「人肉食」も…旧日本軍のインド人捕虜への残虐行為、印紙報道 その背景とは
日本とインドは、長らく友好関係を築いている。しかし、第2次世界大戦当時、インドはイギリスの植民地であり、連合国側に属していた。このインドの軍隊と、枢軸国であった日本とが、戦火を交えたこともあった。このとき、日本軍が捕虜として捉えた、インド軍将兵に対して行った残虐行為を、インドの英字日刊紙『タイムズ・オブ・インディア』が詳しく伝えている。
【日本軍が捕虜としたインド軍将兵に対する非人道的行為】
1942年2月15日、日本は、当時イギリス領だったシンガポールを陥落させた。このとき、英領インド軍（英印軍）の将兵4万人が日本軍の捕虜となった。そのうち約3万人は、イギリス支配に抗しインドの独立を目指すインド国民軍に入隊した。この軍の設立にあたっては、日本軍が中心となって動いた。
しかし、入隊を拒んだ1万人は、日本軍の強制収容所での拷問を運命づけられた、と『タイムズ・オブ・インディア』は語る。収容所でのインド人捕虜の扱いは、非人道的なものだった。過重な労働、乏しい食料、絶え間ない暴行。そして捕虜が、生きたまま射撃訓練の標的とされることが、何度もあった、と記事は語る。
船で移送される際にも、寝る場所もないほど船室にすし詰めにされ、水や食料を満足に与えられず、目的地にたどり着く前に多くの者が死んだ、と記事は語っている。
【英印軍の将校らによる、日本軍の人肉食の証言】
「しかし、日本軍が行ったあらゆる残虐行為の中で、最も戦慄を覚えさせるものは、彼らが人肉食を行ったことである」と記事は伝える。
英印軍のある将校はこのように告発にする。「Suaidという村で、日本軍の軍医が、周期的にインド人捕虜収容所を訪れて、毎回、最も健康な者たちを選び出した。その者たちは、表向きは任務を果たすためということで連れ去られたが、彼らは決して戻ることはなかった」。さらに日本軍は、インド人捕虜ばかりでなく、ニューギニアの現地人さえも殺害し、食していたと主張する。
他の将校はこのように告発している。「自分と一緒にウェワク（の収容所）に行った300人のうち、50人だけがそこから出ることができた。19人は食べられた。日本人の医師――ツミサ中尉は、3、4人の小部隊を作り、インド人1人を何かの用事で収容所の外に遣わすのだった。日本人たちはすぐさま彼を殺害し、彼の体の肉を食べるのだった。肝臓、臀部の筋肉、大腿部、下肢、腕が切り取られ、調理されるのだった」。
【その他にも証言、証拠があるという】
記事では、これらの告発内容についての裏付けは伝えられていないが、この他にもさまざまな証言があるという。しかもそれらは、連合国が設置した戦争犯罪調査委員会に対する、宣誓証言として行われたと伝えている。その証言に基づき、何人かの日本人将校とその部下が裁判にかけられた。人肉食によって有罪が宣告され、絞首刑に処された将校の名前を、記事は挙げている。訴えられた日本人は、これらの告発を常に否認したそうだ。
1992年、田中利幸氏という日本人歴史家が、インド人や他の連合国側捕虜に対する、人肉食を含む、日本軍の残虐行為の明白な証拠を発見した、と記事は伝える（氏は現在、広島市立大学広島平和研究所教授）。その証拠がどのようなものかについて、記事は触れていない。氏は、1997年に『隠された惨事――第2次世界大戦における日本人の戦争犯罪』という本を英語で発表した。その本では、日本軍は食料の貯えが次第になくなったときに人肉食という手段に訴えた、という連合国側の下した判決が反論されているという。人肉食は上級将校の監督下で行われ、権力を表象化する手段として認識されていた、との主張だそうだ。
【英印軍の再評価の試みとも】
このように、日本軍が英印軍の捕虜に対して行った残虐行為の数々が、記事では列挙されている。しかし、記事の狙いは、日本軍の非道ぶりを暴くことだけではないようだ。
インドでは、インド国民軍は、イギリスからの独立に寄与した存在として、特別視されている。戦後、イギリスがインド国民軍将兵を裁判で裁こうとしたため、イギリスへの反感が爆発し、独立への機運が一気に高まった。その後、1947年8月15日にインドは独立を果たした。
反面、英印軍に対する評価は芳しくないようだ。記事によると、インドのナショナリストが第2次世界大戦を語るときには、ずっと、インド国民軍と邪悪な大英帝国の衝突として描かれてきたという。その構図では、英印軍はイギリスの手先の悪役だ。しかし、英印軍将兵が、日本軍の捕虜となり拷問を受けた際にも、忠誠を守り続けたことは、注目に値する勇敢さだと、記事は語る。
記事は、この勇敢さ、不屈の精神を、英印軍だけのものでなく、インド人一般のものとして捉えようとしている。英印軍将兵の示した忠誠心も、実はイギリスに対する忠誠心ではなく、同胞や上官、自分の所属する部隊に対してのものだった。そして、この忠誠心と、インド国民としての強いアイデンティティーとが結び付いて、彼らをあらゆる種類の困難に耐え抜かせていたのかもしれない、と語る。そしてこのアイデンティティーこそが、英国による支配を揺り動かしたのだろうと、英印軍の中にも、独立に寄与するところがあったとほのめかしている。
この記事を引用するかたちで、国際ビジネスニュースサイト『インターナショナル・ビジネス・タイムズ』（英国版）と、バングラデシュの『デイリー・スター』が取り上げている。前者は、人肉食を中心に、日本軍が行った戦争犯罪の非人道性に着目して、抜粋して伝えている。後者は、ほぼ人肉食のことだけを伝えている。
