272 HIS MAJESTY’S OPPONENT
We shall carve our way through the enemy’s ranks—or if God wills, we
shall die a martyr’s death. And in our last sleep we shall kiss the road
that will bring our Army to Delhi. The road to Delhi is the road to
Freedom. Chalo Delhi.”^64The INA soldiers were ecstatic to be on Indian soil, and Japanese jour-
nalists reported scenes of jubilation and camaraderie among Indian
and Japanese troops as they closed in on Imphal and Kohima.
“The land of India towards which the Azad Hind Fauj is marching,”
Tojo declared in the Imperial Diet in Tokyo on March 22, “will be
placed completely under the administration of the Free India Provi-
sional Government.” Even though Bose had the support of the top
Japanese leaders in Tokyo, relations with middle- ranking Japanese of fi-
cers were often fraught with tension. At a meeting on March 24, the
two sides met in Rangoon to discuss the formation of joint labor and
supply boards, to meet requirements within India. Bose would not
countenance the idea of any Japanese chairmen of these boards. The
Japanese found him “obstinate” at such meetings; Indians admired the
haughtiness bordering on arrogance that he displayed in dealing with
the Japanese. He told the Japanese that their banks would not be al-
lowed to operate inside India; the Azad Hind government would set up
its own national bank. He discussed the minutest details of the civil
administration with Chatterji, approving laws and ordinances to be
promulgated and checking the worthiness of the personnel being ap-
pointed. He expected the best administrators to be promoted to pro-
vincial governorships, as more Indian territory came under his govern-
ment’s sway. The district and village administrative structures were
described in detail, government departments de fined with precision,
and the relations between different layers of government spelled out.^65
On April 5, 1944, Bose announced the formation of the National
Bank of Azad Hind, much to the chagrin of the Japanese in Burma. An
Indian millionaire in Rangoon, Abdul Habeeb Saheb, donated all his
assets, valued at more than ten million rupees (around $3.03 million);
and Shrimati Betai did much the same, earning the decoration of
Sewak- i- Hind (“Servant of India”).^66 Largely thanks to Netaji’s mes-
merizing oratory, the Azad Hind Bank was able to raise two hundred