A Contextual Review of the Selected English Writings on Japan’s Secret War Theatre, 1941-1945

Abstract

This article explores the English writings, which have substantially examined the Japanese secret war, abroad Indian revolutionaries’ collaboration with the Japanese intelligence networks, and British counter-intelligence amid World War-II. Further, the paper spotlights the formation of the Indian National Army (INA), the role of Subhash Chandra Bose, and other Indian revolutionaries settled in Southeast Asia and Far East Asia. However, the British portrayed those revolutionaries as ‘Japanese Inspired Fifth Column’ (JIFC) through their propaganda agencies and efficient organizational setups, including Indian troops. The article also spotlights the covert activities of Japanese in British India, which gathered military and strategic information, and dispatched it to Tokyo. The British thwarted the Japanese espionage networks as well as activities by recruiting the Indians as the double agents, prior they were furthering Japanese interests in India. Unfortunately, the history of British India, English Empire in India and the WW-II bypasses the contribution of abroad Indian revolutionaries and their associations with Japanese-intelligence networks, and their impact upon the Indian nationalist movement during WW-II.