They warned that this could result in a mutiny in the Indian Army and they were not very much off the mark. Almost every governor warned the viceroy that the government would be playing with fire if it targeted the INA because they were seen as brave freedom fighters. The governors-one more worried than the other-expressed their trepidation at the ongoing INA trials and their repercussions.
Going by the fear and anxiety displayed by several governors in their reports to the Viceroy Lord Wavell, in late 1945 and early 1946, the latter had very few options. It said that if the government did not take cognisance of this sentiment, the consequence would be a mass agitation and bloodshed. Mr De reproduces an IB report of November 1945 that warns the British government that there was enormous sympathy for the soldiers of the INA. Subhas Chandra Bose’s determination, stamina and vision can be gauged from the fact that thousands of men and women responded to his call, joined the INA in India and in Southeast Asian countries, and sacrificed their lives in order to liberate the nation. The trigger in 1946 was the British decision to court martial officers and men of the INA and the nationwide anger over these trials. This in turn triggered a naval mutiny in Bombay and several other stations, along with rebellions in some army camps, including Madras and Poona. These reports, primarily from the governors of the various provinces and from the Intelligence Bureau, indicate that by the mid-1940s, the British went into panic mode because of the tremendous popularity of Subhas Chandra Bose and the nationwide appreciation and sympathy for the INA that he had established to militarily oust the colonial power.
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