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 DECLAo^ilHtO
SEE exchange & gift DIV
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11.s OFFICE OF STRi\TEGIC SERVICES

Research and Analysis Branch

R & A No. 1595

HR)IAN MINORITIES IN SOUTH AND EAST ASIA:

THE BACKGROmm OF TliE INDIAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT
OUTSIDE INDIA
125714

A survey of Indian populations in South

and East Asia as a basis for estimating the probable
strength of the Japanese-sponsored Indian Independ¬
ence movement.

t>Ecc/r§^iE:o
lirBRARY OB congress
F.A.C. File No.

r#.Y 1 6 1962 . ,
8 September 1944

'v- .

‘o> Copy No, 44

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 INDIAN MINORITIES IN SOUTH AND EAST ASIA:
THE BACKGROUI'ID OF TiiE INDIAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT

Table of Contents
' #

Page

SmfllARY iii-vii
INTRODUCTION 1

I. INDIANS IN BURI.IA 2-11

A. Population Statistics 2
1. Geogrpahic Distribution 2
2. Racial Affiliations 2
3. Birthplace 3
4. Sex and Age Grouping 4
5. Religious Groups 5
6. Occupations 6
7. Summary ‘ 7
B. Relations between Burmans and Indians 8
C. Indian Organizations 10

II. INDIANS IN THAILAND • 11-20

A. Population Statistics 11
B. Economic Status 14
C. Indian Organizations 14
D. Early History of the Indian Independence League in
Thailand and its Founders 15

III, INDIANS IN MALAYA 20-30

A. Population Statistics ‘ 20
B. Principal Occupations 24
C. Indian Associations 26
D. Indians under British Administration in Malaya 28

IV. INDIANS IN INDOCHINA 30-31

V. INDIANS IN NETHERL^iNDS EAST INDIES 31-32

VI. INDIANS IN CHINA 32-39

A, Population Statistics 32
B, Indians in China and Indian Nationalism 33
C, Indian Organizations 35

VII. INDIAl^S IN JAPAN 39-49

A. Indian Population of Japan 39
B. Indian Revolutionaries of Japan 39
1. Maulvi Mohammed Barkatulla 40
2, Hariharnath Thulal Atal 41
 f

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 - ii -

Table of Contents (Cont’d.)

Page

VII. INDIANS IN JAP/J^ (Continued)

3, Raja Mahendra Pratap 42
4, Rash Behari Bose 45
5, Anand Mohan Sahay 46
C. Indian Organizations in Japan 47

VIII. INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS MD INDIANS OVERSEAS 50-51

APPENDICES 52-60
I. Indians in Burma 52
II. Indians in Thailand 54
III. Some Prominent Indians in Malaya 57
 ** I ^

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 - iii -

.SI3MMARY

The Indian Independence Leagues in South East Asia, as far as

manpower is concerned, have in several areas a large population upon

v>rhich to draw for membership. Indians are most numerous in Burma and

Malaya, Vvhere they form a considerable proportion of the laboring class.

There is also a fairly large group in the N.E.I, In Thailand and Indo¬

china the Indians are a rather small, compact merchant community with

the laboring class a relatively insignificant minority in the Indian

group. The Indians in China are settled chiefly in Hongkong and

Shanghai, Their number is small and for the most part they are former

members of the police force or army who remained in China when their

term of service was completed. The Indian population of Japan consisted

of a small group of merchants settled in the principal cities. There

were in addition a number of students and a few exiled Indian patriots.

In all of these areas Indian males greatly outnumber the females,

and a large proportion of them are between the ages of 15 and 35, Al¬

though the population of Indians born in the country of enumeration is

increasing, Indians in all countries of South East Asia are largely

immigrants who return after a period to the country of their birth. In -

1931 for example, four-fifths of the Indian population of Malaya had

been born outside the country; the figure for Burma in the same year

was 62 percent, A certain index to the immigrant nature of the

population, and its temporary character, is the sex ratio.

 5

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 There is no indication that the majority of these Indians took

any interest in Indian political problems. In Burma, before its

separation from India, there was a provincial committee of the Indian

National Congress, It is probable that the members vrere dravai from

tlie professional, educated classes among the Indians of Rangoon, and

that the laborers who formed the bulk of the population had no part

in the organization# On the whole, Indian organizations in Burma

and Malaya had as their objective the economic and social advance¬

ment of Indians in these countries. In Thailand and Indochina,

Indian societies v;ere probably business associations or social clubs#

Certainly in Thailand and perhaps in Indochina as well there v^ere a

few Indians who were interested in the Indian struggle for freedom

but they seem to have made little headway among their fellow country¬

men#

The situation in China seems to have been somewhat different.

The Indians formed a small, compact group largely belonging to the

Sikh community, A revolutionary movement, dating from the years of

the last v/ar, fed by resentment against the British and influenced by

Chinese nationalist activities, flourished in Shanghai. The roots of

this movement lay not in prescmt-day Indian nationalism Vvlth its creed

of non-violence and civil-disobedience, but in the older terrorism

v;hich long ago ceased to play a part in Indian politics. In recent

years, however, the activities of the Indians in Shanghai have been

 ■jiOO^ ’jr-’ihni ori<;iiv^ 'l^ ^‘■*: awi;^^*3 o:: -:j ^“iorl'i.

p.^i 9'{o*lcd .ar.r::/? r^I ,:.'.Aid'/ ' Ic* -I 'I *'«A

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increasingly inspired by the Indian National Congress.

Japan has a smaller Indian population than any other country in East

Asia. Nevertheless the presence in Japan of a small group of Indian

revolutionaries and the fact that they have received encouragement and

support from the Japanese, has made Japan the center of Indian nation¬

alist activities in eastern Asia. Several associations were devoted to

the cause of Indian independence and the degree of organization for this

purpose surpassed anything achieved or attempted in other countries of

eastern Asia.

It seems clear that the Indian Independence Leagues have not been

built up on the basis of pre-existing nationalist organizations in South

East Asia. Nor is it likely that there was any v/idespread demand on the

part of Indians in this area that the war be made the occasion of obtain¬

ing India’s freedom, although a few Indians in Japan, such as Rash Behari

Bose, probably regard the present war as the opportunity missed in 1914-18.

The Independence Leagues are, then, the creation of the Japanese.

There is very little reliable information regarding the degree to which

the Japanese have been successful in enlisting the support of Indians in

this movement. There were doubtless in each country a few Indians ready

to respond to appeals to their patriotism. It is likely that Japanese

anti-British propaganda would prove effective especially in Burma and

Malaya; and *’Asia for the Asiatics" is an old and attractive slogan through¬

out the area, Pro-Japanese sentiments dating from the Russo-Japanese war
 __ -- -
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 - Vi -

provided a basis upon which to erect Japanese-sponsored organizations

directed toward the achievement, with Japanese aid, of national status

for India, There is no reason to believe that politically intelligent

Indians in the area would have had many qualms about accepting such aid,

and if Japan’s ultimate intentions were ever called into question, it is

probable that few Indians would have been found to prefer British to

Japanese domination. Furthermore, in the early years of the war Japan

appeared to have established herself firmly in South Eastern Asia,

Britain’s defeat in India must have seemed to those Indians who were

informed as to the course of events, a natter of months merely, Expedi-

cncy demanded that they cooperate with the Jap.anese, It is probable also

that the Japanese resorted to coercion when persuasion failed. It has

been reported, for instance, that the Indian merchants in Bangkok viere

forced, by threat of boycott, to provide funds for the League, and there

have been statements to the effect that prisoners of war volunteered for

service in the Independence Army to escape torture at the hands of their

captors,

A notice in the Shanghai Times, 22 January 1944, states "In order

to make a complete official list, all Indian nationals who have not yet

registered vdth the Indian Independence League are urgently requested to

register before the end of the month, otherwise much inconvenience may

arise to the defaulters," It would seem that the Indians of Shanghai have

It
not been in a hurry to join the League and the mention of "inconvenience
 f

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 - vii -

suggests that enrollment is not altogether a voluntary matter.

The appearance of Subhas Bose on the scene gave a great impetus to

the movement, A former Congress President with a large following in India,

an able leader, widely considered to bo a sincere patriot, he vrauld have

had little difficulty in persuading even the hesitant that an opportunity

was at hand to drive the British from India, Generally speaking, it may

be concluded that the Japanese have been successful in mobilizing Indian

opinion in their favor.

 \ /• . '

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 INDIAN MINORITIES IN SOUTH AND EAST ASIA:
THE BACKGROUND OF THE INDIAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEICTT

INTRODUCTION

In all countries of South and East Asia novv occupied or controlled

by the Japanese the Indian residents have organized Independence Leagues,

ttie purpose of which is to free India, with the aid of the Japanese,

from British domination. Those Leagues were established under Japanese

sponsorship in the early days of the war, and by June 1942, vi^hen

representatives met for a conference at Bangkok, a large membership vms

claimed for each country. Increased activity follov;ed the arrival of

Subhas Bose a year later. Chief in importance was the formation of the

Independence Army, composed of Indian volunteers.

In order to assess the potentialities of this movement, it is

essential to have available tlie facts concerning the Indian populations

of these areas; vital statistics; social and economic position; the

degree to v^rhich Indians were organized before the war, and for what pur¬

pose; contacts with nationalist and other groups in India; attitudes to¬

wards Japan, The following account of Indians in Soutli and East Asia

attempts, insofar as possible, to provide the facts.

 itco

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 - 2 -

I. INDIANS IN BURMA

A, Populatioh Statistics

Politically a part of India until 1937, Burma had a largo Indian

population. According to the most recent estimate available, Indians in

Burma numbered 1,017,825,^ The 1941 figure would be somev/hat higher.

Since roughly 400,000 Indians escaped from Burma at the time of the tJapan-

ose invasion, the present Indian population is probably betv/een six and

eight hundred thousand,

1. Geographic Distribution. The following account of the distribution

of the Indians in Burma is taken from the 1931 census, A.t that time 93

percent of the total number of Indians were concentrated in the delta,

coast and center subdivisions. Forty-two percent lived in Rangoon and Akyab

district. In Rangoon, Indians formed 63 percent of the population and in

Akyab district, 33 percent. In northern Burma the number of Indians Vv^as

small except for Myitkyina district v^here there were 17,000; a large

number of these were Gurkhas who had settled there, and in addition there

was a considerable number of Indians among the military police.

2. Racial Affiliations, The following table classifies Indians by

race:^
Number Number per
Race of Persons thousand persons

Bengali 65,211 64
Chittagonian 252,152 248
Hindustani 174,967 172

1 Census of India 1931, Vol, II, Burma

2 Ibid., ¥t. 1, p.“2F7
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 - 3 -

Table cont’d.
Nuraber Number per
Race of Persons thousand persons

Tamil 149,888 147

Telugu 159,759 157
Oriya 62,585 61
Others 153,263 151
"Others” include 39,532 Gurkhas and 28,289 Punjabis.

