INA and the Japanese army and established the IIL as the master organisation of which the INA was to be the armed wing of. The Bidadary resolutions therefore formed the basis on which the subsequent organisations and orders of the first INA was built.Notes
References
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Lebra
Given1 = Joyce C.
Year = 1971
Title = Japanese trained armies in South-East Asia
URL =
Publisher = New York,Columbia University Press
ISBN = 0231039956.
*Harvard reference
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 = 0472083422 .
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