msn トピックス（2014年8月15日 ）
http://topics.jp.msn.com/world/general/article.aspx?articleid=5454416
筆者考：
The Times of India :
Owner(s) : The Times Group
Publisher : The Times Group
Editor-in-chief : Jaideep Bose
Associate editor : Jug Suraiya
Founded : 3 November 1838
Political alignment : Conservative
Language : English
Headquarters :The Times of India Building, Dr. D.N. Road, Mumbai-400001, India
Circulation : 3,140,000 daily
Sister newspapers : The Economic Times/Navbharat Times
Maharashtra Times
The Times of India (TOI) is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. In 2008, the newspaper reported that with a circulation of over 3.14 million it had been certified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (India) as the world's largest selling English-language daily, ranking it as the third largest selling newspaper in any language in the world and the largest selling newspaper outside Japan. According to the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2012, the Times of India is the most widely read English newspaper in India with a readership of 7.643 million. This ranks the Times of India as the top English daily in India by readership.It is owned and published by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. which is owned by the Sahu Jain family.
The Times of India (TOI) はインドの日刊英字新聞である。
２００８年に3.14百万部以上の発刊数が「インド発行部数監査局」によって！、…『日刊英字新聞では世界最大の発行部数で有り、日本の新聞以外では更に如何なる言語を含めて世界第３位の購読者数を持つ!』正式に認定された。
２０１２年のインド購読者調査では、The Times of Indiaはインドでは購読者数は7.634百万人
２０１２年のインド購読者調査では、The Times of Indiaはインドでは購読者数は7.634百万人
で最も読まれている結果となった。インドでは英字日刊紙としては購読者数は首位の座を占めている。
オーナー、並びに出版社は！・・・Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. which is owned by the Sahu Jain family.
❝青天の霹靂！❞とは正に此の事です！・・・
インパール作戦が失敗に終わり日本軍が熱帯雨林の中で敗走を重ね、食料補充もなく餓えに悩まされ止むなく死亡した戦友の肉を食した事は聞き及んでいましたが、『シンガポール陥落後捕虜にした英印軍の捕虜の肉を食した！』とのThe Times of India紙の報道には驚愕しました。
例に依って詳細な資料ではなくて、証拠は単なる証言だけである、何やら朝日新聞の手法に瓜二つである。
亦タイミングは！、…慰安婦問題記事の取り消しで朝日新聞の悪行が天下に晒されて、尻に火がついている。加えて８月１５日の終戦記念日に焦点を合わせてセンセーションな旧日本軍の悪行、然もカンニバリズム（人肉食）を大々的に発信する！。❝これは仕組まれたもの！❞と断言出来るでしょう。
msn トピックス（2014年8月15日 ）の基記事を探しましたので以下に記載致します。
オーナー、並びに出版社は！・・・Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. which is owned by the Sahu Jain family.