The largest single group is the Chittagonian, of which 74 percent were

located in Akyab district. Over 50 percent of the Indian population wore

from Worth India, Tamils and Telugus together constituted less than 33

percent,

BiJ^thplace, The majority of Indians in Burma are immigrants to

the country. In 1931, 62 percent of the total number of Indians in Burma

had been born outside the country. Hovx'ever, the district of Akyab presents

a striking contrast to conditions elsewhere in Burma; in that district

only 21 percent had been born outside Burma, There is also a consider¬

able difference in the percentages for males and for females. For Burma

as a ivhole 72 percent of the males had been born outside Burma, v/hile only

36 percent of the Indian females v/ere foreign born. Here again x\icyab is

not typical of Burma as a whole: 30 percent of the males, and 7 percent

of the females v/ere born outside Burma,

■ It is interesting to contrast the racial classification of Indian

immigrants ivith that of the Indian population of Burma as a whole,^

1 op, cit,, p, 62
 V

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 - 4 -

Race Persons

Bengali 39,809
Chittagonian 83,511
Hindustani 125,054
Oriya 57,906
Tamil 84,327
Telugu 131,727
Others 107,757

It y/ill be noted that while the largest single group of Indians in Burma

is composed of Chittagonians, the Tolugus form the largest single group

among Indian immigrants to Burma*

4, Sex and Age Grouping. The sex ratio for Indians in Burma is typical

of an immigrant population. In 1931 there were 387 females per thousand

males. For the Indian immigrant group considered separately the sex ratio

was 191, The various racial groups among the immigrants differ consider¬

ably in this respect. The Tamils had the highest sex ratio with 43 females

per 100 males; the figure for the Telugus was 21; for Bengalis 13; for

Oriyas 3,

The age distribution per 10,000 Indians is indicated in the follow¬

ing table. The district of Akyab is omitted in the calculations since

"figures for the whole province would be representative neither of the

Akyab district nor of the remainder of the province,"^

IVhole Province less Akyab district

Age Group Males Females

0-5 565 1,732

5-10 535 1,292
10 - 15 576 1,085
15 - 20 1,023 1,030

op, cit,, p. 77
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 - 5 -

Table cont’d
Whole Province less Akyab district
Age Group
Males Females

20 - 30 3,051 2,227
30 - 40 2,389 1,363
40 and over 1,861 1,269

5, Religious Groups, The follov/ing table classifies Indians by

Ligion,!

Actual Population
Per 1,000
Religion Persons Males Females Persons

Hindu 565,609 425,389 140,220 556

Muslim 396,594 271,514 125,080 390
Buddhist 12,600 9,778 2,822 12
Christian 30,135 18,015 12,120 30
Sikh 10,896 7,882 3,014 11
Others 1,991 1,333 658 2

It is important to note that over half the Indian population is Hindu by

religion, Muslims form the only other large group. Another fact of some

importance is the large number of female Muslims compared to the proportion

of females to males in the other religious groups. It appears that this

is largely due to the inclusion of Akyab district in the enumeration; in

this district, where many of the Indian Muslims are permanent residents,

the sex ratio is 787, while it is only 246 for the rest of the country.

The overall figures for Muslim females given in the table above are tliere-

fore misleading: \vith the exception of Akyab district the proportion

among Indian Muslims is one female to every four males, while among

Indian Hindus, there is one female per 3 males.

1 op. cit., p, 227

 1

r
 - 6 -

6. Occupation. The following table shov/s the chief occupations of

Indians in Burma

Indians Born Indians Born

Occupations in Burma Outside Burma

Exploitation of animals
and vegetation 67,366 108,842
Exploitation of minerals 402 14,350
Industry 7,178 97,489
Transport 5,510 96,020
Trade 9,151 87,060
Public Force 617 13,378
Public Administration 1,012 12,810
Professions and Liberal Arts 1,593 8,825
Persons living on their income 283 1,546
Domestic Service 2,339 21,687

The table given below brings out more clearly the difference with

respect to occupation betv/een Indians born in Burmla and those born out-

side,2 The distribution by occupation of 1,000 workers is indicated.

Indians Born Indians Born

Occupations in Burma Outside Buma

Production of raw materials 486 249

Preparation and supply of
material substances 374 578
Public Administration and
Liberal Arts 55 75
Miscellaneous 86 98

It is possible to make a rough classification of racial groups by-

occupation, Bengalis as a rule are employed in government service or

■work in a clerical capacity, while some are shopkeepers or traders; in

addition a number of Bengalis are mechanics. The Chittagonians are en¬

gaged in small craft traffic and furnish labor for ships and launch crew;

1 op. cit., pt, 2, p, 186

2 "Taken from a table in pt. Ij p. 134 of the Census
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 7

mojiy of this group work in mills and dockyards. The Tamils are usually

engaged in agriculture or work in the rice mills, but middle class members

of this group are employed in various clerical activities, A small but

very important minority among the Tamils are the Chettyars, the money¬

lenders and the principal financing agency in the country, Telugus for

the most part work in mills and factories, though many are rickshaw

pullers, porters and carriers. Hindustanis from the United Provinces

serve as v/atollmen and messengers,, and many are petty vendors. The

Oriyas vrork on railroads and in the Public Works Department on road

construction; some are engaged in mills and dockyards, Gurkhas are

generally cultivators, though some are to be found in domestic service,

Punjabis work largely in railway and motor workshops, doclcyards and

foundries as mechanics and overseers,^

7, Summary, The Indian population in Burma is largely an immigrant

group composed chiefly of people from the southern and northeastern parts

of India, The Indians are for the most part concentrated in southern

and central Burma, and nearly one half of them were in Akyab and Rangoon,

Both the age grouping, vdiich shows a majority between the ages of 15 and

40, and the sex ratio, with a great preponderance of males, are typical

of an immigrant group. Over half of the Indians are Hindus, and Muslims

who are largely located in Akyab district, are next in respect to

numbers, Indians generally speaking, are laborers, though an appreciable

number of immigrants are engaged in adiainistrative and professional

activities.

1 cf. E.J.L. Andrews, Indian Labour in Rangoon, Calcutta, 1933, p. 35-37

 ‘ ■ . ‘ **.A'
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B. Relations between Bunnans and Indians

A fact of outstanding importance in considering the position of

Indians in Burma is the hostility of the Burmans towards the Indian

immigrants and residents in the country. This hostility has an economic

base and has been intensified since 1930 due largely to the economic

depression and to the fact that rising Burman nationalism has tended to

make capital of economic grievances and the exploitation of Bi^rman

resources by foreign elements. This hostility was never veiled, and in

1938 severe riots broke out in which Indian lives and property suffered

at the hands of the Burmans, The Riot Inquiry Committee in discussing

the causes of the disturbances drew attention to the fact that while in

1930 Indian Chettiars occupied 6 percent of the total occupied area in

the thirteen principal rice-growing districts of Lower Burma, in 1937

they had acquired possession of 25 percent. This did not take into

account the areas over which the Chettiars held mortgages,^ The city of

Rangoon and its business was to a large extent in Indian hands. Indian

owners and landlords paid over 55 percent of the total taxes of the city,

and all large private bazaars v;ere Indian-owned,^ The depression resulted

in a drain on the resources of the poorer class of Burmans who were forced

to turn to industries where Indians w'ere already established, and this

led to additional dissatisfaction,

/inother grievance against the Indians was the problem created by

intermarriage between Burman women and Indian men. Objections on the

1 cf. Interim Report of the Riot Inquiry Committee, Rangoon, 1939, p, 12

2 op, cit,, p, 17
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 - 9 -

part of Burnans to such marriages were based ’’sometimes on the ground

of t?ie race purity of the Burmese nation, sometimes on the fear that

mixed marriage may tend to remove a portion of the population from

Burraese nationality and from the national religion and sometimes on the

ground that it results in material hardship,Under Burmese law a

v;idow fares better than under either Muslim or Hindu lav;. The question

of the Eurman woman’s status was also involved; since laws pertaining

to marriage differed, a Buddhist Burman woman might consider herself

a married woman under Buddhist law, but would not be so considered under

either Hindu or Muslim law,

Burmese nationalism has made an issue of the position of Indians

in Burma since 1916, Fnen the separation of Burma from India came

up for discussion in 1932-33 "the v;hole question of Indians in Burma

v;as thrown into the political arena, attention became focussed upon

it, and the whole question,,.received a prominence and a reality

which it never before assuriied and possibly does not deserve,,., It v;as

continuously represented as a menace to Burma’s national life and

p
even to the Buddhist religion,"*^

Indians in Burma, and this applies to those domiciled in the

country rather than to the shifting immigrant population, were conscious

of being a racial minority and jealous of their status as a separate

1 op. cit., p. 33
2 op, cit., p. 23
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 - 10 -

political group, Indians had formed a separate electorate as early

as 1922, and at the Round Table Conference in London in 1931-32 the

Indian delegates demanded that separate ele ctorates be continued to

safeguard their interests. This insistence and the separate elect¬

orate in the present constitution v«rere contrary to Burman desires,

C, Indian Organization

It is probably a safe assumption that members of the laboring

classes had fev/ definite opinions regarding political affairs in

India, The majority of the educated Indians in Burma appear to have

sympathized with the aims of the Indian National Congress, Yfith few

exceptions the Indian owned and edited nev/spapers v/ere pro-Congress,

though moderate in tone, Burma had its own provincial Congress

Committee, the members of which were nearly all Indians, and delegates

regularly attended the annual conference of the Congress, After the

separation of Burma, the provincial committee was abolished and in

its place the Burma Committee w'as set up to work for the freedom of

Burma,^ This comraittee continued to elect manbers to the All India

Congress Committee and in 1939 tv/o Indians and one Burman, all from

Rangoon, were elected.

Other Indian organizations included the All Burman Muslim

League, and the Burman Provincial Hindu Sabha, founded in 1930, It

is not knov/n whether or not these were branches of National organ¬

izations in India; the All Burman Muslim League appears to have had

1 cf. Modern Review, March 1938, p, 370

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 - 11 -

some connection with the All India Muslim League, but probably was

not directly affiliated v/ith it. The Young Chulia Muslim League v/as

an organization of Tarail Muslims from Madras. Another organization

was the All Burma South Indian Association. Most of these groups

appear to have been concerned mainly v/ith the advancement of Indians

in Burma, and the improvement of their social and economic status,

II. INDIANS IN THillDUTD

A. Population Statistics

It is impossible to state accurately tiie number of Indians

living in Thailand, According to the 1931 Census of Thailand, Indians

and Malays together numbered 379,618, Since 272,484 of these were

located in Pattani Circle, an area adjoining Malaya, presumably the

great majority of the total number are Malays.^ Dr, Lanka Sundaram,

v>iho spent some time investigating the condition of Indians in Thai¬

land, estimated that there v/ere 100,000 in tiie country. His figure

included Burmese Indians and Karens^ but even if allov/ance is made

ri
for a possible total of 50,000 Karens this figure seems high, A

brief account of the Indians in Thailand published in the Indian

Review^ gives 10,000 as the total Indian population. The Indian Year

1 Statistical Yearbook of the Kingdom of Siam 1931-33. Bangkok, 1933, - .

p. 67
2 cf. Radhakanal Mukerjee, Lc lligrazioni Asiatiche, Rome 1936, pp, 32
and 212
3 cf. H,I, Marshall, The Karen People of Burma. Columbus 1922, p, 3
4 September 1935, p, 623
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 - 12 -

Book for 1940-41 states that there are approximately 5,000 Indians

in Thailand and the same figure is given in the Indians Abroad

Directory by S. A. Waiz,^ Some figures from the Statistical Yearbook

of the Kingdom of Siam may be considered as evidence favoring accept¬

ance of the last estimate as more nearly correct. The numbers of

Indians arriving at the Port of Bangkok from 1918 to 1933 are listed

in Table 18.2 figures va.ry from 708 in 1919-20 to 293 in 1919-32;

generally from 300 to 500 Indians per year entered Thailand during

this period. Table 19 lists departures from Bangkok during the same

period. The number of Indians leaving Thailand by the port of Bang¬

kok varied from 250 in 1927-28 to 600 in 1925-26. Table 20 lists

arrivals of aliens at Bangkok, and presumably included persons arriv¬

ing overland, probably from Malaya, as well as by sea. In 1931-32

the number of Indian arrivals was 1,333; in 1932-33, 1,195, These

figures do not support an estimate of 100,000 Indians resident in

Thailand, Five thousand may probably be considered a reasonable

minimum, with 10,000 as the outside limit.

Little can be said concerning the place of origin of these

Indians. Virginia Thompson^ states that two-thirds of the Indian

1 cf. Radhakamal Mukerjee, Le Migrazioni Asiatiche, p. 212, ilhiz’s

book, published in Bombay 1933 is not available for reference in
this country,
2 Statistical Yearbook, op, cit., p, 84
3 Thailand; The Ne\v Siam, New York 1941, p, 139
' « • «

.w

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i
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 - 13 -

merchants were Tamils from south India, Vi/hile the other third were

speakers of Hindustani, It is evident from her account that there

were also some Sikhs, Mukerjee mentions ”a fair number of South Indians”

and ’’a few Muhammadan agriculturists from Eastern Bengal” who entered

Thailand by v/ay of Burma, 1

Of 1,333 Indians arriving in Bangkok during the year 1931-32,

894 v/ere married males, 284 were unmarried, adult males. There were

only 49 married females, and 17 unmarried females over 15 years of

age. The largest number of Indian males (410) were betiiveen the ages

of 25-35; 775 were between the ages of 15 and 25, There were only

19 males aged 65 and over, and children under 7 years numbered only .

