HAPPY 75TH INDEPENDENCE DAY!

What a slap on the face of British imperialism it must have been when in Singapore on 21 October, 1943 Netaji declared the formation of his Provisional Government of Free India (P.G.F.I.)! In essence it meant that Netaji had dared the British and declared Indian independence and what remained thereon was but the eviction of the alien occupier from the motherland by armed assault on them.

Nine States of the world including Germany, Japan, Italy and USSR (?) gave diplomatic recognition to the Provisional Government of Free India and as per international law operative then, India in international legal terms had achieved independence notwithstanding the bulk of its landmass having not yet been liberated from the occupying British forces. Imperial Japan had pledged to hand over to the P.G.F.I. the control of the Andaman and the Nicobar Islands, a pledge which they fulfilled on 29 December, 1943 when formally the islands were handed over to Netaji who headed the P.G.F.I. Thus, the Provisional Government of Free India at its inception itself was legally the administrative organ of the new-founded State of India.

A State by definition must have the following four features:
1. Territory to rule ;
2. Sovereignty, that is, absolute freedom from internal or external control by any agency in its functioning ;
3. Government to administer the affairs of the State, make laws, execute them and safeguard them against violation ;
4. Population to govern, that is, the citizenry.

All these features were existent in the provisional State which the P.G.F.I. represented and this is how they existed:
(a) Japan assured and then handed over Andaman and Nicobar Islands to P.G.F.I. Thus, the provisional State had Territory.
(b) The provisional State was free of all control, external and internal, in its functioning. Thus, it had Sovereignty. It had its own national army (The Indian National Army) to defend its territorial borders (of Shaheed and Swaraj, and all other captured British Indian territory) and to wage war against the colonial-imperial alien occupiers of the motherland. It had its own national bank, State currency, postage stamp, national anthem, national flag and national greeting in Jai Hind.
(c) The Provisional Government of Free India was itself the fulfilment of the third requirement of Government for a State.
(d) P.G.F.I. governed over the resident Indian population of Shaheed, Swaraj and Imphal in Manipur for a sizeable period of time to fulfil the fourth feature of a State.

Thus, to all intents and purposes and fulfilling all international legal requirements for the creation of a Sovereign State, the Provisional Government of Free India came into being on 21 October, 1943 at Syonan or Singapore. This was, thus, a historic happening that may only be called the Independence of Undivided India and as it predated the Partitioned Dominion Status received by the motherland on 15 August, 1947 by just under four years, it must be recognised by all Indians and in consequence by the world as the true date of our nation's independence. However, our belonging to the British Commonwealth evidently stands in the way of our present Union Government from recognising it as such and, so, the saga of feeding Indians with the colonial lie of independence achieved on 15 August, 1947 continues.

But there is no power on earth which can prevent an enlightened citizenry seeing the light at last that we were after all liberated from colonial bondage 74 years ago on this very day and we are, therefore, treading a hallowed hour, the 75th independence day of our ancient undivided beloved motherland. We must, therefore, not let this hour go past without breathing in its holy air, the air of genuine freedom, undiluted and undivided, full of the pride in our people's struggle for this liberation achieved, soulful remembrance of the martyrs to this freedom and full of the resolve to fight on for achieving the territorial solidarity of our partitioned motherland. Jai Hind!

P.S. Spare some time today to duly celebrate this day of our motherland's true and honourable independence, the fruit of the labour of love of countless revolutionaries climaxing in Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.