❝青天の霹靂！❞とは正に此の事です！・・・
インパール作戦が失敗に終わり日本軍が熱帯雨林の中で敗走を重ね、食料補充もなく餓えに悩まされ止むなく死亡した戦友の肉を食した事は聞き及んでいましたが、『シンガポール陥落後捕虜にした英印軍の捕虜の肉を食した！』とのThe Times of India紙の報道には驚愕しました。
例に依って詳細な資料ではなくて、証拠は単なる証言だけである、何やら朝日新聞の手法に瓜二つである。
亦タイミングは！、…慰安婦問題記事の取り消しで朝日新聞の悪行が天下に晒されて、尻に火がついている。加えて８月１５日の終戦記念日に焦点を合わせてセンセーションな旧日本軍の悪行、然もカンニバリズム（人肉食）を大々的に発信する！。❝これは仕組まれたもの！❞と断言出来るでしょう。
msn トピックス（2014年8月15日 ）の基記事を探しましたので以下に記載致します。
Japanese ate Indian PoWs, used them as live targets in WWII
NEW DELHI: On April 2, 1946, the Reuters correspondent in Melbourne, Australia, cabled a short message, which was carried by all newspapers a day later, including The Times of India. It read: "The Japanese Lieutenant Hisata Tomiyasu found guilty of the murder of 14 Indian soldiers and of cannibalism at Wewak (New Guinea) in 1944 has been sentenced to death by hanging, it is learned from Rabaul."
The nationalist narrative has long projected the Second World War as a clash between the patriots of the Indian National Army (INA), supported by the Japanese Empire, and the evil British Empire. The soldiers of the Indian Army who fought for the British are immediately dismissed as stooges of the Raj. But the refusal of many who were taken prisoner to renege on their oaths of loyalty in the face of extreme torture also showed remarkable bravery.
The nationalist narrative has long projected the Second World War as a clash between the patriots of the Indian National Army (INA), supported by the Japanese Empire, and the evil British Empire. The soldiers of the Indian Army who fought for the British are immediately dismissed as stooges of the Raj. But the refusal of many who were taken prisoner to renege on their oaths of loyalty in the face of extreme torture also showed remarkable bravery.
After the fall of Singapore on February 15, 1942, 40,000 men of the Indian Army became prisoners of war (PoWs). Some 30,000 of them joined the INA. But those who refused were destined for torture in the Japanese concentration camps. They were first sent to transit camps in Batavia (now Djakarta) and Surabaya from where they were packed off to New Guinea, New Britain, and Bougainvillea.
At the camps, they made no distinction between Indian officers and men. Officers would be slapped across the face or beaten up with sticks for the slightest error made by their men —error in this case being a tired soldier taking a moment's rest while on double fatigue duty, or a sick soldier failing to salute a Japanese officer. Very often, work parties of haggard men would be taken away from the camps to the shooting range where they would be used as live targets for new Japanese infantry recruits to improve their marksmanship. Soldiers who were not killed in the firing but wounded were bayoneted to death.
Indian Army PoWs made live targets for new Japanese infantry recruits
It was a never-ending horror for those who were shipped out to the Pacific islands. "On the ship that took them to the Admiralties, two thousand were herded below deck like cattle, were allowed on the hatchways only once a day..." The Times of India reported on May 16, 1944. On another ship, a certain Captain Pillay, an Army doctor, was told by the Japanese that "water and air was not for the prisoners". With "just two cups of water in 24 hours", the men were forced to drink the saline seawater. Many didn't survive the journey.
On November 14, 1945, Lieutenant C M Nigam of 2/17 Dogras, who was among the 1,300 rescued Indian PoWs brought to Bombay, told The Times of India how he and others had refused to join the INA and were "packed like sardines on a hell ship, the Matsui Maru", which took 56 days to reach Rabaul. "Conditions on board were really horrible. In an extremely narrow space, only one-eighth of the whole party were able to lie down and sleep, while the other seven eights had to stand. The food supply dwindled on the voyage. After the first ten days, we were given rice and salt and occasionally we were issued with seaweed for cooking purposes. This was quite uneatable," Lieutenant Nigam had said.
That TOI report went on to detail the privations of the Indian prisoners in the camps: "At Rabaul, their normal working day was from 10 to 12 hours, but on days when heavy bombing raids were put in by the Americans, they would work from 12 to 14 hours. Towards the end, their diet consisted of sweet potatoes and tapioca. It was only by stealing livestock and small quantities of rice that the men were able to exist. Men caught or even suspected of stealing food were shot."