44, Although these data refer to only a section of the Indian popu¬

lation, they suggest that the average Indian iimiiigrant is a male, that

he comes to Thailand at the age of 25; and it is possible to infer

from the scarcity of ivonen and children among the immigrants that the

average Indian resident of Thailand is a transient who regards India

as his home and expects to return after a few years. It should be

noted, hov/cver, that two Thai informants, Dang Tilaka and Tularaksa

stated in conversation that Indians in Thailand regard themselves as

Thai rather than as Indians and have become permanent residents of the

country. It seems probable that this observation refers chiefly to

second generation Indians,

1 op. cit., p. 114

 i

• •

>« • •

•k
 - 14 -

B. Economic Status

The majority of the Indians in Thailand are merchants, A few,

probably Sikhs, are employed in the Bangkok police force; others serve

as watchmen and messenger boys.^ The Yearbook fcr the Kingdom of Siam

lists the occupations of 1,178 male Indians aged 15 or over who arrived

in Thailand during 1931-32:

General Laborers 8
Professional 57
Commercial 583
Agricultural, etc. 2
Personal and Domestic 371
Theatrical, etc. 7
Others 150

Some, at least, of the Indians are well to do. A, E. Nana and Bhagwan

Singh are said to be among the largest landowners in Thailcnd.^ The

Sikh community in 1933 spent- Tcs. 80,000 (|35,200) to build a temple

in Bangkok,^

C. Indian Organizations

There were two Indian organizations in Thailand, The Indian

Association of Siam was founded in 1930'^and A. E, Nana became its life

president with Hira Lall as secretary. Baboo Chhangur Singh was presi¬

dent of the second organization, the Hindu Dharma Sabha (Hindu Religious

Society), There was also the Thai-Indian Cultural Lodge, founded by

1 Virginia Thompson, op, cit., p. 139

2 Information provide'H^y Mr, Tilaka and Mr, Tularaksa
3 Virginia Thompson, op, cit., p. 140
4 Virginia Thompson, op, cit., p. 140
 • •

1
• ■
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1

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 - 15 -

Swami Satyananda Puri, to foster cultural relations between Thailand

and India. It is doubtful whether there were any political organizations

as such among the Indians prior to 1941. Messrs. Tilaka and Tularaksa

have expressed the opinion that attempts to establish organizations of

this type would have been discouraged and that furthermore Indians as

a whole were not vitally interested in political developments in their

homeland. As followers of Gandhi, Indians sympathized v/ith the Indian

National Congress, but there seems to have been no local branch of

the Congress in Thailand,

D. Early History of the Indian Independence League in Thailand and its

Founders

Many, if not most of the Indians probably regarded the Japanese

invasion with some apprehension, Indians and other Asiatic subjects

of Great Britain in Thailand were assured by the Japanese that they had

nothing to fear. Nevertheless, on 14 and 15 December 1941, about 50

Indians, ’’including some principal agitators", tried to escape and were

arrested. The Bangkok Times in a notice of this affair stated that

"in viev/ of the fact that the establishment of an Indian association is

being planned to collaborate with the Japanese Irmy force and because

some Indians are enthusiastically cooperating v«rith the Japanese Amy

force, those who were arrested were especially liberated under the

guarantee of the founders of the association,"^ The notice concludes

1 16 December 1941
 - 16 -

with a warning that no mercy will be granted in the future.

There were undoubtedly a few individuals in the community who

v/ere ardent nationalists with a record of participation in subversive

activities in India, The end of 1941 found them eager to take the lead

in organizing their countrymen behind the Japanese program. One of

tliese was Giani Pritam Singh, v^rho had been in Thailand since 1933, He

was born in Lyallpur district in the Punjab, of a ’’respectable” Sikli

family, and educated at a Sikh missionary college. During the years

from 1920-30 he participated in the Akali movement, during the course

of which Akali Sikhs come into conflict with the Government of India

over questions of religious reform, V/lien in 1930 the government fired

upon the Red Shirts, a nationalist group in the North Y^est Frontier

Province, Giani Pritam Singh, together with 300 other Akalis, went

to Peshawar to protest against the government's action. He was

arrested in Gujerat and jailed for a year and a half. It has been

stated that while in prison he come into contact with Indian nation¬

alist leaders. In April 1933 he was invited by the Singh Sabha, a

Sikh religious organization, to go to Bangkok as a ’’lecturer”, and as

far as is known he did not return to India,^

^Inother Indian revolutionary in Thailand when Japan entered the

war v/as Amar Singh, During the last war he engaged in seditious

activities in India and seems to have been involved in one of the

1 Bangkok Times, 2 April 1942

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various plots to obtain India’s freedom with German aid. The Bangkok

Times^ states that ’*he is the person who acquired 100,000 rifles from

Germany during the last great war," In 1917 or 1918 he was imprisoned

and sent to the Andamans, /vfter his release in 1940 he went to Thai¬

land where he joined forces with Giani Pritam Singh,^ Together they

started an anti-British movement in which they are said to have re¬

ceived help from the Japanese government. These two men probably formed

the nucleus of what later became knovai as the Independent League of

India. It is doubtful if there was any organization, properly speaking,

before the end of 1941, A note in the Bangkok Times for 12 February

1942, says that the Independent League, of which Giani Pritam Singh

was the leader, "though it had its origin before ^he declaration of

war by Japan/ did not do any work openly." It is further stated that

Giani Pritam Singh "had come to an understanding witli the Japanese

Goverrmient concerning the Independence of India". The entry of Japan

in the war found these men anxious' to play a more active role. On

9 December 1941, the Bangkok Times carried an advertisement signed by

a Representative of the Independent League of India: "Attention all

Indian residents in Thailand. All patriotic Indians who v/ish to serve

1 7 February 1942
2 Bangkok Times, 2 April 1942
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 - 18 -

their Motherland India are requested to enlist their respective names

at 1840 (Green House) Saphan Maha Megh." Two days later the same nev;-s-

paper contained an appeal to Indieuis to look to Japan to free India,

This was signed by "Diarni Pistan Singh", very probably a garble for

Giani Pritam Singh.^

A third Indian who achieved considerable prominence in the early

days of the war with Japan was Swami Satyananda Puri, Profulla Kumar

Sen, as he was named, was born in 1902 in Bengal, He was educated at

Calcutta University where he obtained the degree of M.A. During his

student days he was a member of the Anushilan Samiti, a society for the

promotion of culture and training, which, however, functioned chiefly as

an organization "to arouse public opinion against the Government by

circulating seditious literature, popularizing revolutionary songs, and

organizing secret associations," ^ His connections with this group

landed him in jail. While still a young man he became a follower of

Tagore and Gandhi. He decided to become a sannyasi (holy man), and

having made over his entire property to the National Congress, wandered

about in India for four years and spent another three years meditating

in the Himalayas, He was afterwards appointed Professor of Oriental

Philosophy at Calcutta University and hold this post for t^vo years, dur¬

ing which time he founded the Society of Oriental Culture, In 1932

1 Bangkok Times, 11 December 1941

2 I'U R. Smith,Nationalism and Reform in India, Now Haven, 1938, p, 72
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Tagore vms requested by the Royal Family of Thailand to send an Indian

as unofficial cultural ambassador to Thailand. Tagore selected Sv^/ami

Satyananda, I'Vhile in Thailand, the Sv/ami wrote several books on Indian

history, philosophy, etc., as well as a biography of Gandhi in the Thai

language. There is no indication that he had any dealings with the

Japanese prior to December 1941, nor does he seem to have been associated

with Araar Singh and Giani Pritam Singh. On 22 December 1941, Swami

Satyananda gave notice in the Bangkok Times of a meeting to inaugurate

an Indian National Council for tlrxe Freedom of India. The council was

formed several days later and the S^wimi became its president with

Debnath Das as secretary, 1

For some time the t^vo groups, the Independent League of India and

the Indian National Council for the Freedom of India, continued as separate

organizations. The first appears to have been the more active. Some of

its members, including S. Kishan Singh, Babu Sudarshan Aouja, and

Bhagwan Singh went to Malaya in December 1941, to do propaganda work

among the soldiers of the British Indian army. 2 They apparently met

with a certain amount of success, but an article in the Bangkok Times

comments that some of the soldiers "it seemed, had lost their sense of

reason and stayed where they were," -3 Giani Pritam Singh vjent to Malaya

shortly after its fall and was instrumental in founding branches of

1 Bangkok Times, 24 December 1941

2 Bangkok Times, 28 January 1942
3 Loc. cit.
 1

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 - 20 -

tho League in that country, ^

Towards the end of March 1942, Swami Satyananda Puri and Giani

Pritan Singh were killed en route by air to Japan. In May 1942 the Indian

National Council and the Independent League merged; the union is reported

to have been brought about by Colonel Gill, "a very senior officer",

formerly of the army in Malaya, Debnath Das became general secretary

and Amar Singh was made a patron, 2

Such information as is available indicates a general lack of en¬

thusiasm on the part of the Indian community for this Japanese-sponsored

organization. It is said that the merchants of Thailand are forced by

threat of boycott to become members of the League and to contribute to

its funds. Many of them apparently are becoming Thai citizens in order

to avoid this pressure.

III, INDI/'.NS IN 114LAYA

A. Population Statistics

Indian emigration to Malaya in modern times dates from the beginning

of the nineteenth century. Today Indians form over 12 percent of the

total population of the country. According to an estimate made in 1937,

they numbered 754,849, Detailed information relating to the Indian

population, hov;ever, is taken from the 1931 Census of British Malaya

v/hen the total number of Indians was 624,009, The follov/ing table ^

1 op. cit., 27 March 1942

2 Bangkok Times, 15 May 1942
3 taken from 'Table 1 in A Report on the 1931 Census of British Malaya
 • •

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shows the distribution of Indians in the political subdivisions of

Malaya:

Singapore 51,019
Penang 58,020
Malacca 23,238
Straits Settlenents 132,277

Perak 159,152
Selangor 155,924
Negri Senbilan 50,100
Pahang 14,820
Federated Malay States 379,996

Johore 51,038
Kedah 50,824
Perils 966
Kelantan 6,752
Trengg,anu 1,371
Brunei 377
Unlocated 408

Following is the Indian population of the principal towns ^

Total Population Indian Population

Singapore 445,719 51,019

Kuala Lunpur 111,738 25,342
Alor Star 11,596 2,746
Penang 149,403 58,020
Taiping 31,881 7,726
Serenban 21,650 4,087
Johore Bahru 21,777 3,220
Ipoh 53,183 12,301

About five-sixths of the total Indian population are Tanils

from South India, The following is a tabulation according to sectional

groups of tiie Indians in Malaya, 2

1 op. cit,. Table 17, 18

2 cTt., p, 83
 - 22 -

Tamil 514,959
Telugu 32,541
Malayali 35,125
Punjabi, etc. 31,001
United Provinces 1,898
Bengal, etc. .1,833
Burmese 1,160
Bombay, etc. 1,388
Bihar and Orissa 219
Nepal 490
Other and unidentified 3,395

As regards religion, the great majority are -^lindus, as might be expected

considering the great preponderance of Tamils in the population. The

Mohammedans are also chiefly from southern India, especially the

Malabar coast, but in addition there is a number of Pathans, Punjabis,

and natives of Bombay and Bengal in the Muslim group. The follov;ing

table lists Indians by religion.^

British Malaya Straits Settlements F. M. S.

Hindus 509,202 93,793 322,272

Mohamm.0dans 56,506 24,797 20,184
Sikhs 18,130 4,326 12,117
Christians 36,614 8,507 23,787
Buddhists 1,204 398 562
Others 2,303 456 973

The following table shov;ing-age distribution per 1,000 Indians

2
indicates clearly the immigrant nature of the population.

