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The
treatment of Indian POWs was somewhat different due to the political forces that
had been operating in India for some time. In 1939, although India was still a
major part of the British Empire, strong nationalist sentiments had been
building up. The Congress Party, guided by Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru, was
leading the movement for full independence from Britain. This instability was to
continue until Indian Independence in 1947.
A major
element of the Japanese strategy to exploit this against the British involved
the setting up by the Japanese of the Indian National Army. (According to Dr P
Stanley, of the Australian War Memorial, it is possible that as many as 40,000
of the 60,000 Indians captured by the Japanese in SE Asia eventually joined the
INA and fought the British.)
Information available on Indian POWs is limited although an excellent overview
by Dr P Stanley of the Australian War Memorial can be found on the website
(http://ajrp.awm.gov.au/ajrp/remember.nsf/pages/NT0000220A?openDocument)
It is
likely that Indian death rates were even higher than among British and
Australian Forces although final figures are difficult to find. It is clear that
their treatment was as bad as that of British and Australian POWs and that their
lot was made considerably worse by the number of different religious observances
that were required but not possible under conditions of captivity. |
