RAS question
The Indian National Army (INA) was originally organized by:
Correct answer: (C) Captain Mohan Singh.
The Indian National Army was originally organised in 1942 under Captain Mohan Singh, with Japanese support, from Indian prisoners of war captured in Southeast Asia.
Explanation
Captain Mohan Singh is the answer because the first INA came out of the wartime situation in Southeast Asia, especially after Japan’s Malayan campaign and the fall of Singapore. The Ministry of Culture’s Amrit Kaal record states that many Indian prisoners of war were captured in that campaign and that, from these prisoners, the first Indian national army was formed under Mohan Singh, a British Indian Army officer captured in Malaya. The same account also notes that Japanese aid and support helped this effort. This fits the standard RAS distinction: Mohan Singh organised the first INA in 1942, while Subhas Chandra Bose later took charge and gave it a more powerful political and military direction.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Rash Behari Bose was linked with the Indian Independence League and helped create the political setting in Southeast Asia, but the first INA itself was formed under Mohan Singh.
- (B) Subhas Chandra Bose later led and revitalised the INA, but the original organisation of the force preceded his leadership.
- (D) Shah Nawaz Khan served as an INA officer, whereas the question asks who originally organised the army.
Concept
This tests the chronology of the INA within the freedom struggle and World War II context. RAS repeats such questions because small differences between founding, reorganisation and later leadership often decide the correct answer.