Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T01:23:18.414Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘We Must Send a Gift Worthy of India and the Congress!’ War and political humanitarianism in late colonial South Asia*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 January 2018

MARIA FRAMKE
MARIA FRAMKE*
Affiliation:
Historical Institute, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany Email: maria.framke@uni-rostock.de
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The interwar period has recently been described as a highly internationalist one in South Asia, as a series of distinct internationalisms—communist, anarchist, social scientific, socialist, literary, and aesthetic1—took shape. At the same time, it has been argued that the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 drew to a close various opportunities for international association (at least, temporarily). Taking into account both these contradistinctive developments, this article deals with another—and thus far largely overlooked—South Asian internationalism in the form of wartime Indian humanitarianism. In 1938, the Indian National Congress helped organize an Indian medical mission to China to bring relief to Chinese victims of the Second Sino-Japanese War. By focusing on this initiative, this article traces the ideas, the practices, and the motives of Indian political humanitarianism. It argues that such initiatives, as they became part of much wider global networks of humanitarianism in the late 1930s and early 1940s, created new openings for Indian nationalists to establish international alliances. This article also examines the way in which political humanitarianism enabled these same nationalists to perform as independent leaders on an international stage, and argues that humanitarianism served as a tool of anti-colonial emancipation.

Type
Forum
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 51 , Special Issue 6: Institutions and Economic Development in South Asia , November 2017 , pp. 1969 - 1998
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

I am indebted to the editors of this Forum issue, and to Daniel Laqua, Alexandra Pfeiff as well as the two anonymous reviewers for their comments and criticism.

References

1 Goswami, M., ‘Imaginary futures and colonial internationalisms’, American Historical Review, vol. 117, 5, 2012, p. 1465CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 See among others: ibid., pp. 1461–1485; Stolte, C. and Fischer-Tiné, H., ‘Imagining Asia in India: Nationalism and internationalism (ca. 1905–1940)’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 54, 1, 2012, pp. 65–92 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Ramnath, M., The Haj to utopia: How the Ghadar movement charted global radicalism and attempted to overthrow the British empire, University of California Press, Santa Cruz, 2011 Google Scholar; Bose, S. and Manjapra, K. (eds), Cosmopolitan thought zones: South Asia and the global circulation of ideas, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2010 Google Scholar; Sinha, M., ‘Suffragism and internationalism: The enfranchisement of British and Indian women under an imperial state’, Indian Economic and Social History Review, vol. 36, 4, 1999, pp. 461–484 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For South Asian internationalism prior to the interwar period see: Manjapra, K., ‘Knowledgeable internationalism and the Swadeshi movement, 1903–1921’, Economic & Political Weekly, vol. 47, 42, Oct. 2012, pp. 53–62 Google Scholar; Fischer-Tiné, H., ‘Indian nationalism and the “world forces”: Transnational and diasporic dimensions of the Indian freedom movement on the eve of the First World War’, Journal of Global History, vol. 2, 2007, pp. 325–344 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; R Frost, M., ‘“Beyond the limits of nation and geography”: Rabindranath Tagore and the cosmopolitan moment, 1916–1920’, Cultural Dynamics, vol. 24, 2–3, 2012, pp. 143– 158 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 C. Stolte, ‘Orienting India: Interwar internationalism in an Asian inflection, 1917–1937’, PhD thesis, University of Leiden, 2013, p. 198.

4 Barnett, M., Empire of humanity: A history of humanitarianism, Cornell University Press, Ithaca/London, 2011, pp. 5–6, 32, 34, 38 and 40Google Scholar.

5 Laqua, D., ‘Inside the humanitarian cloud: Causes and motivations to help friends and strangers’, Journal of Modern European History, vol. 12, 2, 2014, p. 177 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 Sareen, T. R., ‘India and the war’, in The impact of the Russo-Japanese war, Kowner, R. (ed.), Routledge, London, 2007, pp. 239–250 Google Scholar; G. Dharampal-Frick, ‘Der Russisch-Japanische Krieg und die indische Nationalbewegung’, in Der Russisch-Japanische Krieg 1904/05: Anbruch einer neuen Zeit?, M. H. Sprotte, W. Seifert and H.-D. Löwe (eds), Harrossowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2007, pp. 259–276.