1 op. cit., p. 89
2 op. cit., p. 65
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Age Male Fema:

0-10 136 279

10-20 124 173
20-30 312 290
30-40 275 162
40-50 138 78
Over 55''- 15 13

As in alraost all countries where Indian immigrants are found,

the number of males is greatly in excess of the number of females. In

1931 there were 421,028 males and 202,981 females. The several racial

groups, however, show wide variation in the sex ratio, /miong the

Tarails there were 514 females per 1,000 males; for the Telugu, the

figure was 717; for the Ivlalayali, 209; for the Punjabi, 263.

In British Malaya as a whole, about one-fifth of the Indian

population is Malaya born. It has been reliably estimated that the

’’average duration of the southern Indian’s continuous stay in Malaya

is under three years#" ^ As the following figures show, there is little

variation bet^veen different areas with regard to the nuraber of Indians

born in Malaya and those born elsewhere,

Indians born in Malaya Indians born elsewhere

Number Percent of total Nimiber Percent of total
Indian population Indian population

Straits Settlements 30,236 23 101,974 77

F. M.S. 84,036 22 295,903 78
131,505 21 491,919 79

It should be noted that between 1921 and 1931 the percentage of Indians

born in Malaya greatly increased. For British Malaya as a whole in

1 op, cit., p, 71
 24 -

1921 only 12.4 percent of the total population "was born in Malaya,

while 87,6 percent were born elsewhere. Presumably this tcndancy has

continued and the 1931 figures therefore cannot be considered typical

of conditions today, Lennox A. Mills, writing in 1942, remarked that

Indian labor in Malaya is nov; in a transitional stage, "Formerly

the labourer migrated to Malaya for two or three years and then re¬

turned to India with his earnings. Today the majority still return

to their villages, but increasingly they com© back to Malaya, often

accompanied by relatives and friends, and oven more important, v/ives,..

During the past decade the number who have been in Malaya and regard

it and not India as their home has been growing..,On a few of the

older plantations the majority of the labourers have boon born on the

estate," ^

B. Principal Occupations

In British Malaya (exclusive of Brunoi) 189,998 Indians includ¬

ing men and women, were engaged in the cultivation of rubber, 2 of

these 101 were estate owners, managers, and as.sistants,.-^The 42,650

Indians-employed in comiaerce included proprietors and managers of

businesses, salesmen, shop assistants, peddlers, moneylenders, etc.

Most of the 25,595 Indians occupied in transport and communication

1 British Rule in Eastern Asia, p. 236

2 This is based on the 1931 census, from which all the following
figures are taken. According to the International Labour Review,
July 1940, Vol. XLII, No. 1, p. 66, the number of Indian Laborers
. on estates was 214,610 in 1938, This probably includes coconut
plantations as well as rubber estates, but undoubtedly the figure
for 1940 was considerably higher than that for 1931,
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 - 25 -

were railway laborers, drivers of vehicles, bullock cart oivners and

drivers; in the Straits Settlements a large number worked as dock

laborers, boatmen and lightermen. Only in the Federated Malay States

was there a large number of Indians in the mining industry. The total

number was 6,189 and over half of these were in Perak, Laborers,

general and indeterminate, numbered 61,237; 5,712 v/ere in the police

force, most of these in the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay

States. In the unfederated states the total number of Indians in

the police force was 266. With the exception of four comiaissioned

officers and inspectors among the Indian police, all were in tlie r<anks;

these four v/ere in Singapore municipality. Of the 920 Indians in the

army, 736 \vere in the Federated Malay States, with 94 in the Straits

Settlements and 70 in Johore. One in Singapore and six in the

Federated Malay States were comir.issioned officers.

Broadly speaking sectional groups are associated with occupational

divisions. Thus the Tamils, Telugus, and Malayalis are for the most

part engaged in the cultivation of rubber. The Punjabis are found

mainly in and near the large towns. A considerable proportion ’’are

accounted for by the Police Forces, they are also extensively employed

as watchmen...and frequently combine money-lending with this and

other pursuits. In suburban and rural areas, they are characteristically

associated vdth stock farming and bullock cart driving.” ^ Natives

of Bombay are usually shopkeepers, and the Bengalis, who are few in

1 Census of 1931, p. 86
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 - 26 -

number, are also engaged in occupations other than agriculture.

In summary, the Indian population of Malaya consisted chiefly

of Tamils from South India who were occupied on plantations or en»

gaged in menial labor of various types. The length of their stay in

Malaya was short and their ties were with the homeland, where for

the most part their familes remained and to which they returned.

There v/ere no trade unions, and opportunities of developing a spirit

of independence and cooperation v/ere slight. Situated on isolated

plantations, these Indians were almost completely under the control

of the employers and cut off from the outside world,^ A small number

of Indians were located in the tov^ns and engaged in business or pro¬

fessional activities. For the most part these were northerners who

apparently had little contact with their fellow Indians from the

South in a lov/er economic class, Emerson contrasts the Indian pop¬

ulation with the Chinese in Malaya, who, rich or poor, have a feel¬

ing of kinship with each other, "Aiaong the Indians this is far from

being the case; the Tamils and other south Indians are a despised

proletariat who have virtually no bohd joining them to their alleged

brethern from other parts of India who have done better for themselves

in Malaya," ^

C. Indian Associations

In almost every tov/n in Malaya there v/ere Indian associations.

1 cf. note on Indians Abroad by pandit H, N, Kunzru, Servant of

India 1939, p, 61-62
2 Rupert Emerson, Malaysia, New York, 1937, p. 34
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and delegates chosen from these met once a year to hold the All-Malayan

National Congress, This annual conference was founded in 1927 by Mr.

S. Veerasamy, one of the most prominent Indians in the country who in

1931 represented the Indian community in the Federal Council. In

1936 a Central Indian Association was founded in Kuala Lumpur, Its

objects were "(a) to promote and safeguard the political, social and

economic interests of the Indians in Malaya; (b) to represent, express

and give effect to Indian public opinion; (c) to consider all questions

affecting the interests of the whole or any section of the community;

(d) to take steps to promote or oppose legislative or other measures

affecting the interests of the whole or Jiny section of the community;

and (e) to do all such things as may be conducive to the furtherance

of the above mentioned objects or any of them." 1 How far any of

these associations were representative of the Indian masses is not

known. Probably the membership was drawn almost entirely from the

urban population.

However, these organizations proved to be useful nuclei for

the present Indian Independence Leagues, and several of the Indians

who were prominent in the old associations are today actively aiding

the Japanese, ^ It should not be assumed from this fact that the

Indians in Malaya were, previous to the Japanese invasion, primarily

1 Indian Review, November 1936, p, 696

2 See Appendix
 nh.

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 - 28 -

or actively interested in the Indian struggle for independence. With

regard to the masses of the Indian population it is doubtful if they

took any interest in political affairs, either of India or Malaya, It

has been said that the Hindu merchants of Singapore were mostly loyal

to the Indian National Congress;^ and when Jav/aharlal Nohru visited

Malaya in 1937, he ‘was very enthusiastically received. There appears,

however, to have been very little contact with the Congress group in

India, As is indicated by the program cited above, the Indians in Malaya

were more concernedwith advancing their political and economic position

in the country of their adoption than in working for the independence

of India.

D, Indians under British Administration in Malaya

Indians believe that they have serious grievances in regard to

their treatment by the British in Malaya. Numerically they have a

strong claim to consideration, and the prosperity of the country un¬

doubtedly owes much to their labor. Indians criticized the Government

of Malaya for failure to safeguard the economic interests of the Indian

laborer. Wages have been low and the means of livelihood uncertain

for the past decade. During 1931-32 v/hen the rubber industry suffered

from the general depression, large numbers of Indians were throve out

of work; wages were reduced by 20 percent from the 1928 figure of 50^

per day. According to proposals made by the Government of India,

1 cf. Ian Morrison, Malayan Postscript, London, 1942, p. 31

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73,000 Indians wero repatriated free of cost and all recruitment of

labor in India was brought to an end. As conditions improved, assisted

immigration was resumed in 1934 at the request of the Malayan Govern¬

ment, vvages remained low until 1936, when, acting ori the advice of a

deputation from India, the Malayan Government restored half of the

cut imposed in 1930. B'inally in 1937 wages wero raised to the former

level of per day for men and 40;^ for women, when the rubber in¬

dustry again deteriorated in 1938 the wages of Indian v/orkers were

once more reduced, but with the advent of war and the increase in

the price of rubber, wages were fixed at 50jZ^ per day; the coat of

living, however, had greatly increased and the laborer did not profit

from the war in ‘any material v/ay.

Indians declare that facilities for education of their children

have been unsatisfactory. In Penang, Malacca, and Singapore, there

was not a single Government Tamil school, in spite of large numbers

of Tamil government employees in these places.^

In regard to public services and representation in public bodies,

Indians believe that their status was not coimnensurate with their

importance, Indians were not permitted to enter the Malayan Civil Service,

and they had no municipal or political franchise. There was one non¬

official Indian member nominated to the Federal Council and another on

1 cf. Rammanohar Lohia, Indians in Foreign Lands, Allahabad, 1938, p, 25

 - 30 -

the Straits Settlements Legislative Council*^

IV. INDIMS IN INDOCHINA

It is impossible to state the exact number of Indians living in

Indochina; 6,0CDis probably a fair estimate. About half of these are

from French colonies in India, and for the most part they have es¬

tablished themselves in Cochinchina, though there are about 350 in

Cambodia. The natives of British India are nearly all Muslims from

the northern provinces.^ There is also a fairly largo group of

Chettyars from South India;^ and a few parsis from Bombay engage in

import trade,^

Indians from French India are for the most part minor government

employees, postmen, policemen, assistant registrars, customs or excise

clerks. The Muslims from British India are shopkeepers and pawnbrokers,

cashiers and watchmen. The Chettyars, or moneylenders, most of whom

are located in Cochinchina, where, in 1937, there were 120 Chetti firms,

form the v/ealthiest group among the Indians, They ovto a considerable

amount of land and engage extensively in trade. In Cochinchina alono,

Chettyars own one-fourth of the total rice-growing area. In 1933, their

business methods and the hold they had acquired over the agriculture

1 cf. Dharaia Yash Dev, Our Countriymon Abroad. Allahabad, 1940, p. 53-54
2 Pierre Tap, French Indochina, Asiatic Review, April 1937, p, 368
3 Indian Review, November 1940, p. 688. A note refers to an article
in Illustrated Weekly by Nilkant Perumal
4 RadlTakaiaa 1 Mukerjee, Le Migrazioni Asiatiche. Rome, 1936, p. 114
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cf the country aroused wide-spread antagonisin* As a result of the

depression, the Chetti system of short-term loans resulted in great

hardship particularly for the agriculturists. Five Chetti bankers

■were expelled from Indochina on ’*the alleged ground that they created

political disturbances in the country,”^ Later on the order of

expulsion was canceled but the French authorities by establishing

long term credit offices have considerably underrained the position of

the Chettyars, and in the first eight months of 1933 about 65 percent

of the Chetti capital "was removed to Burma, Malaya, and India, It

seems probable that the Chettyars 'who remain form a dissatisfied

group, hostile to continued French domination in Indochina,

V. INDIANS IN N.E.I.

In the Netherlands East Indies there were, according to the 1920

Census, 27,684 Indians, Of these 12,654 were born in the area; 15,030

were born abroad, presumably for the most part in India, though it is

possible that emigrants from Malaya were a numerous group.^ The men

outnumber the women by about two to one,^ The Indians located in

Java and Sujaatra number 25,638, the greater proportion of these being

in Java. In Dali and Western Lombok there is ”a handful of Indiiins,”

