Editing Azad Hind (section)

== Government administration and World War II ==
{{Main|Indian National Army|India during World War II|Invasion and Occupation of the Andaman Islands during World War II}}
The same night that Bose declared the existence of Azad Hind, the government took action to declare war against the United States and Britain. The government consisted of a Cabinet ministry acting as an advisory board to Subhas Bose, who was given the title "Netaji" (translating roughly to "leader") and was no doubt the dominant figure in the Provisional Government. He exercised virtual authoritarian control over the government and the army. With regards to the government's first issuances of war declarations, Hugh Toye writes:{{r|toye|p=91}} {{blockquote|The Cabinet had not been unanimous about the inclusion of the U.S.A. Bose had shown impatience and displeasure – there was never any question then or later of his absolute authority: the Cabinet had no responsibility and could only tender advice{{nbsp}}...}}

[[File:Azad Hind Currency.jpg|thumb|right|Currency issued by the [[Azad Hind Bank]]]]
At the end of October 1943, Bose flew to Tokyo to participate in the Greater East Asia Conference as an observer to Japan's [[Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere]]; it could not function as a delegate because India had technically fallen outside the jurisdiction of Japan's definition of "Greater East Asia", but Bose gave speeches in opposition to Western colonialism and imperialism at the conference. By the end of the conference, Azad Hind had been given a limited form of governmental jurisdiction over the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]], which had been captured by the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] early on in the war.<ref name=":3b" />

[[File:Azadhindpostage.jpg|thumb|right|[[Azad Hind Stamps|Unreleased postage stamps]] of the Azad Hind government]]

Once under the jurisdiction of Azad Hind, the islands formed the government's first claims to territory. The islands themselves were renamed "Shaheed" and "Swaraj", meaning "martyr" and "self-rule" respectively. Bose placed the islands under the governorship of [[Lt Col A. D Loganathan]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yorozubp.com/netaji/75birthday/dhillon.htm |title=The Last Straw That Broke the Back of the British Empire |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030605082123/http://www.yorozubp.com/netaji/75birthday/dhillon.htm |archive-date=5 June 2003}}</ref> and had limited involvement with the official governorship of the territory, instead involving himself in plans to expand the [[Indian National Army]], ensure adequate men and materiel, and formulate its course of actions and the administrations and relations of the Indian population in southeast Asia and determining Japanese designs in India and his provisional government. In theory, the government itself had the power to levy taxes on the local populace, and to make and enforce laws: in practice, they were enforced by the police force under Japanese control. Indians were willing to pay these taxes at first but became less inclined to do so towards the end of the war when the Provisional Government enacted legislation for higher war-time taxes to fund the INA. During his interrogation after the war, Loganathan admitted that he had only had full control over the islands' vestigial education department, as the Japanese had retained full control over the police force, and in protest, he had refused to accept responsibility for any other areas of Government. He was powerless to prevent the [[Homfreyganj massacre]] of 30 January 1944, where forty-four Indian civilians were shot by the Japanese on suspicion of spying. Many of them were members of the [[Indian Independence League]], whose leader in [[Port Blair]], Diwan Singh, had already been tortured to death in the [[Cellular Jail]] after doing his best to protect the islanders from Japanese atrocities during the first two years of the occupation.<ref name=":2">Dasgupta, Jayant (2002) ''Japanese in Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Red Sun over Black Water''. Delhi: Manas Publications. pp. 67, 87, 91–95. {{ISBN|9788170491385}}</ref><ref>Mathur, L. P. (1985). ''Kala Pani. History of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands with a study of India's Freedom Struggle''. Delhi: Eastern Book Corporation, pp. 249–251.</ref>

Azad Hind's military forces in the form of the INA saw some successes against the British and moved with the Japanese army to lay siege to the town of [[Imphal]] in eastern India. Plans to march towards [[Delhi]], gaining support and fresh recruits along the way, stalled both with the onset of monsoon season and the failure to capture Imphal. British [[bombing]] seriously reduced morale, and the Japanese along with the INA forces began their withdrawal from India.<ref name=":5" />

In addition to these setbacks, the INA was faced with a formidable challenge when the troops were left to defend [[Rangoon]] without the assistance of the Japanese in the winter of 1944–1945. Loganathan was relocated from the Andaman Islands to act as field commander. With the INA garrison about 6,000 strong, he manned the Burmese capital in the absence of any other police force or troops during the period between the departure of the Japanese and the arrival of the British. He was successful in maintaining law and order to the extent that there was not a single reported case of [[dacoit]]y or of looting during the period from 24 April to 4 May 1945.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" />