The truth about the claim can be found in the proceedings of the Gozawa case (No. 235/813) of the Singapore war crimes trials conducted by the British. This was, in fact, the first case that was tried from January 21 to February 1, 1946 and had 10 accused, four of them officers of the Imperial Japanese Army. They were accused of ill-treatment of Indian PoWs on way to and at Bebelthuap Palau, causing death to many by imposing severe hardships and beatings, and also executing Sepoy Mohammed Shafi of the Indian Army by beheading for allegedly trying to escape; eight others were beaten to death for allegedly stealing sugar from the stores.
At Wewak in New Guinea too, Indian PoWs were treated worse than beasts of burden. They were made to work 12-14 hours and were left exposed to Allied air raids. The senior-most Japanese officer here was one Colonel Takano, who even flogged men sick with beri beri for "working slowly". The Indian officers of these so-called working parties demanded better conditions and fair treatment as PoWs under international law (Geneva Convention).
According to Australian historian Professor Peter Stanley, the Indian officers gave a written petition in English to Takano in July, 1943. The Japanese colonel was so angry to see it that he paraded all of them before him and told them that they had no rights as they had surrendered unconditionally. He also called them "traitors of Asia and India". Harsher conditions were imposed on the men.
Then in one Allied strafing raid, five Indian PoWs were killed and 13 others injured. Takano didn't let their wounds be treated. Instead, he threw sand at the men crying in pain and told them to shut up as it was their "Churchill and Roosevelt who did this" to them. All the men died later of infection.
The PoWs gave another petition, this time drafted by Captain Nirpal Chand of 6th battalion, 14 Punjab Regiment. When the Japanese refused again, this KCIO (King's Commissioned Indian Officer — such officers could also command European troops) organized a hunger strike. Despite Japanese threats, the men refused to eat until their demands were met. The Japanese eventually relented, but not for long. Captain Chand was executed on April 22, 1944, for "inciting his men to rebel". The Japanese officers later tried for Chand's death by Australians told the court that the Indian officer was given the opportunity to change his mind, but he had refused, so he was executed in a "lawful and honourable" way. It took two strikes with the gunto to sever Chand's head.
Jemadar Chint Singh, a VCO who testified against the Japanese, told Australian daily The Age in an interview dated June 7, 1947, Captain Chand's last words to his men: "Don't worry. If I am killed, some of you will see the good times which are ahead and tell your tales. The Japs cannot finish the whole lot. If I die for your rightful demands, I shall consider it a great honour and credit to me."
A similar "gallant tale" was reported by The Times of India on September 10, 1945, from Manila, Philippines. Some of the 330 rescued Indians on board the medical ship Oxfordshire told about Captain Mateen Ahmed Ansari of 5th battalion, 7th Rajput Regiment. He was a KCIO and the nephew of the Nizam of Hyderabad. They called him "one of the greatest heroes of the prison camps at Hong Kong".
Ansari was arrested on April 1, 1943, on suspicion of participating in a group attempt to escape. The Japanese soon found out about Ansari's royal lineage and pressured him to convince Indian troops to switch their loyalty to the Japanese. Ansari refused to break his Indian Army oath. "The Japanese tortured him with beatings, the water cure, and by plunging an electric plug into his bare back. These tortures failed to break the Indian's spirit. So the Japanese began a systematic reduction of his rations, beginning with six ounces of rice a day. Finally, they told him that he had his choice of being beheaded or shot. The Indian replied that 'beheading is a barbarous method, but as you are barbarians at heart, you will have to decide'. The Japanese then beheaded him," TOI reported. Captain Ansari was awarded the George Cross for the "most conspicuous gallantry".
An emaciated Indian PoW from Hong Kong onboard the medical ship Oxfordshire (Getty Images)
The TOI report of May 16, 1944, also mentioned that the Indian soldiers "were victims of 'indescribable indignities' at the hands of their captors". The chapter Indian POWs in the Pacific, 1941-45 by G J Douds, which is part of the 2007 book, Forgotten Captives in Japanese-Occupied Asia, edited by Kevin Blackburn and Karl Hack, elaborates on these indignities. "At Hansa Bay in New Guinea, Hindu prisoners were also severely beaten for their refusal to touch beef...the Japanese tried to prevent Muslims from fasting during Ramzan. Extra fatigues were imposed in a bid to enforce eating. The Muslims held out and the fast was eventually permitted; but in general no toleration was shown in religious matters," reads a passage.