7 Lin, C., ‘Japanese shipping in India and the British resistance, 1891–1918’, The International History Review, vol. 32, 2, 2010, pp. 307–318 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Sugihara, K., ‘Patterns of Asia's integration into the world economy, 1880–1913’, in The integration of the world economy, 1850–1914, Vol. II., Harley, C. K. (ed.), Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham, 1996, pp. 700–717 Google Scholar.

8 Stolte, ‘Orienting India’; Fischer-Tiné, H., ‘“The cult of Asianism”: Asiendiskurse in Indien zwischen Nationalismus und Internationalismus (ca. 1885–1955)’, Comparativ, vol. 18, 6, 2008, pp. 16–33 Google Scholar; Hay, S., Asian ideas of East and West: Tagore and his critics in Japan, China, and India, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1970, p. 42 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Krása, M., ‘The idea of Pan-Asianism and the nationalist movement in India’, Archiv Orientálni, vol. 40, 1972, pp. 38–60 Google Scholar.

9 Fischer-Tiné, ‘Indian nationalism and the “world forces”’, pp. 328 and 336–338; Bose, A. C., Indian revolutionaries abroad, 1905–1922: In the backgrounds of international developments, Bharati Bhawan, Patna, 1971, pp. 66–70 Google Scholar; Aydin, C., The politics of anti-westernism in Asia: Visions of world order in Pan-Islamic and Pan-Asian thought, Columbia University Press, New York, 2007, pp. 81 and 114–118 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Sareen, T. R., Indian revolutionaries, Japan and British imperialism, Anmol, New Delhi, 1993, pp. 8–10 Google Scholar; Green, N., ‘Shared infrastructures, informational asymmetries: Persians and Indians in Japan, c. 1890–1930’, Journal of Global History, vol. 8, 3, 2013, pp. 424–435 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 Deepak, B. R., ‘Colonial connections: Indian and Chinese nationalists in Japan and China’, China Report, vol. 48, 1–2, 2012, pp. 148–156 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Bose, Indian revolutionaries abroad, pp. 66–70; Fischer-Tiné, ‘Indian nationalism and the “world forces”’, pp. 336–338; Aydin, The politics of anti-westernism, p. 115; Goebel, M., ‘Geopolitics, transnational solidarity or diaspora nationalism? The global career of M. N. Roy, 1915–1930’, European Review of History, vol. 21, 4, 2014, p. 488 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Framke, M., ‘Vorbild oder Feindbild? Die Wahrnehmung Japans in Indien von 1915–1920’, Bochumer Jahrbuch zur Ostasienforschung, vol. 34, 2011, p. 107 Google Scholar; Hotta, E., ‘Rash Behari Bose and his Japanese supporter’, Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies, vol. 8, 1, 2006, pp. 116–132 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

11 Stolte, ‘Orienting India’, pp. 147–155; Hotta, ‘Rash Behari Bose’, pp. 116–132; Green, ‘Shared infrastructures’, pp. 429–433.

12 Framke, ‘Vorbild oder Feindbild?’, pp. 103–120.

13 Sachsenmaier, D., ‘Searching for alternatives to Western modernity—cross-cultural approaches in the aftermath of the Great War’, Journal of Modern European History, vol. 4, 2, 2006, pp. 247–257 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Hay, Asian ideas, pp. 136–185.

14 The article generally uses the Pinyin transliteration for Chinese names. However, it follows the Wade-Giles transliteration where it has been used in titles of references and also uses the more well-known Chiang Kai-Shek instead of Jiang Jieshi, for example.

15 Tsui, B., ‘The plea for Asia—Tan Yunshan, Pan-Asianism and Sino-Indian relations’, China Report, vol. 46, 4, 2010, pp. 353–370 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Sachsenmaier, ‘Searching for alternatives’, pp. 247–248; Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML), All India Congress Committee Papers (A.I.C.C. Papers), File N 8/1938, misc. correspondence Lohia, letter by T. Yunshan to R. M. Lohia, 15 March 1938.

