Foundation stone laying by Subhas Chandra Bose and construction
The monument was constructed to commemorate the "Unknown Warrior" of the Indian National Army (INA).[1] The words inscribed on the war memorial were its motto, which is Unity (Ittehad), Faith (Ittemad) and Sacrifice (Qurbani). It was built during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore as the Japanese and the INA had one enemy in common, i.e., the British.
Subhas Chandra Bose ("Netaji") laid the foundation stone on 8 July 1945, and the words inscribed upon the War Memorial were the motto of the INA: Unity (Etihaad), Faith (Etmad) and Sacrifice (Kurbani).[2] The monument was then erected within a month by the Japanese in August 1945, a few months before Singapore was recaptured by the British. The memorial was designed and erected by Colonel Cyril John Stracey, 1/14th Punjab Regiment, an Anglo-Indian officer of the INA, who had volunteered to serve INA after being captured by the Japanese. The construction of the monument was proposed by Bose, the co-founder of the INA and Head of State of the Provisional Government of Free India. The INA was backed by the Japanese forces for its goal of gaining India's independence from Britain.
The future generations of Indians who will be born, not as slaves but as free men, because of your colossal sacrifice, will bless your names and proudly proclaim to the world that you, their forbears, fought and suffered reverses in the battle of Manipur, Assam and Burma. But through temporary failure you paved the way to ultimate success and glory.
— Subhas Chandra Bose while paying homage to the martyrs of the INA while laying foundation stone of the Former INA Monument at Singapore on 8 July 1945., [2]
Demolition by British
Lord Louis Mountbatten, the head of Southeast Asia Command, ordered the Former Indian National Army Monument to be demolished when Singapore was recaptured by the Allies in 1945.[3] It has been suggested by some historians that Mountbatten's decision to demolish the INA memorial was part of a larger effort to prevent the spread of the socialist ideals of the INA in the political atmosphere of the Cold War and the decolonization of Asia.[4][5]
Restoration: Erection of plaque by National Heritage Board
In 1995, the National Heritage Board marked the place as a historical site and subsequently with financial donations from the Indian community in Singapore, a new monument commemorating the previous one was erected on that spot.[6]
Gallery
Bose visiting the now-demolished INA Memorial at Esplanade Park during June 1945.
The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi paying homage to INA martyrs on 24 November 2015 at the present-day plaque which marks the site of former INA Memorial.
^Lebra, Joyce C., Jungle Alliance: Japan and the Indian National Army, Singapore, Asia Pacific Library
^Borra R. Subhash Chandra Bose. Journal of Historical Review, 3, no. 4 (Winter 1982), pp. 407-439
^Henderson, J. (2007). Remembering the Second World War in Singapore: Wartime Heritage as a Visitor Attraction. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 2(1), 36-52.
