Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c14.s3.t7.7

v2.c14.s3.t7.7

During the War and occupation, the IIL in China had significant support among Indians in China, although it is not clear how much of this was entirely voluntary. Besides mobilising recruits for the INA and financial support for the struggle, IIL in China also looked after the welfare of Indians in China who found themselves in difficult circumstances owing to the War. However, with the defeat of Japan and the death of Subhash Chandra Bose, IIL and INA virtually disintegrated. In China, IIL activists were rounded up by the authorities and treated harshly in prison. A number of them were sent back to India under escort, where they were again jailed by the British and had to face trial. Despite its dismal end, probably no other Indian political organisation in China had achieved the kind of mass base that the Indian Independence League had in its short history.