About Azad Hind Government:

• In 1943, on October 21, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose announced the formation of the ‘Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind’ or the provincial government of free India in Singapore and declared war on the British Empire.
  • Under the provisional Government, Bose was the Head of State, Prime Minister and Minister of War. 
  • Captain Lakshmi headed the women’s organisation while SA Ayer headed the publicity wing in the newly formed government.
  • Revolutionary leader Ras Behari Bose was designated as the supreme adviser by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. 
• The government was supported by the Axis powers of Imperial Japan, Nazi Germany, the Italian Social Republic and their allies.
• Significance of the Azad Hind government:
  • Soon after the formation of the government, the Azad Hind government proclaimed authority over Indian civilian and military personnel in Southeast Asian British colonial territory and prospective authority over Indian territory to fall to the Japanese forces and the Indian National Army during the Second World War.
  • The provisional government not only enabled Bose to negotiate with the Japanese on an equal footing but also allowed him to mobilise Indians living in East Asia to join and support the Indian National Army (INA).
  • The Indian National Army drew ex-prisoners and thousands of civilian volunteers from the Indian expatriate population in Malaya (present-day Malaysia) and Burma (now Myanmar).
  • The provisional government was also formed in the Japanese-occupied Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The islands were reoccupied by the British in 1945.
  • The Azad Hind government under Bose had in fact started its own bank, currency, civil code and stamps. 
  • Bose had even formed the first women’s regiment of the INA, the Rani Jhansi Regiment, thus laying the foundation for equal opportunity for women in armed forces.