Japanese Occupation Of The Andamans

Did you know a part of India was once ruled by Japan during World War II? How did the Andaman & Nicobar Islands fall into Japanese hands? What role did Netaji Bose play in it? Let’s dive into it!

The 1940s is often remembered in India as the time when the country finally achieved nationhood, breaking free from European colonial rule. It’s often recalled as the decade when, at the stroke of midnight hour, India awoke to life and freedom.

However, while the country was ablaze with the forces of nationalism, another lesser-known chapter was unfolding—a non-European power, Japan, had taken control of Indian territory—and was about to perpetrate some really horrific atrocities there.

The Japanese occupation of the Andamans is one of the least-discussed episodes of the Second World War. The Andaman & Nicobar Islands, on India’s eastern coast, became the only part of the nation to be occupied by a non-European force during World War II.

On March 23, 1942, Japanese forces landed in South Andamans, and within just a few hours, they had seized complete control of the area.

The Indian National Army (INA), led by Subhas Chandra Bose, also had a presence on the islands, and an internal agreement between the INA and the Japanese meant that Japan faced no resistance in securing the territory.

One crucial element of nationalism in any colonized nation is that it was never a unified or monolithic force. The Indian freedom struggle, for instance, witnessed deep internal divisions, the most notable being the ideological split between Gandhi & Bose.

While Gandhi championed non-violence as the path to freedom, Bose was convinced that independence could only be achieved through armed revolution. He also believed that external assistance from international powers was essential in driving the British out of India.

At the onset of World War II, Bose saw Britain’s enemies as potential allies in India’s fight for freedom. He reached out to the Axis powers, seeking their support to overthrow British rule.

As historian T. R. Sareen notes, Bose had little interest in the ideologies of Nazism or Fascism. Rather, his focus was on leveraging the Axis powers’ strength to weaken British imperial control. Bose had only one goal: freeing India from the clutches of the British.

And Bose tried his best to achieve that by doing everything he could. By the early 1940s, Japan had achieved significant victories in Southeast Asia. Recognizing Japan’s strategic position, Bose sought their help.

The Japanese, in turn, saw value in collaborating with the INA, as Indian soldiers could provide crucial intelligence on British troops stationed at the Thai-Malay border.

With Japan’s victories over Singapore and Burma, their forces drew dangerously close to India. By the time the Japanese arrived in the Andamans, the islands had long served as a penal colony, home to the infamous Cellular Jail where the British imprisoned political dissidents.

The Japanese swiftly took control from the British and encouraged the prisoners to join the INA, a proposition many accepted.

In December 1943, Bose, after persuading the Japanese, hoisted the Indian tricolor on the islands & renamed them “Shaheed” (Martyr) and “Swaraj” (Self-rule). Despite INA’s nominal control, real power in the Andamans remained with the Japanese, whose presence soon turned brutal.

Though the alliance between the INA and the Japanese had allowed for a peaceful occupation, things quickly soured as the Japanese unleashed unprecedented cruelty upon the island’s population.

Angered by soldiers who had pursued some chickens into his house, a young man called Zulfiqar Ali fired an airgun at them. No-one was hurt, but he was forced into hiding.

The Japanese went about killing, raping and burning whatever came before them till the time the villagers were forced to produce the boy next morning.

After twenty-four hours he was captured and marched to the maidan in front of the Browning Club. Zulfiqar was tortured and beaten to death, and a memorial dedicated to him still stands in Port Blair today, a stark reminder of the Japanese atrocities.

According to eyewitnesses, a popular man known as "Chirrie" (meaning 'Bird' in Hindi) had his arms and legs twisted and broken, and was then beheaded by Colonel Bucho with his sword.

Korean and Malay women were brought in to act as "comfort women" for the Japanese garrison, as the local female population was too small to fill this role alone.

Forced labour was used to build a new airport, and in October 1942 mass arrests of 'spies' took place, with 300 people being confined in the Cellular Jail, where some were gravely tortured.

In 1943 a second reign of terror was unleashed by the new commander of the garrison, Colonel Jochi Renusakai, and chief of police Mitsubashi, both of whom had served at Nanking.

600 people were arrested and tortured, including Dr. Diwan Singh, who died as a result of his injuries. Diwan Singh was a Punjabi poet and INA member, attempted to shield the local population from Japanese brutality.

For his efforts, the Japanese arrested and tortured him for 82 days, leading to his death in January 1944. During this time, the infamous Homfreyganj Massacre occurred, where 44 locals were shot dead, suspected of being Allied spies.

In all, approximately 2,000 people in the Andamans are thought to have died as a result of the occupation, & at least 500 were tortured by the Japanese. For context, the former figure represents 10% of the pre-war population of Port Blair.

Casualties on the more sparsely-populated Nicobar islands were fewer, as the Japanese did not have a garrison there. Although, in 1943, they did create a brief reign of terror on Car Nicobar as they rounded up forced labour amongst the Nicobarese.

This event remains one of the most brutal atrocities inflicted upon Indians by the Japanese. A very contentious issues regarding the Japanese occupation is Bose’s silence. Some historians argue that Bose was indifferent to the suffering of the local population

However, most historians believe that the Japanese deliberately kept the extent of their brutality hidden from him. Regardless, Bose’s inaction earned him significant criticism from the residents of the Andamans, who felt abandoned by their supposed liberator.

The Japanese occupation of the Andaman Islands is a forgotten chapter of Indian history, overshadowed by the larger narrative of India’s struggle against British rule.

Yet, the memory of those harrowing years endures, a grim reminder that even in the fight for freedom, the path to nationhood was fraught with unforeseen complexities and tragedies.

Note: Pics used in this thread are representational.

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