1 Lanka Sundaram, The Chettiars of Indochina, Modern Review, September

1933, p. 302 '
2 International Labor Office. Studies and Reports Series 0, No, 6,
World Statistics of ^iliens ” ~
3 S.A. Reitsma, Van ^ockum’s Travellers’ Handbook for the Dutch East
Indies. The Hague, 1930
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 - 32 -

and a few more in Dutch Borneo,^

Speaking of the Indians generally, the Handbook for the Dutch

East Indies says, "The majority are Mohammedans and.come from the coast¬

al districts of Coromandel and Malabar* Many are found in the plantation

areas of Deli as coolies, car drivers, cattlemen, etc., owing to their

fine physique, these so-called Klings *.. are engaged as night-w^atchuen

on the plantations. In Ja.va they are mostly smaller shop-keepers. They

are conspicuous owing to their height, heavy grov^th of beard and large

turbans,”2 This reference to height and growth of beard suggests that

there is a Sikh element in the Indian population,

VI. INDIANS IN CHINA

A, Population Statistics

The principal Indian colonies in China are in Shanghai and Hong¬

kong, Indians in Hongkong numbered 4,745,^ These included the troops

which formed part of the garrison, the Sikh contingent of the police,

and a few mercL.uits and clerks,'^ According to the 1921 census of

Hongkong, about 85 percent of the adult male Indians were employed as

police or vvatchraen, or in various government departments. Most of the

Indians were Punjabis or natives of the North V/est Frontier Province,

1 Radhakamal Mukerjee, Indian and Chinese habour in the iigricult^^re of

South East Asia, Modern Review, December 1933, p, 670
2 op, pit., p, 61
3 "International Labor Office, Studios and Reports, Series 0, No, 6,
V/orld Statistics of Aliens, p. 124
4 Lennox A, Mills, British nule in Eastern Asia, London, 1942, p. 388
 1

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 33 -

In 1930 there were 1,842 Indians living in Shanghai.^ "Practically all

of these Indians were brought to Shanghai originally as policemen,,,

but after completing their term of enlistment, many remained liore to

engage in business or professional activities."2 por the most part the

Indians of Shanghai are Sikhs,

B. Indians in China and Indian Nationalism

Indians in China have taken an active interest in Indian political

affairs for many years. Before the last war, in both Hongkong and

Shanghai there were Ghadr (revolution) societies, affiliated with similar

orgo.nizations on the west coast of the United States and elsewhere, 3

which conspired for the overthrow^ of the British government in India,

A number of Indians,in Hongkong and Shanghai were involved in the

Komogatu Maru affair in 1914. In order to test Canadian immigration

lai/vs which made it practically impossible for Indian immigrants in

Canada to bo joined by their wives and children, and also to "embarrass

the British government by compelling it either to interfere with Canada’s

iiTimigration policy or to suffer a furtlxer loss of popularity in India.

A Japanese vessel, the Komogatu Llaru, was chartered by a Sikh named

Gurudutt Singh, a man prominent in the Far Fast. The ship sailed from

Ifongkong to Canada with 351 Sikhs and 21 Punjabi Muslims recruited at

1 All About Shanghai, 1934-35 edition, Shanghai 1934, gives the 1930
Census figure,
2 China b'eekly Review, 6 July 1929
3 cf. Sir Michael 0^Dwyer, India as _I Knevj It. London, 1925, p. 193
4 W. R, Smith, Nationalism and Refo'rm in India, New Haven, 1933, p. 79
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Hongkong, Shanghai, Moji and Yokoheuna, The great majority of the

passengers were not permitted to land in Canada, During the return

trip war broke out and for various reasons the passengers were not

allowed to land at the ports of embarkation but were taken to Budge

Budge in Bengal, These men formed the nucleus of the agitation in

the Punjab which lasted during the v;ar and for several years after.

Other conspirators arrived shortly after the Komogatu Maru, and these

also v/ere for the most part Sikhs from America, Japan, Manila and

Sh:uighai who had been in touch with German agents en route to India,^

The disturbances in the Punjab which those men helped to further were

for a time directed by Rash Behari Eose,^

From 1920 to 1940 Indian political development in China was in¬

fluenced by two separate organizations, the Indian National Congress

and the Chinese Kuomintang Party, Reliance on methods of terrorism

viras modified by the Congress policy of passive resistance, and the

growing strength of the Congress in India encouraged increased

activity among the Indians in China. At the sam.e tine the development

of nationalism in China proved an inspiration to the Indian group.

To a certain extent the Comjaunists also played a part, but their in¬

fluence on the Indians in CPiina does not appear to have been very great

at any time, and was probably much less after the break occurred be¬

tween Chiiiing Kai-shek and the Chinese Communists,

1 cf. Sir Michael O’Dwyer, India as I Knew It, London, 1925, p. 195
2 see p, 45
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 - 35 -

C. Indian Organizations

In 1927 soiTie Chinese members of the Kuomintang, some Koreans, a

few Filipinos, some Japanese "proletarians” and a number of Indians

formed the Eastern Oppressed Peoples^ Association.^ The organization

was formed originally when the radical section of the Kuomintang v^ras

in power, and its headquarters v/er.e in Hankow, Later on these v/ere

moved to Nanking, and the organization remained under the protection

of the Kuomintang party. It has been said that Jawaharlal Nehru

sponsored the establishment of the Eastern Oppressed Peoples’ as-'

sociation,^ It is possible that the idea v«ras conceived at the

Brussels Congress of Oppressed Nationalities at which Nehru "was present,

and in which the leftist members of the Piuomintang played an active

part.

The Indian section of the Eastern Oppressed Peoples’ Association

in Nanking published for some years a bi-Vveekly called Ghadar Dhandora

(Declaration of Revolution).

In line vdth the sympathy expressed by the All India Congress

Committee for China in her struggle for freedom, and the Coirimittee’s

condemnation in 1927 of the action of the Government of India in send¬

ing Indian troops to China, and the demand for their withdrawal^ the

1 China Weekly Review, 6 July 1929

2 K.M. Pannikar, The Future of South-East Asia, London, 1945, p, 79
3 B. Pattabhi Sitar^nayya, ~Tho History of tho Congress. Allahabad,
1935, p. 530
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Indians in China engaged in propaganda among the Indian troops stationed

at Shanghai, These troops on their way to China, had been subjected

to propaganda to the effect that Indian temples ixi China were being

destroyed, women violated, etc. ’’But they were met, almost at the dock,

by certain men of their own nationality, v/ho v/ere working for the cause

of Indian freedom among the large groups of Indian police and watchmen

already in Shanghai....The reaction of the troops when they discovered

the untruth of the stories which had been circulated araong them was

great.As a result, these troops had to be sent back to Hongkong,

Later two more battalions, Punjabis v/ho spoke a different dialect from

that of the Indian nationalist v/orkers in Shanghai arrived, but these

too v/ere infected with syinpathy for the Chinese cause. Expenses of the

Indian organization are alleged to have been paid by donations from

Chinese friends and members of the Kuonintang, On the whole, the

Indians in Shanghai v;ere too poor to contribute large sums to the move¬

ment, though they gave what they could afford,^

It has been stated that there v/ere tv/o groups of Indian agitators

in Shanghai at this time. One group believed in "the passive resistance

policy of Mahatma Gandhi, their leader," vhile the second group consisted

of Communists "v;orking for the complete overthro^v of British rule in

India and its members are fanatical believers in the most radical measures »»3

1 China IPeekly Review, 6 August 1927

2 cf. loc. cit.
3 loc. cit.
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Gujjan Singh, Daswanda Singh, and Gainda Singh v/ere raembers of this

Communist group* An Indian, M. N. Roy, was in Cnina at this time as a

delegate of the Communist International, It is not knovm, hov/ever,

whether or not he played any active role in the Indian organizations;

certainly during this period he was more concerned with developments

in China than in India,

Harchan Singh, an Indian nationalist of Shanghai and a member

of the Eastern Oppressed Peoples’ Association, v/ho had taken part in

the propagandist activities referred to above, v/as murdered in 1929,

Shortly before his d^ath he had compiled a list of Indians in Shanghai

who were alleged to be in the employ of the British Indian Secret

Service,! Five Indians, also members of the Eastern Oppressed Peoples’

Association were charged with his murder. These vigj'o Norang Singh, Sadku

Singh, Mewa Singh, and Karm Singh,^ They were acquitted of the charge

of murder but shortly after rearrested on charges of sedition, and were

given jail sentences to be followed by deportation,^ About this time

five other Indians, also Sikhs, Ishar Singh, Indar Singh, Hakim Singh,

Asa Singh, and Narain Singh were arrested on charges of sedition. They

were accused of reading aloud in a Sikh temple in Chapei nationalist

papers received from Inhio., This temple had been closed in 1927 by

the British authorities "on the grounds that the promises were being

1 op. cit,, 4 liay 1929

2 ^it., 18 May 1929
3 op, cit,, 6 July 1929
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used for Bolshevik propaganda,”^ but it was reopened in 1928. The

seditionists in question were sentenced to prison with hard labor

and later deported,2

In 1930, while civil disobedience was in progress in India there

W'ero a number of other arrests on charges of sedition among the Indians

of China, The Indian Youth League of China issued several manifestos

condemning British rule and calling upon all Indians to fight for a

free Asia,^ In June 1930 the British police raided the League head¬

quarters and made tv/o arrests. In July of the same year Zapuran

Singh distributed pamphlets printed in English and Chinese and pub¬

lished by the E.0,P,A, lie was sentenced to two months hard labor

and deportation.'^

The Indian Youth League which had its headquarters in Chapel

had "some kind of agreement with the Kuomintang and Bureau of Public

Safety,"^ which enabled it to hold meetings o.nd carry on political

activity. The leaders were young -v/orking men who were literate and

intelligent. They kept in touch with events in India and informed

their countrymen in Shanghai by means of leaflets, magazines and

pamphlets as well as public meetings, Chanan Singh and Kartar Singh,

leading members of the League, and Surjan Singh were arrested in

1 op, cit,, 21 April 1928

2 cit,, 18 May 1929
3 op, cTt,, 17 and 31 May 1930
4 cit,, 26 July 1930
5 cit., 10 January 1931
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December 1930. All vvere tried for sedition, and tivo of the men v/ero

sentenced to imprisonment and deportation,^

The instances cited above are probably only a fev/ of raany such

cases of friction between the Indians and the British in China. They

are, hov/ever, indicative of the degree to which the Indians were

organized and of the enthusiasm felt there for the cause of national¬

ism of India,

VII. INDIANS IH J.IPAU

A, Indian Population of Japan

According to the Japan Year Book for 1938-592 there were 874

Indians resident in Japan, Of these, 670 were males. For the most

part the Indian group consisted of businessmen and students, located

chiefly in the largo cities, Tokyo, Kobe, Yokohama, w-ith a few in

Osaka,

B, Indian Revolutionaries of Japan

Japan has for many years been a refuge for Indian patriots of

various hues. After the Russo-Japanese w’ar, Indians generally regarded

Japan with admiration and respect, and to a great extent looked to

Japan as the leader of Asia, At the sarae tiiiie certain groups in

Japan pursued the policy of actively encouraging revolutionary tend¬

encies in Asiatic countries, especially those under Zuropean domination.

y
1 loc. cit.
2 Tokyo, 1939

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 - 40 -

The story of the Indian nationalist movonent in Japan is a

sunnary of the life histories of a small nuiaber of Indian revolution¬

aries who used their contacts with the Japanese to further tlieir

omi, and what they believed to be their country's, ends. In the

background of this Indian movement stands Mitsuru Toyama, the power

behind almost all the Japanese patriotic societies. It is not to

be doubted that Toyama conspired with these Indians, extended to them

his patronage and protection, and used them for his own ends..

