now believed, British rule could not survive. It was decided that the
INA should be made an example of, the government holding public trials
for several thousand INA prisoners, detaining without trial a few thousand
more, and arranging a show trial for three INA officers, Shah Nawaz,
Sehgal and Dhillon, at the Red Fort in Delhi. They had, it was argued,
betrayed not only Britain but their own countrymen, against whom
they had fought as part of an advancing Japanese army. But this was
a difficult case to sell to the public at the time. To many people, the INA
were heroes; they had failed, but they had risked their lives for their
country.
This was a strategic blunder by the government, especially given
that it was particularly anxious at the end of the war, anticipating that
another large-scale Congress movement could easily cause large-scale
disruption. They listened with particular alarm to Nehru’s speeches as
he toured the country praising the heroism of the 1942 rebels and martyrs
and denouncing the government’s repression, while criticising the oppor-
tunism of businessmen who had used the war years to make massive profits
instead of supporting the national cause. (Patel and the Congress right
also appealed to 1942 as a legitimating event in their speeches, but made
no references to businessmen as collaborators.) The INA trials potentially
cut across sectarian tendencies: a Muslim, a Hindu and a Sikh were being
put on trial. The symbolism of the Red Fort was also portentous: the seat
of Mughal sovereignty, it was here that the rebels of 1857 had come to
demand of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor, that he accept
leadership of the revolt.
The INA issue forced a response from political groups. For the
Congress, as for the CPI, the INA was not exactly their favoured issue. But
now, in the situation of unrest and anger that accompanied the end of the
war, an issue that seemed to evoke so much popular feeling could not be
ignored. The INA issue made its dutiful way into the Congress’s manifesto
for the 1945–6 elections, although some Congressmen privately admitted
that if the Congress came to power it would also purge the army of the
INA men. Popular politics at times seemed to be in a position to set the
agenda – or rather, elite interpretationsof the ‘people’s will’ could set
agendas. The post-war situation had led to massive cuts in employment
levels as soldiers and auxiliary staff were demobilised across the country.
The anger and bitterness of the Quit India and famine years had not
receded. To this were added further causes for concern by the day. It is
THE END OF THE RAJ 127