The Swaraj Spy

By Vijay Balan

About the book

Did you know that there was an Indian National Army (INA) before the one led by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose? Read on to learn more.

The Swaraj Spy, based on true events in the life of the author’s granduncle, challenges accepted notions of wartime loyalty through the transformation of one man from loyal servant of the British Empire to rebel spy. Kumar Nair is dismissed from a British para-military unit for refusing to disperse unarmed women agitating for India’s independence from colonial rule. He moves to Singapore leaving his new wife behind, after the Great Depression destroys his fledgling business. World War 2 breaks out and the Japanese rapidly defeat the British and capture Singapore.

Kumar is introduced to a group setting up the rebel Indian National Army (INA) with Japanese help. The INA’s purpose is to defeat the British and gain Indian independence. He joins a secret espionage school set up by Japanese Intelligence and the INA in Penang, Malaya. When several cadets trained at the school are betrayed by a double-agent, and captured by the British, Kumar is sent on a rescue mission with conflicting instructions. The Japanese want Kumar to continue the espionage mission with surviving agents. Indian leaders, not trusting Japanese intentions, ask Kumar to save as many agents as possible and hunker down until the end of the war (this first INA collapsed because of these tensions between the Japanese and Indians, and was later revived by Netaji). Meanwhile Kumar’s wife Maalu faces the pain of not knowing Kumar’s fate with remarkable stoicism. Caught in a hall of mirrors, can Kumar succeed in his desperate quest to cross wartime borders, rescue his fellow trainees, and return to his young wife in Malabar?

The Swaraj Spy is a tale of three interwoven journeys: Kumar’s physical journey through a rich visual arc from Malabar paddies through the Anglo-Chinese mosaic of Singapore, pagoda-strewn Rangoon, and the jungles of Burma; the transformation of an impetuous man to a thoughtful soul in the midst of shifting boundaries between friend and foe; and the backdrop of India’s tumultuous march to independence.