[lbo-talk] BBC NEWS | Europe | Hitler's secret Indian army

[kjkhoo at softhome.net]

At 3:42 pm -0700 24/9/04, R wrote:
>it's more or less common knowledge that a very right wing element 
>existed in india during the british raj.  it's been aired in 
>documentaries on the history channel of all places.  it was 
>completely sympathetic to hitler and threatened the british with 
>armed rebellion during WWII as a fifth column in india.  coming to 
>terms with the indian right wing, as much as gandhi, created an 
>independent india after WWII, although gandhi gets all the credit.
>
>this right wing exists in india today.

Should take a look at Ben Anderson's "spectres of comparison" -- 
whose book opens with an account of a Sukarno speech mentioning 
Hitler in apparently favourable terms, a speech which he originally 
heard as a young researcher in Indonesia and which stumped him then.

By most accounts, it would be difficult to tag Subhas Chandra Bose as 
"right wing" much less "very right wing". Sure, the INA wasn't fussy 
about its 'allies', being focussed on getting rid of the Brits. This 
happened across the whole region. In Malaya, the Union of Malay Youth 
"collaborated" with the Japanese, but is generally considered as part 
of the history of the "left". In Indonesia, Sukarnoist forces also 
"collaborated" with the Japanese.

In brief, the straightforward application of categories and 
perspectives from Euro-America in the period in question is of 
doubtful utility for understanding the history of the region and of 
the character and behaviour of the political groups then.

kj khoo