16 Tsui, ‘The plea for Asia’, pp. 360–361; Das Gupta, U., ‘Sino-Indian studies at Visva-Bharati University: Story of Cheena-Bhavana, 1921–1937’, in Tagore and China, Chung, T. et al. (eds), Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2011, pp. 65–71 Google Scholar; NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File 39/Foreign Department, Newsletter No. 16, 22 April 1937.

17 Louro, M., ‘India and the League against Imperialism: A special “blend” of nationalism and internationalism’, in The Internationalist moment: South Asia, worlds, and world views, 1917–39, Raza, A., Roy, F. and Zachariah, B. (eds), Sage, New Delhi, 2015, pp. 22–55 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Petersson, F., Willi Münzenberg, the League against Imperialism, and the Comintern, 1925–1933, Vols 1 and 2, The Edwin Mellen Press, New York, 2013 Google Scholar.

18 Samarani, G., Shaping the future of Asia: Chiang Kai-shek, Nehru and China-India relations during the Second World War period, Lund University, Lund, 2005, pp. 2–4 Google Scholar; Stolte, ‘Orienting India’, pp. 51–55; Deepak, B. R., ‘India's political leaders and nationalist China: Quest for a Sino-Indian alliance’, China Report, vol. 50, 3, 2014, pp. 218–220 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

19 Friedman, I. S., ‘Indian nationalism and the Far East’, Pacific Affairs, vol. 13, 1, 1940, pp. 19–23 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Keenleyside, T. A., ‘Nationalist Indian attitudes towards Asia: A troublesome legacy for post-independence Indian foreign policy’, Pacific Affairs, vol. 55, 2, 1982, pp. 220–221 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also the media coverage, for instance in the Modern Review and the Bombay Chronicle. For the conflict with Britain, see Bickers, R., Britain in China: Community, culture and colonialism 1900–1949, Manchester University Press, Manchester/New York, 1999, pp. 115–169 Google Scholar; Buchanan, T., East wind: China and the British left, 1925–1976, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012, pp. 22–47 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For the Manchurian incident and the relationship between Chinese nationalists and communists, see Mitter, R., Forgotten ally: China's World War II, 1937–1945, Mariner Books, Boston/New York, 2014, Chapters 2–3Google Scholar; Young, L., ‘Imagined empire: The cultural construction of Manchukuo’, in The Japanese wartime empire, 1931–1945, Duus, P., Myers, R. H. and Peattie, M. R. (eds), Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1996, pp. 71–96 Google Scholar.

20 Stolte, C., ‘“Enough of the great Napoleons!” Raja Mahendra Pratap's Pan-Asian projects (1929–1939)’, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 46, 2, 2012, pp. 403–423 (esp. pp. 419–421)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Hotta, ‘Rash Behari Bose’, pp. 116–132; Stolte and Fischer-Tiné, ‘Imagining Asia’, pp. 65–92. Fischer-Tiné and Stolte argue that ‘Japan remained Asia's strongest power and still served as an influential model of modernity. Japanese goodwill missions continued to seek and find audiences in India, and their views on Asia did find their way into the Indian press, often through the mediation of the Indian-born, but naturalized Japanese revolutionary Rashbehari Bose, who published his own monthly journal, New Asia. The Indian community in Japan formed an important bridge in this respect, and its most prominent members attended the inauguration of the Great Asia Association in Kobe in 1938’ (p. 71).

21 Stolte, ‘Orienting India’, Chapters 2 and 3; Stolte and Fischer-Tiné, ‘Imagining Asia’, pp. 65–92; Stolte, C., ‘Bringing Asia to the world: Indian trade unionism and the long road towards the Asiatic Labour Congress, 1919–1937’, Journal of Global History, vol. 7, 2, 2012, pp. 257–278 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

22 Framke, M., Delhi—Rom—Berlin: Die indische Wahrnehmung von Faschismus und Nationalsozialismus, 1922–1939, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 2013 Google Scholar; Visvesvaraya, M., Reconstructing India, P. S. King and Son, London, 1920 Google Scholar.