The Sikhs were particularly insulted for their long hair and beards. In February, 1944, eight rescued Sikh PoWs narrated their tales of suffering and about the indignities heaped on them. "We were locked in a room for a night and a day without water. Next day, when our mouths were very dry, they took us out and made a sport of plucking our beards. For food we were given dry bread, but before we could eat it our hands were tied behind our backs. We writhed in pain to get at the bread, which was placed in our laps. One Indian commissioned officer who asked for water was hit on the head and shot. Another was forced to drink large quantities, and when he had finished the Japanese jumped on his stomach until the water poured from his mouth, ears, nose, and eyes," one of the men was quoted in the Canberra Times dated February 4, 1944.
The men further detailed how a Viceroy's Commissioned Officer (VCO) was hung upside down alive and bayoneted by the Japanese who also pulled his heart out.
But the most spine-chilling of all Japanese atrocities was their practice of cannibalism. One of the first to level charges of cannibalism against the Japanese was Jemadar Abdul Latif of 4/9 Jat Regiment of the Indian Army, a VCO who was rescued by the Australians at Sepik Bay in 1945. He alleged that not just Indian PoWs but even locals in New Guinea were killed and eaten by the Japanese. "At the village of Suaid, a Japanese medical officer periodically visited the Indian compound and selected each time the healthiest men. These men were taken away ostensibly for carrying out duties, but they never reappeared," the Melbourne correspondent of The Times, London, cabled this version of Jemadar Latif on November 5, 1946.
Jemadar Abdul Latif of 4/9 Jat Regiment who was among the first to allege that the Japanese killed Indians and fed on them
Latif's charges were buttressed by Captain R U Pirzai and Subedar Dr Gurcharan Singh. "Of 300 men who went to Wewak with me, only 50 got out. Nineteen were eaten. A Jap doctor —Lieutenant Tumisa, formed a party of three or four men and would send an Indian outside the camp for something. The Japs immediately would kill him and eat the flesh from his body. The liver, muscles from the buttocks, thighs, legs, and arms would be cut off and cooked," Captain Pirzai told Australian daily The Courier-Mail in a report dated August 25, 1945.
Then there were more similar testimonies by PoWs interned in other camps, such as Havildar Changdi Ram and Lance Naik Hatam Ali, who also gave details of cannibalism practised in their camps. John Baptist Crasta of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps, also a PoW at Rabaul, wrote in his memoir (Eaten by the Japanese: The Memoir of an Unknown Indian Prisoner of War) about Japanese eating Indian soldiers. He was made part of the Allied investigation into Japanese war crimes later.
All these soldiers gave sworn testimonies to the war crimes investigation commissions set up by the Allies, based on which several Japanese officers and men were tried. The senior-most Japanese officer found guilty of cannibalism and hanged was Lieutenant General Yoshio Tachibana.
The Japanese, though, were always dismissive of these charges. Then in 1992, a Japanese historian named Toshiyuki Tanaka found incontrovertible evidence of Japanese atrocities, including cannibalism, on Indians and other Allied prisoners. His initial findings were printed by The Japan Times. In 1997, Tanaka came out with his book, Hidden Horrors: Japanese War Crimes In World War II. There, he refuted the Allies' conclusion that the Japanese resorted to cannibalism when their supplies dwindled. Tanaka said this was done under the supervision of senior officers and was perceived as a power projection tool.
UK-based military historian Amarpal Sidhu recalls his grandparents, who lived in Singapore during WWII, telling him about the fear psychosis among the Indian community in Singapore regarding Japanese cannibalism. "The issue of cannibalism and other atrocities committed against Indian POWs by the Japanese although widely known and talked about still remains one of the least researched and documented aspects of the last great war. As the last veterans of the World War die out, many first-hand accounts of these events are vanishing fast without being recorded," Sidhu told TOI.
The Japanese also tried to impose their military drill and words of command on the Indian PoWs. It's recorded that Captain Pirzai and other officers refused. The furious Japanese subjected the whole unit to savage treatment, but still, the men didn't yield, saying they were Indian Army officers and men and would only follow the drill of their army.
Another similar incident occurred At Komoriyama in New Britain in 1945. There, men of the 5/11 Sikh Regiment were given 'good conduct' badges to wear. The Indian officers protested, saying that they were men of the Indian Army and they would wear only badges and uniform worn in that army. The men were threatened, but they didn't budge. Then a machinegun was brought forward and the Japanese threatened to shoot down all. The Sikhs still didn't budge. This went on for five days at the end of which the Japanese lost patience and flogged most of the men till they passed out.
