Roads to Delhi 301with dignity. “We had done nothing of which we or our countrymen
could ever feel ashamed,” Kiani said, “and as the mist of war and cen-
sorship lifted and our countrymen back home got to know of our ac-
tivities in greater detail, they would feel proud of our actions and stand
by us.” If Netaji stayed in Singapore, his numerous friends and sup-
porters would surround him. The weight of collective opinion, how-
ever, was that he should go. The “final decision,” according to Ayer, was
“out of Malaya defi nitely, to some Russian territory certainly, to Russia
itself, if possible.” Netaji conceded that it would be an “adventure into
the unknown.”^145
The next morning, August 16, 1945, Subhas Chandra Bose, Head of
State, Provisional Government of Azad Hind, signed and issued the fol-
lowing order: “During my absence from Syonan [Singapore], Major
General M. Z. Kiani will represent the Provisional Government of Azad
Hind.” Instructions had been given to protect the interests of the In-
dian community in Malaya and maintain order in Singapore. Bullion
from the Azad Hind Bank, gold bars valued at half a million dollars,
was stored in a strong room, to be used in case of emergency.^146 At 9:30
a.m. Bose said goodbye to Kiani, Alagappan, and others and climbed
up a steel ladder into a Japanese bomber. Swami, Raghavan, and Thivy
had not yet arrived from Penang and Ipoh. Netaji took with him Ayer,
Habibur Rahman, and another colonel named Pritam Singh—a Hindu,
a Muslim, and a Sikh—and with them went a Japanese interpreter
named Negishi. The plane taxied for about five minutes and returned
to where it had started. Bose asked to know why and was told there was
something wrong with the brakes. The prob lem was soon fixed, and
the plane landed in Bangkok at about three in the afternoon.^147
From the evening of August 16 until the early morning of August 17,
Netaji received an unending stream of visitors, soldiers and civilians
alike. There was not an inch of space to sit in the overcrowded house.
Walter Mayer, a German intelligence operative based in Bangkok, ad-
vised against an attempt to fly in the direction of Russian territory,
deeming it too risky. It would be easy for Bose to remain underground
for a while in Thailand and reemerge once the dust had settled. Deb-
nath Das, one of the advisers in the Provisional Government, had al-
ready made preliminary arrangements for sanctuary in Thailand, with