The INA Defence Committee, later the INA Defence and Relief Committee, was a committee established by 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 ...
in 1945 to
defend those officers of the
Indian National Army
The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a Collaboration with the Axis powers, collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during Worl ...
who were to be charged during the
INA trials. Additional responsibilities of the committee also came to be the co-ordination of information on INA troops held captive, as well as arranging for relief for troops after the war.
The committee declared the formation of the Congress' defence team for the INA and included famous lawyers of the time, including
Bhulabhai Desai
Bhulabhai Desai (13 October 1877 – 6 May 1946) was an Indian independence activist and acclaimed lawyer. He is well-remembered for his defence of the three Indian National Army soldiers accused of treason during World War II, and for attempt ...
,
Asaf Ali
Asaf Ali (11 May 1888 – 2 April 1953) was an Indian independence fighter and noted Indian lawyer. He was the first Indian Ambassador to the United States. He also served as the Governor of Odisha.
Education
Asaf Ali was educated at St. Ste ...
,
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 ...
and as The British insisted that this was an Army Court Martial, Lt. Col Horilal Varma Bar at law and Prime minister of the state of Rampur was selected to head the defense Committee.
See also
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Indian National Army
The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a Collaboration with the Axis powers, collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during Worl ...
*
INA trials, the courts-martial of INA officers at Delhi that began in late 1945.
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Maj Shah Nawaz Khan,
Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon and
Col. Prem Kumar Sahgal defendants in the first
INA trial.
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Captain Lakshmi Sahgal
Lakshmi Sahgal () (born Lakshmi Swaminathan; 24 October 1914 – 23 July 2012) was a revolutionary of the Indian independence movement, an officer of the Indian National Army, and the Minister of Women's Affairs in the Azad Hind government. La ...
, who commanded the
Rani of Jhansi Regiment, and was also the minister in Charge of Women's affairs in the
Azad Hind Govt
The Provisional Government of Free India (''Ārzī Hukūmat-e-Āzād Hind'') or, more simply, ''Azad Hind'', was an Indian provisional government established in Japanese occupied Singapore during World War II. It was created in October 194 ...
.
*
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 ...
References
Letter from members of the Indian National Army Defence Committee to the Viceroy, 15 Oct 1945.The British Library. Accessed 12/07/07
Indian National Army trials
Indian National Congress
Organizations established in 1945
1945 establishments in India
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