1. Maulvi Mohammed Br.rkatulla

Maulvi Mohammed Barkatulla was one of the earliest Indian

revolutionaries vjith contacts in Japan, Ho v/as born in Bhopal in

1868 and educated in Bombay and London. He become a strong advocate

of Pan-Islamism and extremely anti-British. In 1909 he wns appointed

to the chair of Hindustani in Tokyo Foreign Language School, and while

in Japan he founded a paper called Islamic Fraternity, which he

edited for some years. In 1911 he traveled for a time in Europe,

visiting Cairo, Constantinople, St. Petersburg and Paris, v/here he

came into contact with Krishnavarma, one of the best knovm Indian

exiles of that period. On his return to Japan "the tone of his

paper became so anti-British that it v/as suppressed by the Jap'mese

Government in 1912, Early in 1914 he was deprived of his appoint¬

ment in Tokio.,."^ From Japan, Barkatulla v/ent to the United States,

1 Sir Michael 0’DT.’.ryer, India as I Knew It, London, 1925, p. 186

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There he joined forces with Har Dayal v/ho had, a few years previously,

founded the Ghadr (revolution) Party anong Indian iimaigrants settled

on the West Coast, In March 1914 Har Dayal was arrested by the United

States Government and ivas about to be deported as an undesirable alien

when he, together with Barkatulla, fled to Switzerland, The outbreak

of the war found these t^vo in Gemany, In Berlin, Har Dayal and

Barkatulla, with Chattopadyaya and Pillai, well-knovm Indian sedition-

ists, directed the activities of the Ihdian Revolutionary Society,

and conspired with the aid of Germany to overthrow the British

Government in India, In 1915 Barkatulla and Raja Mahendra Pratap^

went to Kabul, where they formed tho Provisional Indian Governiaent,

During tlie war this ’’government” "continued to encourage seditious

agitation in India and hostile action by the frontier tribes,...

After tho war...it threw all its influence into promoting the rebellious

outbreaks in India in April 1919,"^

In 1927 Barkatulla rex3rosented the Hindustan Ghadr Party at the

Brussels Congress against Imperialism, and later in the same year,

he died in San Francisco.

2, Hariharnath Thulal-Atal

Hariharnath Thulal Atal v/as another Indian who sent to Japan

in the early days of the twentieth century. Like Barkatulla ho

held the chair of Hindustani in Tokyo Foreign Language School. In

1 see p, 42
2 op, cit,, p. 181
r

- 42 -

1914 the Department of Education, according to report, wanted to re-

nevf his contract, but the British authorities would not permit it.d

Atal stayed on in Japan but the British began to "harass hira in every

way", 2 and finally in 1921 he coraitted suicide,

A memorial ceremony, arranged by Rash Behari Bose, was held in

Tokyo, 14 June 1931, in honor of Barkatulla, Atal and Vikramratne*

The last of these three lived in Tokyo for a few years v/here he worked

with Bose "for the cause of Indian freedom,"^ He died in Ceylon in

1928.

3. Raja Maliendra Pratap

One of the most interesting, and certainly the most picturesque

of all the Indians in Japan is Raja Mahondra Pratap, a native of the

United Provinces and formerly a wealthy landowner, Hiether or not

he played any part in the seditious movements of the period in India

is uncertain. Ho is said to have founded Erindaban National University,

of which he became President, and to have been the o'vvner of a news¬

paper Narmalsewak. At the outbreak of tlie war in 1914, ho wont to

Europe and came under the influence of Har Dayal. Through him, Pratap

had an interviev/ with the Kaiser, who, "impressed with a megalomania

akin to his ovn",'^ sent Pratap with Barkatulla to Kabul, He became

a citizen of Afghanistan and continued to live there for some years,

1 cf. Voice of India, 15 July 1931

2 loc. ci^
3 loc. cit,
4 Sir Michael O’Dv/yer, India as I Knew It, London, 1925, p. 177
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 In 1925 Pratap, acconpaniGd by Dasvmnda Singh, a student at

California University, started out for Tibet and Nepal to see whether

they "could do any service to India from these countries,"^ "Indian

friends in California," probably members of the Ghadr organization,

collected money to pay the expenses of the trip, A member of the

Kuomintang party went along as interpreter and Charan Singh seems

to have been a member of the group. To the various Chinese generals

Pratap met along the way, he presented a copy of his book. The

Religion of Love. Shortly after this, in 1926, he went to Japan,

but for some reason he was not permitted to reAain there. It has

been suggested that the British autliorities objected to his presence

in Japan, and he returned to Afghanistan, He had, according to his

own account, "no political ambition for the time being,

About 1930 he was sent by the Government of Afghanistan on an

economic "mission" to America and on his way home, he stopped in

Japan, From there ho went to Vladivostok where he was informed by

the Soviet authorities that he could not proceed further. On his

return to Japan, he learned that the Afghan government did not v/ant

him in the country for the time being; Pratap declared himself at a

loss to explain this,^ He seems to have gone to Peiping shortly after

this, where he published a monthly called World Federation, and busied

1 Modern Review, Vol. 45, 1929, p, 589. Article by Raja Mahendra

Pratap^ In China.
2 loc. pit.
3 cf7 Voice of India, 15 July 1931
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 - 44 -

himself collecting |1,000 for a building to serve as a permanent office

for l/orld Federation. Early in 1933 he returned to Japan, The Voice

of India, organ of the Indian Nationalist group in Japan, published

a statement by Pratap who signed himself The Servant of Mankind, and

announced that he had temporarily closed his Peiping office. He

stated that if Japan would realize that the British Empire was work¬

ing for Japan’s destruction, Japan could come to dominate Asia*^

PAien the Pan-Asiatic Congress was held in Dairen in 1934, Pratap

attended it. He proceeded to Canton where he tried to organize an

Oppressed Oriental Races Eraancipation Society, ^ but ho was arrested

by the Canton government authorities and deported to Shanghai. He

was again arrested in Shanghai, but ’’friends'* secured his release,^

The China, ■n'eekly Review reported that "It is understood that the

Afghan is !:an leader is in Shanghai on some mission on behalf of the

Japanese.According to the Japan Meekly Chronicle, Pratap spent

his time addressing the Sikh police. On his return to Japan Pratap

set out to visit Siam. In 1935 he again visited the United States.

It was said that his reception was rather cold and that he found the

"atmosphere not suitable for his message.’’®

1 op, cit,, 15 March 1933

2 "^ina ^'"eekly Review, 7 April 1934
3 Voice of India, August 1934
4 7 Ap'riT"1934
5 5 April 1934
6 Voice of India. October 1935
 - 45 -

Pratap has never been one of the most influential Indians in

Japan, As far as is kno^vn he has never held office in any of the

numerous Indian organizations, and he seems never to have worked in

close collaboration with Rash Behari Bose, Ideas of T’orld Federation

and Pan-Asianiara have been obviously more appealing to hira than the

narrow cause of Indian freedom. He is not at present an important

figure, and is said to be regarded as a crank by his fellow Indians,

although a fev; of the Indian students in Japan have become his disciples,

A recent report suggests that Pratap has not been able to reconcile

Japanese imperialism with his ideas of world federation. It has been

stated that he refused, "though pressed hard to do so," to attend the

Japanese-sponsored Bangkok Conference in June 1942,^

4. Rash Behari Bose

T.Ue most prominent Indian in Japan today is Rash Behari Bose,

He was born in Bengal in 1886 and educated in Calcutta, For a time

he was employed as a clerk in the Forest Research Institute, but

while still a young man he became involved in the Indian revolutionary

movement, in which Bengalis played so large a part. In 1910-11 he

came under the influence of Har Dayal, who had recently returned from

Europe and after Har Dayal went to 7\merica in 1911, Bose became one

of the leaders of the movement. He was probably one of those re¬

sponsible for the attack on the Viceroy of India in 1912. From 1912-

15 he directed terrorist activities in the Punjab, but when a number

of the ringleaders were arrested, Bose fled to Japan, The Japanese

1 Amrita Bazar Patrika, 29 May

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Government ordered him to be deported, but he was protected by Mitsuru

Toyama, and to avoid further trouble he took out Japanese citizenship

papers. He married the daughter of a Japanese who kept a restaurant

and eventually succeeded to the business.

The Japanese TJho* s liTho for 1937 lists him as a journalist,

lecturer, author and correspondent of Indian newspapers. This account

is probably somewhat flattering. His reputation as a journalist rests

chiefly upon the fact that from time to time he has written articles

for several newspapers, among them the Calcutta Forward, He claims

authorship of several books in Japanese on the Indian nationalist

movement, but it is doubtful whether he has written them himself,

Bose is said to be politically honest and scrupulous, and sincere

in his efforts to v/in freedom for India, According to reports he is

equally ccrvjncod that this can be obtained with Japanese aid. Asked

in 1933 why he did not return to India, he replied that he would come

at the head of armed forces which would enter India by way of Assam,

He is said to have Communist leanings and to have had contacts with

the Soviet Embassy in Tokyo.

5, Anand Mohan Sahay

Anand klohan Sahay is one of the few Indians in Japan who were

over closely connected with the Indian National Congress, ^e was born

in 1898, the son of a landlord in Bhagalpore in the province of Bihar,

and was educated a+-. Patna University, where he studied medicine, Wien

the Congress ur-ged students to boycott government institutions, he gave

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up his work at the University and joined the independence movement.

He worked actively with the Bihar Provincial Congress Committee, In

1923 he set out for America via Japan, to study medicine, but decided

to settle in Japan to "work for the promotion of Indo-Japanese friend¬

ship and dissemination of correct information regarding India in

Japan,

Since that time he has remained in Japan, According to his

biography in the Japanese Tho^s Who for 1937 he is journalist, writer,

educator, teacher and lecturer on India, Japan, Asia, and international

problems. He was also for some time professor at Kobe Foreign Language

School, Sahay is said to be completely unscrupulous, dishonest and

insincere in political matters. One informant (name ^vithheld) believes

he could be bought by anyone prepared to pay the price of securing

his suppo.' .o 'ihe same source accuses him of extorting funds from

Indian merchants to support himself and his various enterprises, Sahay

and Bose are extremely jealous of one another and continually at logger-

heads, Sahay is probably the cleverer of the two men,

C, Indian Organizations in Japan.

One of the earliest Indian organizations in Japan was the Indo-

Japanese Association, founded in Tokyo about 1905 by the Rev, Dharmapala

and Mr. Sakurai, Viscount Nagaoka was the first president and was

succeeded by Marquis Okuma,^ Valentine Chirol, vj'riting in 1910,

1 ■'yifho’s Yftio in Japan, 1937

2 Young East, Vol. 1, No. 4, September 1925, p. 134
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stated that this society had "no connection with politics and the

Indians claim that it is run for the benefit of the Japanese rather

tlian for theirs. Those v/ho have joined it in the hope of using it as

a base for anti-British operations have certainly got very little for

their pains. They occasionally ivrite papers for the very fev>r socialist

papers of Japan, but their effective contribution to the cause is of

trifling account,"^ By 1937 this organization had no Indian members,

and during the previous decade its main activity was the development

of economic relations between India and Japan,^

The Indian National Congress Committee of Japan was organized

in 1928, with its headquarters in Kobe, A,M, Sahay v/as one of the

loaders of the Committee and retained control over it,^ D,P,

Mahabubani of Nobe was a delegate at the annual session of the Indian

National Congress in 1928, T}^^ Committee has for some years published

the Voice of India, with A, M, Sahay as editor. Originally the paper

was published in English as a monthly, but was later printed in

Japanese and English and usually appeared every fortnight. Congress

activities in India were well covered, and considerable space v;as

given to the activities of the committee in Japan, In 1931 the

committee opened the India Lodge to accommodate India students study¬

ing in Japan,

It is probably incorrect to assume that the committee had any

close connection with the Indian National Congress, Sahay claimed

1 Indian Unrest,..London, 1910, p. 148

2 Voice "of India, August 1937, p. 15
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that it was recognized by the parent organization in 1929,^ but accord¬

ing to report, Kripalani, the General Secretary of the Indian Congress

wrote to Sahay denying that this was the case, and pointing out the

fact that it was contrary to Congress policy to establish or recognize

branches outside of India.

Other Indian organizations include the Indian National Association

founded about 1930 with branches in Yokohama, Kobe and probably else¬

where; and the Japan-Indian Society of Kansai, established about the

same time. In 1931 Rash Behari Bose organized the Indian Independence

League, which had as its object "the attainment of Independence for

India by all possible means."2 Bose became the first president, and

P. S. Deshpande secretary of the League. The League functioned as a

rival organization to Sahay*s Japanese Congress Committee. The Indo-

Japanese Young Peoples’ Association "I'Vas formed about 1934-35 "to

encourage the study of Indian and Japanese problems."^ The Gandhi

Society of Tokyo, a small and poorly organized group, seems to have

been chiefly interested in economic relations between India and Japan.

