278 HIS MAJESTY’S OPPONENT
trols by both sides and to skirmishes when they chanced upon each
other. Bose made a fly ing visit to his rear headquarters in Singapore.
His presence in Malaya provided another spurt in the inflow of funds.
He reviewed the second division of the INA training in north Malayan
camps, and asked them to be ready to move to the front in July or Au-
gust. He paid a visit to the third division being readied in Johore. Since
February, he had been able to free intelligence operations based in
Rangoon and Penang from Japanese interference, which he detested. In
Penang, he was briefed by his intelligence chief, N. G. Swami, about
another group of agents he had dispatched to India by sea in May. Bose
now saw the possibility of sending his agents over land behind the en-
emy lines in Imphal. Swami accompanied Bose to Rangoon on his re-
turn, toward the end of June.^79
The news about the Imphal campaign was still positive in Rangoon.
The offensive may have slowed or even stalled, but there was no hint of
impending calamity. A. M. Sahay gave Bose a report on the administra-
tive dif fi culties, but they seemed remediable. Planning proceeded on
the expectation that victory would be achieved and that northeastern
India would be brought under the rule of the Azad Hind govern-
ment. The mood was optimistic on July 4, when Indians celebrated the
first anniversary of Netaji’s assumption of the leadership of the Indian
Inde pen dence League. The Japanese spoke warmly of M. Z. Kiani’s
leadership of the first division, and were especially appreciative of the
tenacity of the Gandhi Brigade.^80
The Mahatma himself, who was in feeble health, had been recently
released from prison in India. In a lengthy radio address to Gandhi on
July 6, 1944, Bose offered the most detailed jus tifi ca tion of his course
of action during the Second World War. He lauded the Mahatma once
more for bravely sponsoring the Quit India resolution. If the almighty
British Empire could go around with a begging bowl for foreign help,
he saw nothing wrong in the decision by an enslaved and disarmed
people to seek help in the form of loans from abroad. As one who
had stood resolutely for national self- respect and honor all his life, he
would be the last person to succumb to any foreign power. Whatever
he had done was “for enhancing India’s prestige before the world and