23 Husain, M., The quest for empire: An introduction to the study of contemporary expansionist policy of Japan, Italy and Germany, Asutosh Press, Dacca, 1937 Google Scholar; Das, T., ‘German-Japanese alliance’, Modern Review, vol. 51, 2, 1937, pp. 137–144 Google Scholar. Similarly, V. D. Savarkar, president of the Hindu Maha Sabha, understood Japanese expansionism in terms of ‘Realpolitik’ in 1938: NMML, V. D. Savarkar Papers, misc. correspondence, Jan. 1938—May 1939, press statement, undated, issued by Hindu Mahasabha Office Bombay Branch.

24 Hay, Asian ideas, pp. 316–322; Tagore, R., ‘Letter to R. B. Bose—10 October 1937’, ‘Letter to Y. Noguchi—1 September 1938’, ‘Letter to R. B. Bose—24 October 1938’, in Selected letters of Rabindranath Tagore, Dutta, K. and Robinson, A. (eds), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1997, pp. 485–486, 496–499 and 501–502Google Scholar.

25 Stolte, Orienting India, p. 198.

26 The most famous example is Subhas Chandra Bose. But Srinivas Iyangar, too, viewed Japan as a partner in India's struggle for independence. Furthermore, members of the Indian expatriate communities living in China sided with the pro-Japanese government of Wang Jingwei in the Japanese-occupied areas: see Saklani, A. M., ‘Nehru, Chiang-Kai-shek, and the Second World War’, in India and China in the colonial world, Thampi, M. (ed.), Social Science Press, New Delhi, 2005, pp. 168 and 175Google Scholar.

27 K. Chatopadhyaya, In war-torn China, Padma Publication, Bombay, 1942, pp. xv–xvi; Nehru, J., China, Spain and the war, Kitabistan, Allahabad and London, 1940, pp. 16–21 Google Scholar.

28 Chatopadhyaya, In war-torn China; Nehru, China, Spain and the war, pp. 21–45; Saklani, ‘Nehru, Chiang-Kai-shek’, p. 172; NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File G-40/Tai Chi Tao's tour of India; West Bengal State Archives (WBSA), Intelligence Files, 21/1938, File 221/38: ‘Letter by J. Nehru to Madame Sun Yat-sen, 2 February 1940’; Chan, K. C., ‘Britain's reaction to Chiang Kai-shek's visit to India, February, 1942’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol. 21, 2, 1975, pp. 52–61 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Yang, T., ‘Chiang Kai-shek and Jawaharlal Nehru’, in Negotiating China's destiny in World War II, van de Ven, H., Lary, D. and MacKinnon, S. R. (eds), Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2015, pp. 127–140 Google Scholar. Jawaharlal Nehru visited China in August and September 1939 but was forced to discontinue his trip due to the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1940, Dai Jitao, member of the Executive Committee of the Guomindang and the Supreme Council of National Defence toured India on a cultural goodwill mission, partly organized by the INC. Furthermore, the All-India Women's Conference decided in 1940 during its annual meeting to send a delegation to China. Believing in the international relevance of the proposed mission Jawaharlal Nehru approached Madame Sun Yat-sen to meet the delegation. The visit, however, did not materialize. Finally, in 1942 Chiang Kai-shek visited India as an official guest of the British Indian government. As his principal aim was to win (nationalist) India's active participation in the war, during his stay Chiang met, among others, Jawaharlal Nehru und Mahatma Gandhi. His efforts, however, were in vain, as the INC stuck to its policy of not actively aiding the British during the war.

29 Datta, P. K., ‘The interlocking worlds of the Anglo-Boer war in South Africa and India’, in South Africa & India: Shaping the global South, Hofmeyr, I. and Williams, M. (eds), Wits University Press, Johannesburg, 2011, pp. 56–81 Google Scholar; Hyslop, J., ‘Gandhi 1869–1915: The transnational emergence of a public figure’, in The Cambridge companion to Gandhi, Brown, J. M. and Parel, A. (eds), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2011, pp. 30–50 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

30 Wasti, S. T., ‘The Indian Red Crescent mission to the Balkan wars’, Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 45, 3, 2009, pp. 393–406 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Ozaydin, Z., ‘The Indian Muslims Red Crescent Society's aid to the Ottoman State during the Balkan war in 1912’, Journal of the International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine, vol. 2, 4, 2003, pp. 12–18 Google Scholar.

