Mohan Singh Deb
Encyclopedia
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
officer and member of the Indian Independence Movement
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
most famous for his role in organising and leading the First Indian National Army
First Indian National Army
The First Indian National Army is the term often used to denote the Indian National Army as it existed between February and December 1942...
in South East Asia during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Following Indian independence, Mohan Singh later served in Public life as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in the Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...
(Upper House) of the Indian Parliament.
Early life
He was born the only son of Tara Singh and Hukam Kaur, a peasant couple of Ugoke village, near SialkotSialkot
Sialkot is a city in Pakistan situated in the north-east of the Punjab province at the foothills of snow-covered peaks of Kashmir near the Chenab river. It is the capital of Sialkot District. The city is about north-west of Lahore and only a few kilometers from Indian-controlled Jammu.The...
(now in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
). His father died two months before his birth and his mother shifted to her parents home in Badiana in the same district, where Mohan Singh was born and brought up.
Military career
As he passed high schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
, he joined the 14th Punjab Regiment
14th Punjab Regiment
The 14th Punjab Regiment was a regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. It was transferred to the Pakistan Army on Partition of India in 1947, and amalgamated with the 1st, 15th and 16th Punjab Regiments in 1956, to form the Punjab Regiment....
of the Indian Army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
in 1927. After the completion of his recruit training at Hrozpur, Mohan Singh was posted to the 2nd Battalion of the Regiment, then serving in the North-West Frontier Province
North-West Frontier Province
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province and various other names, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the north-west of the country...
. He was selected as a potential officer in 1931, and after six months' training in Kitchener College, Nowgong (Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
), and another two and a half years in the Indian Military Academy
Indian Military Academy
The Indian Military Academy, Dehradun is the officer training school of the Indian Army. IMA was established in 1932.-Demands for an Indian military training academy:...
, Dehra Dun, he received his commission in 1934 and was posted for a year to a British unit, the 2nd Border Regiment
Border Regiment
The Border Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 34th Regiment of Foot and the 55th Regiment of Foot....
, and then to 1st Battalion of his former 14th Punjab Regiment, which at that time happened to be at Jhelum. World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out in 1939.
Mohan Singh had been promoted to Captain when his battalion was earmarked for operational service in the Far East. The battalion was still carrying out intensive training at Secunderabad
Secunderabad
Secunderabad popularly known as the twin city of Hyderabad is located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh north of Hyderabad. Named after Sikandar Jah, the third Nizam of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, Secunderabad was founded in 1806 AD as a British cantonment...
when he married, in December 1940, Jasvant Kaur, sister of a brother officer. He left for Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
with his unit on 4 March 1941.
Second World War
JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
entered the War with her surprise attack on the American air base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 7 December 1941 and overran the entire South East Asia within a few weeks. The Japanese IGHQ in October set up the Fujiwara Kikan, or the F-kikan, in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Headed by the Major Fujiwara Iwaichi, chief of intelligence of the 15th army. Tasked with intelligence gathering and contacting the Indian independence movement, the overseas Chinese and the Malayan Sultan with the aim of encouraging friendship and cooperation with Japan, Fujiwara's staff included five commissioned officers and two Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
-speaking interpreters. His initial contact was with Giani Pritam Singh.
Action in Malaya
The British force in the northern part of the Malaya Peninsula including Captain Mohan Singh's battalion, 1/14 Punjab Regiment, was fleeing towards the south. Mohan Singh's own forces had been outgunned and destroyed by superior Japanese forces at JitraJitra
Jitra is a town in Kedah, Malaysia. It is located in the Kubang Pasu district.It is the fourth largest town in Kedah after Alor Setar, Sungai Petani and Kulim....
. Captured by Japanese troops after several days in the Jungle, Singh was taken to Alor Star
Alor Star
Alor Setar, known as Alor Star between 2004 and 2008, is the state capital of Kedah, Malaysia, and Kota Setar District's Administrative Centre. It is also a distribution center for manufacturing and agricultural products such as paddy, and the royal seat of the Kedah state since the establishment...
to Fujiwara and Pritam Singh at a joint office of the F-Kikan and the IIL
IIL
IIL may stand for*Indian Independence League*Integrated injection logic*The Insurance Institute of London*The International Institute for Learning*The Institut International de Lancy* II-L or IIL, a subtype of Type II supernova...
