The Indian National Army: A Force for Nationalism?

Abstract

This thesis aimed to delve past the nationalist myth of the Indian National Army (INA) and the Indian Independence League (IIL). Few histories examine why the British Indian Army soldiers joined the INA and how internment and the stresses of combat influenced their decision to defect. To ignore the many reasons why individuals joined the INA and the IIL whitewashes history and ignores the nuances of a complex historical subject of study. Any attempt to evaluate the INA as a nationalist organisation necessitates an examination of its relationship with the diaspora community as they provided much of its funding and manpower. A social history of the INA and the IIL which eschews the grand themes of nationalism and self-sacrifice is needed to give a more accurate historical account of the INA and the IIL and this thesis hopes to go some way in filling the gap in this respect.