It is said to have been ideologically opposed to Gandhi and scornful

of the doctrine of non-violence.

There were in addition to these, various Indian social and

business organizations, such as the Indian Social Society, and the

Indian Merchants Association.

1 Voice of India, December 1935

2 Voice ^ India, 15 September 1931
3 op. 'cit7, July-August 1935
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 Vila::.. iraiAN NATIONAL CONGRESS .U^D INDIANS OVERSEAS

The general attitude of the Indian National Congress to Indians

abroad is best summed up in a resolution passed by the Congress at its

annual session in 1936, "The Congress sends greetings to our fellow-

countrymen overseas and its assurances of sympathy and help in their

distressful condition and in the continuing deterioration in their

status in the territories in which they have settled. The Congress is

ready and willing to take all action within its power to ameliorate

their condition, but desires to point out that a radical amelioration

in their status must ultimately depend on the attainment by India of

Independence and the power effectively to protect her nationals

abroad.’*^ Except for numerous resolutions, dating from the early days

of the Congress, which did little more than express s^-npathy with

the plight of Indians overseas, interest on the part of Congress in

their problems has been slight. This is especially true of Indians

in Southeast Asia. Gandhi’s early connections with South Africa,

where Indians are settled in large numbers, has tended to focus

attention on that area, while Indians in Southeast Asia, except in

times of crisis such as the riots in Burma or the severe economic

depression in Malaya, have been more or less ignored.

The Indian National Congress has never to any extent developed

contacts with Indians abroad for political purposes. The Congress

1 Dharam Yash Dev, Our Countrymen Abroad, Allahabad, 1940, p, 90

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 - 51 -

?/orking Conmittee in 1936 passed a resolution advocating the establish¬

ment of a foreign department "with a view to creating and maintaining

contacts with Indians overseas and v/ith international labor and other

organizations abroad with whom cooperation is possible and is likely

to help in the cause of Indian freedom."^ This department, however,

was not very active and beyond issuing a circular to Indians overseas

inviting them to keep in touch with the Congress, and printing a short

pamphlet on Indians abroad, did very little to fulfill its expressed

function. The unofficial visit of Jawaharlal Nehru to Burma and

Malaya in 1937 probably served to arouse the interest of Indians in

these countries in the National Congress, but there seems to have been

no attempt to follow this up with propaganda or definite programs.

Sometime before 1940 the Congress opened a department of Indians

overseas, and published a pamphlet entitled "Our Countrymen Abroad,"

This vms chiefly to inform the Indian people regarding conditions of

Indians overseas, and to awaken interest in their problems. Perhaps,

had the war not intervened, more active contacts with Indians overseas

would have been instituted.

1 Modern Review, April 1936, p, 465

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 - 52 .

APPENDICES

I. INDIANS IN BURMA

Delegates from Rangoon to the Conference of Representatives of the

IIL at Bangkok June 1942,^

Bannerjea, N. K.
Buckle Balam, J, K.
Chakravarti, N,
Chanda
Desai, T. 0,
Ginwaila, A.
Khan, Sheriff
Khan, Yakoob
Lathia, L. E,
Mehta, C. P.
Pillai, E. pounuswami
Raudry
Row, N.
Sattar, A,
Shaftee, Mohamed
Singh; Chatar
Singhf Lachman
Taffar^ Mohamed

Notes on Indians in Burma

Gani, A. M. A. Karim: Editor of Tamil weeklies, Jauhar, Alhilal and

Sooryan, Secretary, Young Chulia Muslim
League. In 1931 elected President All Burma
south Indian Association, Elected to legis¬
lative council in 1932; House of Representatives
in 1936. Vice-President All Burma Muslim
League in 1937. In 1940 became editor and
publisher of Burma newspaper Do-Daung Lan. After
Japanese occupation became Chairman' of Burma
District Committee of IIL, and was delegate to
conference at Bangkok.2

1 Bangkok Times, 12 June 1942

2 Government of Burma, Burma Handbook Simla 1943, p. 116
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 - 53

Lathia, L, B.: , Editor of Burma Oriya Patrika (Oriya weekly)

and The Daily Gujerati, both pro-Congress
newspaper^^

Mahmood, Sultan (Sultan Mohamad, Sultan Vakil): Born in Akyab, educated

in Calcutta, Lower grade pleader in Akyab.
Elected to House of Representatives for Akyab
(Indian) constituency. ParliaPiientary Secretary
in Ba Maw, U Pu and U Saw Ministries, /ifter
Japanese invasion joined IIL and went to
Conference at Bangkok, Organized branch of
league at Akyab.^

Pillay, E, Pounuswami: Labor leader. At one time member of Legislative

Council; Government of Buimia awarded him the
T.P.S., an order usually given only to Burmans,
for his vj-ork in the cause of humanity.^

1 op. cit., p. 118

2 Bangkok Times, 26 June 1942
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 - 57

III. SOME PROMINENT IITDIANS IN IMLAYA

Aiycr, K. A. Neelakandha: Secretary in 1938 of the Central Indian

Association of Malaya,

Aiyer, R, V,: Editor of The Indian, an English weekly

published at Kuala Lumpur. ^

Cader, H. H. Abdul; '’...born in Surat, Bombay Presidency in 1890

and is the eldest son of a ... well-known
merchant of Penang, After being educated
in Surat and afterwards at Raffles School,
Singapore and the Free School, Penang
proceeded to England in ... 1905 and joined
the Country High School, Ilford. He
matriculated there in 1903 and later he
joined Lincoln’s Irm and Christ’s college,
Cambridge University and took up Law Tripos,
lie was called to the Bar in 1912 and had
the honor of being presented to His Majesty
King George V on March 11th 1912,
”He returned to Penang in April 1912 and
was admitted to the Straits Settlements Bar
in ... the same year and to the F,M.S. Bar
in 1915. Since then he is practising in
Penang, He is the President of the United
Indian Association, Penang and he is a
representative of the Indian community on
the Municipal commission, Penang since ..,
1925 .... He has travelled extensively on
the continent and in India...
"Appointed member of the Legislative
Council of the Straits Settlements 23rd
July, 1928," 2
In 1929 he was President of the third all
Malayan Indian conference which met at
Singapore. 3

Chandran, L, R,: Member of Central Indian Association, ^

1 Indian Review, March 1936, p. 208

2 Modern Review, September 1928, p. 345
3 Op, c i t., Feb^ruary 1932, p. 202
4 Tndian Review, March 1939, p. 184
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 58

Jummubhoy, R,; Leading Indian businessman of Singapore.^

Menon, N. K.; President of fourth All Malayan Indian

Conference held in 1931 at Teluk iVnson,
Member of Indian Immigration Committee, ^

Narayan, K. A.: General Secretary of All Malayan Indian

Conference, Vice-president of Selangor
Indian vissociation. e

Pillai, V. N.: Justice of the Peace in Penang. Member of

Indian Immigration Committee, Founder of
various Indian organizations in Penang,
Chairman of Indian Unemployment Committee
in 1932. ^

Raghavan, N.; President of Indian Association, Penang in

1938. ^ Born in Cochin, Educated at a
Christian college in Madras. Studied La-w¬
in England and -went to Penang as a lawyer
in 1928, One of the Organizers of the
Central Indian Association of Malaya, "In
politics Mr. Raghavan is a staunch follower
of Maha-fcma Gandhi and the Indian National
Congress and he has always maintained con¬
tact vvith Indian nationalist Leaders," ^

Sharma, S. M.: Member of the Central Indian Association.

Soosay, A. M.: President of the Central Indian Association

in 1938. 8

Veerasaniy, S,: Well-laiovm Indian lav/yer in Malaya, and one

of the founders of the All-Malayan ■^'‘ational
Congress, Represented Indian community on
the Federal Council in 1931.^ President of
Selangor Indian Association, Kuala Lumpur,

1 Modern Review, February 1932, p, 202

2 Modern Review, February 1932, p. 202
3 Loc. cit.
4 Loc. cit., p. 676
5 Indian Review, January 1938, p. 47
6 Bangkok Times, 18 June 1942
7 Indian Review, March 1939, p. 184
8 Loc. cit., October 1938, p, 666
9 Incrian R'eview, February 1931, p. 110
10 op, cit., November 1936, p, 696
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 - 59

Members of the I XL of Malaya ^

The following were delegates to the conference of representatives of

IIL at Bangkok, June 1942:

/ihiTied, Major Aziz Menon, K. P. K.

Cader, Janab H. H. Abdul Nawaz, Havildar Rab
Chan, Major Prakash Pattanayek, Capt,
Chon, Havildar Tara Pillai, Sri ?. K. (?)
Chatterjee, Lt. Col* Raghavan, N,
Chopra, S. N. Habib-ur-Rahaman, Capt.
Dalai, P. M. Raju, Major D. S.
Das, B. K. Ram, Lt. Babu
Ditta, Capt. Allah Ramchandran, M. K.
Gillani, Lt. €ol. G. Q. Seshan, Sri K.
Jahangir, Cap. D. D. Shamugfim, Sri S.
Khan, Janab i\mir i*iohd. Singh, Lieut. Amar
Kahn, Capt. Mumtaz " Hardat
Kiani, Capt. J. J, " Dr ^ Jagat
Kundanlal '* Capt. Mohan
Lakshmeyeb, M. K. " Capt. Dhian
Logananda, Lt. Col. A. D. " Liout. Kishan
Mallal, Bashir " Lieut. Paran
Mailick, Capt. S. A. " Sai-dar Badh
Mazumdar, D. K. " 2nd Lieut. Rattan
Thivy, J. A.

State Branch President Membership

Kedah Alor Star Bhagwan Singh 1000

Pattani V. M. Kader 200
Kulim Hamir Singh 500

Perak Taiping Jal Manek Shah 1000

Kuala Kangsar Lalsingh 1000
Ipoh B. K. Das 5000

1 Bangkok Times, 13 June 1942

2 Bangkok Times, 27 March 1942
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 60 -
IIL in Malaya - Cont’d.
Total
State Branch President Membership

Selangor Kuala Lumpur Dr. Lakhshimya 40,000

Kajang Zakariah 2,000
Klang Lachmanan ?

Negri Sembilan Seramban Dr, Mazumdar 800

Malacca Mr. Shanraugar Pillai no report

Penang Mr. Raghwan 7,000

Singapore Ml'. Goho expected 50,000

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 q^smcAiioN oECLAssmeo
eEE EXCHANGE & GIET 0l¥i? « . ^
) DECLASSIFICATION FILE f /

U.
/Office of Strategic Service R & A 1595S
Rearch & Analysis Branch B» December 1944

Bate
Japanese Organization of Indian Minorities in East Asia

The Japanese conquerors of East Asia have turned the twin instru¬
ments of power and propaganda to the organization of Indian Independ¬
ence Leagues among the Indian minorities of each country. This policy,
which has served to consolidate the Japanese political position in occu¬
pied areas, is part of a program designed to exploit what they consider
the greatest vulnerability of the Western powers in the Far East — anti-
British feeling.

Japanese anti-British propaganda, with its slogan of “Asia for the

Asiatics,” and the policy of singling out the Indian communities for more
favorable treatment, undoubtedly carried considerable appeal to Indians
in East Asia. The Leagues set up were strengthened by deliberate avoid¬
ance of all communal (religious group) issues that might divide their
ranks.jSince the Russo-Japanese war of 1904, furthermore, Japan has
enjoyed increasing prestige as the one Asiatic nation able to establish
herself as an independent equal of the Western powers. In the early years
of World War II, Japan appeared to have established herself even more
firmly in East Asia, and Britain’s defeat in India may have seemed a
matter of months. Expediency demanded that the Indians cooperate with
the Japanese.

Only a few of the Indian Independence Leagues were based on pre¬

war nationalist organizations in East Asia. Many more were established
by the Japanese special intelligence service {Hikari Kikan), which is en¬
trusted with organizing fifth-column activities by minority groups in oc¬
cupied areas, and which moved into each country in the wake of the
Army. Even by June 1942, a conference of League representatives in
Bangkok claimed a large membership for each country.