. Fujiwara, later self-described as "Lawrence of the Indian National Army" (after Lawrence of Arabia) is said to have been a man committed to the values which his office was supposed to convey to the expatriate nationalist leaders, and found acceptance among them.
Indian National Army
Although Pritam Singh was involved to a large extent, it was Fujiwara who, with his sincerity of purpose and belief, convinced Mohan Singh to betray his oath to the Crown by uniting with the Japanese mission for the greater motive of Indian freedom. This included the promise that he would be treated as an ally and a friend, and not a PoW. Initially helping Fujiwara to take control of the situation of looting and arson that had developed in Alor Star, Singh was in December 1941, after meeting with the Japanese commanding general, convinced of the feasibility of raising an armed Indian unit. Between himself, Pritam Singh and Fujiwara, Mohan Singh set about contacting Indians in the British Indian Army in South-east Asia, and also began recruiting from amongst those captured by the Japanese in Malaya. All Indian prisoners of war and stragglers were placed under his charge and he was asked to restore order in the town of Alor Star. Thus the nucleus what came to be the Indian National Army was born. Kuala LumpurKuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
fell on 11 January 1942 with 3,500 Indian prisoners of war, and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
on 15 February with 85,000 British troops, of whom 45,000 were Indians. Mohan Singh asked for volunteers who would form the Azad Hind Fauj (Free India Army) to fight for liberating India from the British rule.
A large number of men came forward to join what came to be termed as the Azad Hind Fauj (National Army of independent India). The new set-up came into being on 1 September 1942 by which time the strength of volunteers had reached 40,000. Mohan Singh, now designated a general, was to command it. Already in a conference held at Bangkok during 15–23 June 1942, the Indian Independence League under the leadership of Rash Behari Bose
Rash Behari Bose
Rashbehari Bose was a revolutionary leader against the British Raj in India and was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar conspiracy and later, the Indian National Army.-Early life:...
, an Indian revolutionary who had escaped to Japan in June 1915 and who had been living there ever since, had been inaugurated. Through one of the 35 resolutions passed by the conference, Mohan Singh was appointed commander-in-chief of the "Army of Liberation for India," i.e. the Indian National Army.
Disagreements with Japan
Though General Mohan Singh had kept good relationship with the members of Fujiwara Kikan, he was soon disenchanted regarding the intentions of some orders from the headquarter of Japanese army, wanted to use Indian National Army only as a part of Japanese army and who were deliberately withholding recognition and public proclamation about its entity as an independent liberation army. Some supreme commanders of Japanese army also had frustration against him. On 29 December 1942, General Mohan Singh was removed from his command and taken into custody by the Japanese military police.It was only after the arrival of another Indian leader of great political standing, Subhas Chandra Bose, from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to the Far-Eastern front in June 1943 that the Indian National Army was revived in the form of Azad Hind Fauj. However, Mohan Singh could not be reinstated to the revived army.
Upon Japan's defeat, Mohan Singh was taken into custody by the British and repatriated to India to face trials. However, due to public pressure, roused by the INA Red Fort trials, Mohan Singh was only cashiered from the Army. He subsequently served in the Indian Parliament as a member of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House).
Post 1947
Mohan Singh's dream of liberation was realized with India's Independence on 15 August 1947, but this was accompanied by the partition of the country into India and Pakistan. Mohan Singh had to leave his hearth and home in what then became Pakistan and came to India a homeless refugee. He was allotted some land in the village of Jugiana, near Ludhiana, where he settled permanently. He entered politics and joined the Indian National CongressIndian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
. After a stint as a legislator in the Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
, he was elected to Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament, for two terms. In and out of Parliament he strove for the recognition of the members of his Azad Hind Fauj as "freedom fighters" in the cause of the nation's liberation .
General Mohan Singh died at Jugiana on 26 December 1989.
External links
- General Mohan Singh at the Sikh History.