Only 5,500 Indians came out of Japanese captivity alive. And despite all the hardships, the men refused to break their Indian Army oath and join the Japanese-sponsored Indian Independence League or INA. What emerges from all these recorded incidents is a picture of amazing fortitude shown by Indian PoWs. A kind of professionalism and apolitical behaviour that perhaps still characterises the Indian Army of today.
Soldiers who didn't die in the firing being bayoneted to death
Different historians have come up with different explanations for this. Some say it was because the men, at least the officers, were highly Anglicised Sandhurst-trained men who also came from families that had a history of generations of loyal service to the British. But in the words of Claude Auchinleck, these men didn't have any particular loyalty towards Britain.
The men were loyal to each other, to their regiments, to their officers. It was this loyalty that cemented such a diverse army like the Indian Army together. This loyalty, coupled with a strong sense of Indian identity, which had become stronger due to the ongoing National Movement back home, may have made the men endure all sorts of hardship. And it is this strong sense of Indian identity in the army that would shake up the Raj.
When India became independent in 1947, these same British-trained officers and men inherited a colonial army and transformed it into a national army that became the muse of patriots of all ages almost overnight.
Indian Army PoWs made live targets for new Japanese infantry recruits
It was a never-ending horror for those who were shipped out to the Pacific islands. "On the ship that took them to the Admiralties, two thousand were herded below deck like cattle, were allowed on the hatchways only once a day..." The Times of India reported on May 16, 1944. On another ship, a certain Captain Pillay, an Army doctor, was told by the Japanese that "water and air was not for the prisoners". With "just two cups of water in 24 hours", the men were forced to drink the saline seawater. Many didn't survive the journey.
On November 14, 1945, Lieutenant C M Nigam of 2/17 Dogras, who was among the 1,300 rescued Indian PoWs brought to Bombay, told The Times of India how he and others had refused to join the INA and were "packed like sardines on a hell ship, the Matsui Maru", which took 56 days to reach Rabaul. "Conditions on board were really horrible. In an extremely narrow space, only one-eighth of the whole party were able to lie down and sleep, while the other seven eights had to stand. The food supply dwindled on the voyage. After the first ten days, we were given rice and salt and occasionally we were issued with seaweed for cooking purposes. This was quite uneatable," Lieutenant Nigam had said.
That TOI report went on to detail the privations of the Indian prisoners in the camps: "At Rabaul, their normal working day was from 10 to 12 hours, but on days when heavy bombing raids were put in by the Americans, they would work from 12 to 14 hours. Towards the end, their diet consisted of sweet potatoes and tapioca. It was only by stealing livestock and small quantities of rice that the men were able to exist. Men caught or even suspected of stealing food were shot."
The truth about the claim can be found in the proceedings of the Gozawa case (No. 235/813) of the Singapore war crimes trials conducted by the British. This was, in fact, the first case that was tried from January 21 to February 1, 1946 and had 10 accused, four of them officers of the Imperial Japanese Army. They were accused of ill-treatment of Indian PoWs on way to and at Bebelthuap Palau, causing death to many by imposing severe hardships and beatings, and also executing Sepoy Mohammed Shafi of the Indian Army by beheading for allegedly trying to escape; eight others were beaten to death for allegedly stealing sugar from the stores.
At Wewak in New Guinea too, Indian PoWs were treated worse than beasts of burden. They were made to work 12-14 hours and were left exposed to Allied air raids. The senior-most Japanese officer here was one Colonel Takano, who even flogged men sick with beri beri for "working slowly". The Indian officers of these so-called working parties demanded better conditions and fair treatment as PoWs under international law (Geneva Convention).
According to Australian historian Professor Peter Stanley, the Indian officers gave a written petition in English to Takano in July, 1943. The Japanese colonel was so angry to see it that he paraded all of them before him and told them that they had no rights as they had surrendered unconditionally. He also called them "traitors of Asia and India". Harsher conditions were imposed on the men.
Then in one Allied strafing raid, five Indian PoWs were killed and 13 others injured. Takano didn't let their wounds be treated. Instead, he threw sand at the men crying in pain and told them to shut up as it was their "Churchill and Roosevelt who did this" to them. All the men died later of infection.
The PoWs gave another petition, this time drafted by Captain Nirpal Chand of 6th battalion, 14 Punjab Regiment. When the Japanese refused again, this KCIO (King's Commissioned Indian Officer — such officers could also command European troops) organized a hunger strike. Despite Japanese threats, the men refused to eat until their demands were met. The Japanese eventually relented, but not for long. Captain Chand was executed on April 22, 1944, for "inciting his men to rebel". The Japanese officers later tried for Chand's death by Australians told the court that the Indian officer was given the opportunity to change his mind, but he had refused, so he was executed in a "lawful and honourable" way. It took two strikes with the gunto to sever Chand's head.
