In August 1945, Japan's rout in war and the report of Netaji's death in an air-crash, took the wind out of the INA mast. There was no leader left who could keep the army together. Surrender was the only option that remained.

There was resistance to the idea of surrender at first. Many preferred death to surrender. I was told that if it had not been for Colonel G S Dhillon, even Shah Nawaz and a few others would have followed the Japanese tradition and taken their own lives in the face of defeat.

When the INA soldiers were disarmed and led by Lord Mountbatten's victorious army to stand trial in Red Fort, the English had not anticipated the spontaneous outpouring of support for the soldiers. The English, who already had their plates full, did not want another trouble on account of the trial.

In any case, the English had already tasted rebellion within its own army ranks when its Indian units had marched into Imphal to clear INA's occupation. Another mutiny was not in their interest.

Meanwhile, India discovered three new heroes during the Red Fort trial - Shah Nawaz Khan, P K Saighal and G S Dhillon. For the Indian National Congress, which was, at the time, searching for a issue to keep the fire of the freedom movement burning in people, latched on to the chance and jumped to the defence of the INA soldiers.