The Bangkok Conference was a conference held on 15 June 1942 by Indian Nationalist groups and local Indian Independence leagues at

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

to proclaim the formation of the All-India Independence league. The conference further saw the adoption by the league of a thirty-four set resolution known as the Bangkok resolutions that attempted to define the role of the league in the Independence movement, relations with the nascent

Indian National Army The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. Its aim was to secure In ...

, and clarify the grounds and conditions for obtaining Japanese support for it. The resolution further attempted to clarify the relations of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and the

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere The , also known as the GEACPS, was a concept that was developed in the Empire of Japan and propagated to Asian populations which were occupied by it from 1931 to 1945, and which officially aimed at creating a self-sufficient bloc of Asian peo ...

with a free India.

Indians in South-East Asia

Indian Independence League

The Indian Independence League was a

political organisation A political organization is any organization that involves itself in the political process, including political parties, non-governmental organizations, and special interest advocacy groups. Political organizations are those engaged in politica ...

operated from the 1920s to the 1940s to organize those living outside of India into seeking the removal of British colonial rule over India. Some accounts indicate it was founded in 1928 by Indian nationalists

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...

and

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

, By the start of the war the organisation was located in various parts of

South-East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

and included Indian expatriates, and later, Indian nationalists in-exile under Japanese occupation following Japan's successful

Malayan Campaign The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between ...

during the first part of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Among the most prominent of the leaders was

Giani Pritam Singh Giani Pritam Singh Dhillon was an Indian freedom fighter and Sikh missionary who, as a member of the Ghadar Party, was instrumental in the planning of the failed 1915 Ghadar conspiracy in the British Indian Army. Giani Pritam Singh Dhillon was a ...

. The IIL also had links with local Indian clubs.

Indian National Council

The

Indian National Council The Indian National Council was an organisation founded in December 1941 in Bangkok by Indian independence movement, Indian Nationalists residing in Thailand. The organisation was founded from the Thai-Bharat Cultural Lodge on 22 December 1941. Th ...

was founded in December 1941 in

by another group of

Indian nationalists Indian nationalism is an instance of territorial nationalism, which is inclusive of all of the people of India, despite their diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian nationalism can trace roots to pre-colonial India, b ...

resident in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. This organisation was founded from the

Thai-Bharat Cultural Lodge The Thai-Bharat Cultural Lodge (อาศรมวัฒนธรรมไทย-ภารต) is one of the most prestigious Indian cultural organisation in Thailand that seeks to promote comparative studies and exchange between Thai and Indian h ...

on 22 December 1941. The founding president of the Council was Swami Satyananda Puri, along with

Debnath Das Debnath (sometimes Nath) is an Indian surname. The 'Debnath' community mainly belongs to the Yogi-Nath group which is listed as Other Backward Class in West Bengal. Prior to independence, census statistics rarely included the caste name Debnath or ...

as the founding secretary. Along with the

Indian Independence League The Indian Independence League (also known as IIL) was a 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 national ...

, it came to be one of the two prominent Indian associations that corresponded with

I Fujiwara was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, and later a lieutenant general in the post-war Japan Ground Self Defense Force. Biography A native of Hyōgo prefecture, Fujiwara graduated from the 43rd class of the Imperial Japa ...

F Kikan was a military intelligence operation established by the IGHQ in September 1941. The Unit was transferred to Bangkok at the end of that month and headed by Major Fujiwara Iwaichi, chief of intelligence of the 15th army. Its task was to contact ...

on the scopes of Japanese assistance to the Indian movement. However, the Indian National Council emphasised solidarity with the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

and, at a time when Japan began its successful

, the council reflected the Congress leadership's reluctance to appear

Quisling ''Quisling'' (, ) is a term used in Scandinavian languages and in English meaning a citizen or politician of an occupied country who collaborates with an enemy occupying force – or more generally as a synonym for ''traitor''. The word ori ...

of the Japanese. The council also had differences with the

, with Puri openly questioning Tokyo's anti-imperialist credibility in light of her actions in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Puri was killed in a plane crash, along with

en route to the Conference in Tokyo in 1942 that saw

Rash Behari Bose Rash Behari Bose (; 25 May 1886 – 21 January 1945) was an Indian revolutionary leader against the British Raj. He was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar Mutiny and founded the First Indian National Army during World War 2. The Indian N ...

accepted as the leader of the expatriate Indian movement in South-east Asia. Later, the council sent delegates to attend the Bangkok Conference.

First INA

The Indian National Army was initially formed under

Capt Mohan Singh Mohan Singh (3 January 1909 – 26 December 1989) was an Indian military officer, Japanese collaborator and member of the Indian Independence Movement best known for organising and leading the Indian National Army in South East Asia during Worl ...

with Japanese aid and support after the

Fall of Singapore The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of ...

and consisted of approximately 20,000

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

prisoners of war who were captured either during the

Malayan campaign The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between ...

or surrendered at Singapore. Although not formally proclaimed until September 1942, the unit rapidly came to be an important component of the Indian movement in South-east Asia and of Japanese projects and agenda in the region, especially with regards to her subsequent plans in the South-east Asian theatre.

Tokyo Conference

Following the end of the Malayan Campaign, and after Thailand's support to the Japanese campaign, these organisations were encouraged by Japan to unify the overseas Indian movement. Although differences existed between the organisations, they met at the

Tokyo Conference The Tokyo Conference was a conference held between March 28 and 30, 1942 at Tokyo by South-East Asian Indian Nationalist groups including the Indian Independence League, the Indian National Council, and smaller local Indian associations and clubs. ...

in March 1942. It was while en route to this conference that the plane carrying Pritam Singh and Satyananda Puri crashed. However, although divided on the interests of different communities and regions and on the scopes and limits of Japanese interventions, the delegates agreed to a reorganisation of the

and accepted

as the leader of the organisation. The Tokyo conference, however, failed to reach any definitive decisions. A number of the Indian delegations held differences with Rash Behari, especially given his long connection with

and the current position of Japan as the occupying power in South-east Asia, and were wary of vested Japanese interests. The conference agreed to meet again in

at a future date. The Indian delegation returned to Singapore in April with Rash Behari. The Bangkok conference opened on 22 June 1942 at the Silpakon theatre in

with an opening address by the Thai deputy foreign minister Wichit. Amongst the guests to this conference were the Japanese Ambassador Tsubokami Teiji, German minister Ernst Wendler, and the Italian minister Guido Crolla.

Outcomes

The conference defined the structure of the league as consisting of a Council for Action and a Committee of representatives below it. Below the committee was to be the territorial and local branches. Rash Behari Bose was to chair the council, while K.P.K 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. The committee of representatives took members from the 12 territories with Indian population, with representation proportional to the representative Indian population. The Bangkok resolution further decided that the Indian National Army was to be subordinate to it.

Bangkok Resolutions

The introduction to the resolution states: The resolution itself adopted a thirty-four point resolution, to each of which it expected the Japanese government to respond to. These included the demand that the Japanese government clearly, explicitly and publicly recognize India as an independent nation and the league as the nation's representatives and guardians. Other points also demanded assurances from the Japanese on Free India's relation with

, respect for her

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

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. The resolution further demanded that the Indian National Army be accorded the status of an allied army and treated as such, and that all Indian Prisoners of Wars 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. The resolution was duly passed on to what was then the Japanese liaison office, the Iwakuro Kikan.

Notes

References

* *. *. *. *. *. * . {{Authority control Indian Independence League Indian independence movement History of Bangkok 1942 in India Indian National Army 1942 conferences 1942 in Thailand India in World War II