The remembrance event in Brickfields saw people sharing the role played by Malayans in the Indian National Army. — RAJA FAISAL HISHAN/The Star
Event pays tribute to often overlooked contributions of INA martyrs from Malaya
A REMEMBRANCE event was held for Indian National Army (INA) martyrs from Malaya.
Death Railway Interest Group (DRIG) president and event organiser Chandrasekaran Ponnusamy said the event aimed to shed light on the sacrifices made by the INA to resist British occupation in Malaya and their homeland of India during World War II.
MS Annamalai joined the session from Chennai, India, and shared about the history of the INA, which was formed in 1942 and led by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Annamalai said the INA spy training centre was based at Penang Free School in George Town.
He said it was later named Indian Swaraj Institute and 30 recruits were trained and sent to India in batches.
Most of them were subsequently detained and condemned to death by the British, he added.
Among them were Kumaran Nair and Ramu Thevar.
Both were executed on July 7, 1944, when Ramu was 18 years old while Kumaran was 36.
Annamalai said at the time, their fates were largely unknown in India and Malaya due to the covert nature of their operations.
The retired mathematics lecturer had also published three books in Tamil on the role of Tamils in the INA.
Chandrasekaran said many of the operatives were tried in secret for waging war against the King.
“We have a collective responsibility to research, document and publicise this matter,” he added.
Kumaran’s grandnephew, Vijay Balakrishna, spoke about his research on his granduncle’s life as a spy which was published in a book, The Swaraj Spy.
Chandrasekaran said before the INA was formed, the Japanese Intelligence Unit had worked closely with the Indian Independence League (IIL) in Thailand prior to the invasion and subsequent fall of Malaya in 1941.
The hybrid event at Menara Sentral Vista in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, included participants who joined online from India and Thailand.
Attendees had the opportunity to meet INA veteran Rengasamy Pillai, 99, who was born in Burma (now Myanmar) and joined the IIL as a recruiting and fundraising officer when he was 17.
Chandrasekaran also announced plans to visit India’s Nicobar Islands, one of the INA’s strongholds during the war.
The visit is slated for next year to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII.