Jemadar Chint Singh, a VCO who testified against the Japanese, told Australian daily The Age in an interview dated June 7, 1947, Captain Chand's last words to his men: "Don't worry. If I am killed, some of you will see the good times which are ahead and tell your tales. The Japs cannot finish the whole lot. If I die for your rightful demands, I shall consider it a great honour and credit to me."
A similar "gallant tale" was reported by The Times of India on September 10, 1945, from Manila, Philippines. Some of the 330 rescued Indians on board the medical ship Oxfordshire told about Captain Mateen Ahmed Ansari of 5th battalion, 7th Rajput Regiment. He was a KCIO and the nephew of the Nizam of Hyderabad. They called him "one of the greatest heroes of the prison camps at Hong Kong".
Ansari was arrested on April 1, 1943, on suspicion of participating in a group attempt to escape. The Japanese soon found out about Ansari's royal lineage and pressured him to convince Indian troops to switch their loyalty to the Japanese. Ansari refused to break his Indian Army oath. "The Japanese tortured him with beatings, the water cure, and by plunging an electric plug into his bare back. These tortures failed to break the Indian's spirit. So the Japanese began a systematic reduction of his rations, beginning with six ounces of rice a day. Finally, they told him that he had his choice of being beheaded or shot. The Indian replied that 'beheading is a barbarous method, but as you are barbarians at heart, you will have to decide'. The Japanese then beheaded him," TOI reported. Captain Ansari was awarded the George Cross for the "most conspicuous gallantry".
An emaciated Indian PoW from Hong Kong onboard the medical ship Oxfordshire (Getty Images)
The TOI report of May 16, 1944, also mentioned that the Indian soldiers "were victims of 'indescribable indignities' at the hands of their captors". The chapter Indian POWs in the Pacific, 1941-45 by G J Douds, which is part of the 2007 book, Forgotten Captives in Japanese-Occupied Asia, edited by Kevin Blackburn and Karl Hack, elaborates on these indignities. "At Hansa Bay in New Guinea, Hindu prisoners were also severely beaten for their refusal to touch beef...the Japanese tried to prevent Muslims from fasting during Ramzan. Extra fatigues were imposed in a bid to enforce eating. The Muslims held out and the fast was eventually permitted; but in general no toleration was shown in religious matters," reads a passage.
The Sikhs were particularly insulted for their long hair and beards. In February, 1944, eight rescued Sikh PoWs narrated their tales of suffering and about the indignities heaped on them. "We were locked in a room for a night and a day without water. Next day, when our mouths were very dry, they took us out and made a sport of plucking our beards. For food we were given dry bread, but before we could eat it our hands were tied behind our backs. We writhed in pain to get at the bread, which was placed in our laps. One Indian commissioned officer who asked for water was hit on the head and shot. Another was forced to drink large quantities, and when he had finished the Japanese jumped on his stomach until the water poured from his mouth, ears, nose, and eyes," one of the men was quoted in the Canberra Times dated February 4, 1944.
The men further detailed how a Viceroy's Commissioned Officer (VCO) was hung upside down alive and bayoneted by the Japanese who also pulled his heart out.
But the most spine-chilling of all Japanese atrocities was their practice of cannibalism. One of the first to level charges of cannibalism against the Japanese was Jemadar Abdul Latif of 4/9 Jat Regiment of the Indian Army, a VCO who was rescued by the Australians at Sepik Bay in 1945. He alleged that not just Indian PoWs but even locals in New Guinea were killed and eaten by the Japanese. "At the village of Suaid, a Japanese medical officer periodically visited the Indian compound and selected each time the healthiest men. These men were taken away ostensibly for carrying out duties, but they never reappeared," the Melbourne correspondent of The Times, London, cabled this version of Jemadar Latif on November 5, 1946.
Jemadar Abdul Latif of 4/9 Jat Regiment who was among the first to allege that the Japanese killed Indians and fed on them
Latif's charges were buttressed by Captain R U Pirzai and Subedar Dr Gurcharan Singh. "Of 300 men who went to Wewak with me, only 50 got out. Nineteen were eaten. A Jap doctor —Lieutenant Tumisa, formed a party of three or four men and would send an Indian outside the camp for something. The Japs immediately would kill him and eat the flesh from his body. The liver, muscles from the buttocks, thighs, legs, and arms would be cut off and cooked," Captain Pirzai told Australian daily The Courier-Mail in a report dated August 25, 1945.
