Indian National Army Veteran Lalti Ram passed away

Freedom fighter and veteran of the erstwhile Indian National Army (INA) Lalti Ram passed away at the age of 100.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2021

In 2019, Lalti Ram had presented a cap of the pre-Independence INA to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the proclamation of the ‘Azad Hind Sarkar’ by freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose.

The Provisional Government of Free India (Arzi Hakumat-e-Azad Hind) or, more simply, Azad Hind, was an Indian Provisional government established in Japanese occupied Singapore during World War II.

It was created in October 1943 and supported by – as well as largely dependent on – the Empire of Japan.

It was established by Indian nationalists in exile during the latter part of the Second World War in Singapore with monetary, military and political assistance from Imperial Japan.

The government was inspired by the concepts of Subhas Chandra Bose who was also the leader of the government and Head of State.

Its army, the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj), went into action against the British Indian Army and the allied forces as part of the Imperial Japanese Army in the Imphal-Kohima sector.

The INA had its first major engagement at the Battle of Imphal where, under the command of the Japanese Fifteenth Army, it breached the British defences in Kohima, reaching the salient of Moirang before suffering a catastrophic defeat.

The death of Bose is seen as the end of the entire Azad Hind Movement.