In several areas of East Asia the Independence Leagues have large

Indian populations upon which to draw for membership. Indians are
most numerous in Burma and Malaya, where they form a considerable
portion of the laboring class. In Thailand and Indochina, on the other
hand, they are a small, compact merchant community. The few Indians
in China are for the most part former members of the British police force
or army who remained in Hongkong or Shanghai when their term of
service was completed. Both China and Thailand had a number of Indian
political exiles and nationalists. In Japan a small group of Indian mer¬
chants, students, and exiled Indian patriots settled in the principal cities.
Most of the Indians in East Asia are immigrants who return after a period
to the country of their might be expected to be con¬
cerned with the fate of
F.A.C. File No.
■ 11 I
yf- C0;\GRESS MAY 1^1962
tn
PUBL B/7yo_
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1
V
iil-Ltl'4-f

Burma
6

d Before the Japanese invasion, the main concern of Burman Indian

JT organizations was the protection of the social and economic status of
Indians in Burma itself. But since the arrival of Subhas Chandra Bose
and the development in 1944 of his Japanese-sponsored campaign for
Indian independence, Burma has become the headquarters of his move¬
ment.
Until 1937, when it became a separate British Crown Colony, Burma
was politically part of India. At the time of the Japanese invasion, it
had over half a million Indians, the largest group of Indians in East
Asia outside of India itself. By far the greater part of the Indians
belong to the laboring class, but a small group was engaged in adminis¬
trative and professional work. A large number of Indian merchants had
heavy financial stakes in the country, which they had accumulated
through their money-lending and rice-selling activities. Although many
of these escaped back to India, they left representatives to protect their
interests and provided Bose’s movement with a source of funds.
The Burmese are openly hostile toward the Indians, and consider
them a menace to Burma’s national and economic life, and even to the
Buddhist religion. The Indians themselves have long been conscious
of being a racial minority and are jealous of their status as a separate
political group. As early as 1922, Indians had formed a separate electorate
which, under British auspices, was incorporated into the present con¬
stitution in the face of Burman opposition. Most of the educated Indians
in Burma sympathized with the aims of the Indian National Congress.
The imported laborers who formed the bulk of the Indian population
were largely recruited from the northeastern provinces and were politi¬
cally inactive before the war. However, Indian National Congress propa¬
ganda may have influenced them to a certain extent while they were
still in India.
In 1942 the Japanese organized an Indian Independence League in
Burma. The Indians showed little enthusiasm, however, until Subhas
Chandra Bose arrived in 1943 to assume leadership of the League and
to organize the Indian National Army. Bose was popular partly because
many of the Indians had originally come from Bengal, the province
where Bose had his largest following.
At the time of the farthest Japanese military advance into India in
the spring of 1944 Bose actually succeeded in establishing a Japanese-
supported “Indian Provisional Government” on Indian soil. Although
Bose’s forces were driven back with the Japanese, Burma continues to be
the front line of Indian Independence League activity in support of the
Japanese military effort.
iD
Malaya
For the most part, Indians in Malaya, forming over twelve percent
of the total population, are still more concerned with advancing their t-/
political and economic position in the country of their adoption than

2
 I

I
in working for the independence of India. These Indians consist chiefly
of Tamils from Southern India who work on isolated plantations or do
menial labor of various types. Their stay in Malaya is short and they
retain strong ties with the homeland. They have no trade unions and
few opportunities to develop a spirit of independence and cooperation,
and are almost completely under the control of their employers. Some
Indians live in the towns and are engaged in business or professional
activities. For the most part they are from northern India and have little
contact with the lower-class Tamils from the South. This northern group
and prisoners of war taken during the Japanese advance have formed the
nucleus of Indian Independence League activity in Malaya.
In almost every urban community in Malaya Indian associations
were established before the war. Their declared object was “to promote
and safeguard the political, social, and economic interests of the Indians
in Malaya,” for neglect of which they criticized the British Government
of Malaya. Indians believe that their status has not been commensurate
with their importance. In addition to poor educational and employment
conditions, they have not been permitted to enter the Malayan Civil
Service, and have not been allowed to vote.
Before the Japanese invasion, the Indians were not actively inter¬
ested in India’s struggle for independence. The masses of the Indian
population took virtually no interest in the political affairs of either
India or Malaya, and although Hindu merchants of Singapore were
mostly loyal to the Indian National Congress, there appears to have been
very little direct contact with the Congress. The Indians in Malaya were
interested mainly in their own economic welfare. Nevertheless, the pre¬
war Indian associations have been useful to the Japanese. Several of
the Indians who were prominent in the old associations are today active
in the Indian Independence leagues. With the arrival of Bose in 1943
Malaya became the headquarters for League activity and a large number
of the training programs for the newly-formed Indian National Army
were located there.

Thailand
The majority of the five to ten thousand Indians in Thailand are
merchants. Although numerous religious or cultural societies existed, it
is doubtful whether more than a few belonged to Indian political organi¬
zations there prior to 1941. As a whole the Indians were not vitally inter¬
ested in political developments in their homeland, and, although
sympathetic with the Congress, they had no local branch in Thailand.
Japan’s invasion of Thailand was probably regarded with appre¬
hension by most Indians, but a few individuals in the community were
ardent nationalists with records of subversive activities and imprison¬
ments in India. The end of 1941 found them eager to take the lead in
organizing their countrymen behind the Japanese program. One of
these was Gianti Pritam Singh, who had been in Thailand since 1933.

3
Another Indian revolutionary in Thailand when Japan entered the war
was Amar Singh. During the last war he engaged in seditious activities
in India and seems to have been involved in one of the various plots to
obtain India’s freedom with German aid. After his release from prison
in India in 1940 he went to Thailand, where he joined forces with Gianti
Pritam Singh. Together they started an anti-British movement in which
they are said to have received help from the Japanese government. These
two men probably formed the nucleus of what later became known as
the Independent League of India. On 9 December 1941, they printed an
appeal in the Bangkok Times asking all patriotic Indians to register their
names and look to Japan to free India.
A third Indian who achieved considerable prominence during the
early days of the war with Japan was Swami Satyananda Puri, one-time
Professor of Philosophy at Calcutta University, who went to Thailand
in 1932. There is no indication that he had any dealings with the Japa¬
nese prior to December 1941, nor does he seem to have been associated
with Amar Singh and Gianti Pritam Singh. But on 22 December 1941
Swami Satyananda published in the Bangkok Times a notice of a meet¬
ing to inaugurate an Indian National Council for the Freedom of India.
For some time the two groups, the Independent League of India and the
Indian National Council for the Freedom of India, continued as separate
organizations. The first appears to have been the more active, and some
of its members achieved a certain amount of success among the soldiers
of the British Indian army in Malaya after December 1941. Gianti Pritam
Singh went to Malaya shortly after its fall and was instrumental in
founding branches of the League there. Towards the end of March 1942
Swami Satyananda Puri and Gianti Pritam Singh were killed in a plane
crash en route to Japan, and in May 1942 the Indian National Council
and the Independent League merged.
However, the Indian community appears to have little enthusiasm
for this Japanese-sponsored organization. The merchants of Thailand are
said to be forced by threat of boycott to become members of the League
and to contribute to its funds. Many of them are becoming Thai citizens
apparently in order to avoid this pressure.

Indochina
In Indochina, where the Indians are a small group with almost
exclusively commercial interests, the Independence League set up by the
Japanese was received with passivity. Most of the Indians, and especially
the Chettiars, or money-lenders, form a wealthy group which controls
a considerable amount of land and trade. Hence they are not particularly
concerned with India’s political future.

China
Many cases of friction between the British and the small, compact
group of Indians in China reveal the degree to which the Indians were

4
/

I
t
1

organized and the enthusiasm they felt for the cause of Indian national¬
ism. A revolutionary movement, dating from the last war, fed by resent¬
ment against the British and influenced by Chinese nationalist activities,
flourished in Shanghai. The roots of this movement lay not in present-
day Indian nationalism wtih its creed of passive resistance and civil-
disobedience, but in the political terrorism of earlier years. Recently,
however, the growing influence of the Indian National Congress has
modified the political attitudes and objectives of this group.
Before the last war, in both Hongkong and Shanghai there were
Chadr (revolution) societies, affiliated with similar organizations on the
west coast of the United States and elsewhere, which conspired for the
overthrow of the British government in India.
The Kuomintang nationalist movement in China proved to be not
only an inspiration to the Indian groups in Hongkong and Shanghai,
but also a source of material assistance. In 1927 the Eastern Oppressed
People’s Association (EOPA) was organized in Hankow by a number of
Kuomintang Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, Japanese, and Indians. Its
headquarters were later moved to Nanking where it functioned under the
protection of the Kuomintang party, and its Indian section was reported¬
ly maintained by donations from Chinese friends and members of the
Kuomintang, because the Indians were too poor to contribute more than
small sums. Another group, the Indian Youth League of China, had an
agreement with the Kuomintang and Bureau of Public Safety, which
enabled it to hold meetings and carry on political activity. In 1930 this
group issued several manifestoes condemning British rule and calling
upon all Indians to fight for a free Asia.
When the Japanese took over Shanghai and Hongkong they organ¬
ized Indian Independence Leagues in both places. Many of the members
in Hongkong were British Indian troops who were put under pressure
either to enroll or be treated as regular prisoners of war. Some of these
were trained by the Japanese to enter India as spies. As politically-
trained Indians in China have long been sympathetic to the Kuomintang
it is not surprising that little enthusiasm for the Japanese-sponsored
Leagues has been reported.

Japan
Japan has a smaller Indian population than any other country in
East Asia. Nevertheless the presence in Japan of a small group of ardent
Indian revolutionaries and refugee patriots, and the fact that they have
received support from the Japanese, made Japan one of the most im¬
portant centers of Indian nationalist activities in East Asia before the
war. Certain Japanese groups pursued the policy of actively encouraging
revolutionary tendencies in Asiatic countries, especially those under
European domination. The late Mitsuru Toyama, the original power
behind Japanese secret patriotic societies and imperialist expansion in
general, extended his patronage and protection. Several associations have

5
 >
*

been devoted to the cause of Indian independence and the degree of

organization for this purpose has surpassed anything achieved in other
countries of East Asia.
The most prominent Indian in Japan today is Rash Behari Bose. He
believes strongly that freedom for India can be obtained only with Japa¬
nese aid. While still a young man he became involved in the Indian revo¬
lutionary movement, and was probably one of those responsible for the
attack on the Viceroy of India in 1912. From 1912-15 he directed terrorist
activities in the Punjab, but when a number of the ringleaders were ar¬
rested, Bose fled to Japan. The Japanese Government ordered him to
be deported, but he was protected by Mitsuru Toyama, and to avoid
further trouble took out Japanese citizenship papers.
In 1931 Bose organized the first Indian Independence League, which
announced as its object “the attainment of Independence for India by
all possible means.” Until the rise to power of Subhas Chandra Bose, in
Burma, the elder Bose was the recognized leader of the network of Indian
Independence Leagues throughout East Asia. In the last year Subhas
Chandra Bose had taken over complete control of the Indian Independ¬
ence League organizations and Rash Behari Bose has apparently retired.
A rival organization to Bose’s Independence League, the Indian
National Congress Committee of Japan, was organized in 1928, with A. M.
Sahay as its leader. For some years it has published the Voice of India,
in which Congress activities in India have been well covered, but the
committee apparently has had no official connection with the Indian
National Congress. Anand Mohan Sahay, the leader, is one of the few
Indians in Japan who, while still in India, were ever closely connected
with the Indian National Congress. In 1923 he settled in Japan to “work
for the promotion of Indo-Japanese friendship and dissemination of cor¬
rect information regarding India in Japan.” The Japanese Who’s Who
for 1937 records him as an educator and writer on India, Japan, Asia,
and international problems. He is said to be completely unscrupulous
and insincere in political matters, and to be continually at odds with
Bose.

6
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