Then there were more similar testimonies by PoWs interned in other camps, such as Havildar Changdi Ram and Lance Naik Hatam Ali, who also gave details of cannibalism practised in their camps. John Baptist Crasta of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps, also a PoW at Rabaul, wrote in his memoir (Eaten by the Japanese: The Memoir of an Unknown Indian Prisoner of War) about Japanese eating Indian soldiers. He was made part of the Allied investigation into Japanese war crimes later.
All these soldiers gave sworn testimonies to the war crimes investigation commissions set up by the Allies, based on which several Japanese officers and men were tried. The senior-most Japanese officer found guilty of cannibalism and hanged was Lieutenant General Yoshio Tachibana.
The Japanese, though, were always dismissive of these charges. Then in 1992, a Japanese historian named Toshiyuki Tanaka found incontrovertible evidence of Japanese atrocities, including cannibalism, on Indians and other Allied prisoners. His initial findings were printed by The Japan Times. In 1997, Tanaka came out with his book, Hidden Horrors: Japanese War Crimes In World War II. There, he refuted the Allies' conclusion that the Japanese resorted to cannibalism when their supplies dwindled. Tanaka said this was done under the supervision of senior officers and was perceived as a power projection tool.
UK-based military historian Amarpal Sidhu recalls his grandparents, who lived in Singapore during WWII, telling him about the fear psychosis among the Indian community in Singapore regarding Japanese cannibalism. "The issue of cannibalism and other atrocities committed against Indian POWs by the Japanese although widely known and talked about still remains one of the least researched and documented aspects of the last great war. As the last veterans of the World War die out, many first-hand accounts of these events are vanishing fast without being recorded," Sidhu told TOI.
The Japanese also tried to impose their military drill and words of command on the Indian PoWs. It's recorded that Captain Pirzai and other officers refused. The furious Japanese subjected the whole unit to savage treatment, but still, the men didn't yield, saying they were Indian Army officers and men and would only follow the drill of their army.
Another similar incident occurred At Komoriyama in New Britain in 1945. There, men of the 5/11 Sikh Regiment were given 'good conduct' badges to wear. The Indian officers protested, saying that they were men of the Indian Army and they would wear only badges and uniform worn in that army. The men were threatened, but they didn't budge. Then a machinegun was brought forward and the Japanese threatened to shoot down all. The Sikhs still didn't budge. This went on for five days at the end of which the Japanese lost patience and flogged most of the men till they passed out.
Only 5,500 Indians came out of Japanese captivity alive. And despite all the hardships, the men refused to break their Indian Army oath and join the Japanese-sponsored Indian Independence League or INA. What emerges from all these recorded incidents is a picture of amazing fortitude shown by Indian PoWs. A kind of professionalism and apolitical behaviour that perhaps still characterises the Indian Army of today.
Soldiers who didn't die in the firing being bayoneted to death
Different historians have come up with different explanations for this. Some say it was because the men, at least the officers, were highly Anglicised Sandhurst-trained men who also came from families that had a history of generations of loyal service to the British. But in the words of Claude Auchinleck, these men didn't have any particular loyalty towards Britain.
The men were loyal to each other, to their regiments, to their officers. It was this loyalty that cemented such a diverse army like the Indian Army together. This loyalty, coupled with a strong sense of Indian identity, which had become stronger due to the ongoing National Movement back home, may have made the men endure all sorts of hardship. And it is this strong sense of Indian identity in the army that would shake up the Raj.
When India became independent in 1947, these same British-trained officers and men inherited a colonial army and transformed it into a national army that became the muse of patriots of all ages almost overnight.
出鱈目のオンパレードで気分が悪く成りました。
日本軍の悪行がこれでもか！、これでもか！と執拗に列挙されており、読み進むのが困難になりました。
日本政府はこれを放置しておく事は出来ません！・・・そく記者の素性や、資料の開陳を求め、精査しして反論しなければ、第二の慰安婦問題や南京大虐殺に発展するでしょう、
和訳する暇が有りませんでしたが、取り敢えず拙ブログ訪問者の方々に旧日本軍へ、日本国への新たな攻撃が始まった事をお知らせするのが先決と思い原文記事を掲載いたしました。
後日和訳したものをアップ致します。
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