Communists in INA - Indian Daily Mail
Singapore Tuesday 22nd March 1951
Saturday Radio Malaya devoted considerable time to a lengthy talk by Major R.J Isaac of the Directorate of Anti-Bandit Operations in Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, on "Indian Communists and Emergency." It is was intended as a propaganda material, the effect, we are afraid must have been the exact opposite of what was expected. For the speaker himself admitted in his talk that there not even one hundred Indian Communists involved in the terrorist troubles in Malaya. That being so, the devoting of a special talk to Indian Communists would, by magnifying the meagre role of the so-called "Indian Reds" actually bring discredit to the Emergency propaganda itself.
Long long ago, a mots responsible Malayan Indian leader and the very Representative of the Government of India, Mr. John A Thivy had categorically declared that "Indians have no art and part in the Malayan Emergency." The position had not, in our opinion, changed in any way ever since, so far as the Indian are concerned. The fact that Major Isaac has spoken more about Trade Unionism than about Red Terrorism in his talk on the "Indian Communists and Emergency" is a proof of the most insignificant destructive role that Indians have played in the Emergency and of the most significant constructive role they have been playing in the Trade Union Movement.
We would dismissed this subject without any comments whatsoever, for by commenting we are only giving undue importance to something which really doesn't deserve any notice at all because of its utter insignificance but we are prompted to do so only because of a certain reference which Major Isaac had made to the Indian National Army in the course of his talk on "Indian Communists and Emergency." Major Isaac says: "There were few Indian Communists in the jungle as guerillas during Japanese Occupation but many Indians risked their lives supporting the guerrillas, not as Communists but as a true patriotic anti Japanese spirit. Communists did flourish however to some extent in the ranks of Japanese sponsored Indian National Army, the chief organiser being S.A Ganapathy who with about 30 followers, attempted to convert others to Communism. He maintained contact with the Communist guerillas in the jungle and at the Japanese surrender, rejoined the Communist Party."
Indeed, this is the first time we are hearing of "Communism flourishing" in INA! So far, no book either on the INA or the IIL or even on the Indian Independence Movement in South East Asia as a whole and such books are not for a few - contains any reference whatever to the presence of Communists or to the Communists playing a role in any of these organizations. Of course, the late Ganapathy was in the movement but the only episode that some ex-INA officers who are still in Malaya might recall about him is that he was once given the "quarter-guard" for indiscipline! Otherwise he was obscure as anything. At the tome of the surrender, strict instructions had been to the INA men never to hand over their arms and ammunitions to the Japanese or the guerillas, but only direct to the British Re-Occupational Force. They were also instructed to stick to their weapons for the purpose of self-defence and in any case never to give them away to the Japanese or the guerillas. On the contrary, it was the Japanese and the British themselves who gave arms to the guerillas! Indeed whoever are responsible for arming the Malayan terrorists, no one would point the finger of accusation against the Indians. That they had "no art and part in the Emergency" is no mere propaganda utterance but a hard fact.