31 Das, S., ‘“Indian sisters! . . . Send your husbands, brothers, sons”: India, women and the First World War’, in The women's movement in wartime: International perspectives, 1914–19, Fell, A. S. and Sharp, I. (eds), Palgrave Macmillan, Houndmills, Basingstoke, 2007, pp. 18–37 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Roy, K. (ed.), The Indian army in the two world wars, Brill, Leiden/Boston, 2012 Google Scholar; Hyson, S. and Lester, A., ‘“British India on trial”: Brighton military hospitals and the politics of empire in World War I’, Journal of Historical Geography, vol. 38, 2012, pp. 18–34 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

32 When speaking about the ‘Indian National Congress’ in this article, I refer to the officially stated policy of the Congress, announced in resolutions and public statements. The application of this term does not suggest understanding the INC as a monolithic block that did not consist of various political and social factions with conflicting opinions. Furthermore, it does not imply that all Congress members were actively involved in the humanitarian campaign for China. The same qualification applies when referring to the policies of the British government in London and the British Indian government in Delhi.

33 Prasad, B., The origins of Indian foreign policy, Bookland Private Limited, Calcutta, 1960, pp. 73–74 Google Scholar.

34 British Library (BL), Asia, Pacific, and Africa Collections (APAC), IOR/L/PJ/6/1941, ‘Telegram from Viceroy to Secretary of State for India, 3 July 1927’; BL, APAC, IOR/L/PJ/6/1941, ‘Letter from Secretary to Government of India, Home Department to T. C. Goswami, 3 August 1927’.

35 Framke, Delhi—Rom—Berlin, pp. 249–257; NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File FD/1936, Foreign Department Newsletter No. 12, 5 February 1937; NMML, Jawaharlal Nehru Papers (JNP), Subject Files, Writings/Speeches, statement No. 285, 22 November 1938; NMML, JNP, Individual Coll., Vol. 33, letter to Senor Del Vayo, 21 November 1938.

36 See, among others, Mitter, Forgotten ally; Special issue ‘China in World War II, 1937–1945: Experience, memory, and legacy’, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 54, 2, 2011; Peattie, M., Drea, E. and van de Hen, H. (eds), The battle for China: Essays on the military history of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937–1945, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2011 Google Scholar; MacKinnon, S., Lary, D. and Vogel, E. (eds), China at war: Regions of China, 1937–45, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2007 Google Scholar; van de Ven, H., Lary, D. and MackKinnon, S. R. (eds), Negotiating China's destiny in World War II, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2015 Google Scholar.

37 Kuracina, W. F., ‘Colonial India and external affairs: Relating Indian nationalism to global politics’, Journal of Asian and African Studies, vol. 42, 6, 2007, p. 523 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

38 Although one cannot deny Nehru's decisive role in shaping the Congress's foreign policy, we have to take into account that international affairs, especially the policies of fascist and imperialist countries, were widely discussed during the 1930s not only within the Congress and Congress Socialist Party (CSP) circles but also in the nationalist English press. See Framke, Delhi—Rom—Berlin, Chapter 7.

39 n. a., ‘The All India Congress Committee, Calcutta—29 October to 31 October 1937’, in The Indian annual register, Vol. II 1937, H. N. Mitra (ed.), Gian Publishing House, New Delhi, 1990, p. 323.

40 n. a., ‘Appeal for world-wide boycott of Japanese goods’, Modern Review, vol. 63, 1, 1938, p. 103; n. a. ‘Is it Japan's reply to boycott?’, Modern Review, vol. 63, 1, 1938, p. 119; n. a., ‘Boycott Japanese goods’, Times of India, 27 September 1937, p. 10; J. D. M., ‘Reader's letter: China day’, Times of India, 14 January 1938, p. 6; n. a., ‘Boycott Japanese goods’, Times of India, 9 July 1938, p. 12; Editorial, ‘For or against Japan?’, Times of India, 19 June 1939, p. 8; Nehru, J., ‘The need for help to China—9 January 1938’, in Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru (SWJN), Vol. 8, Gopal, S. (ed.), Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1976, p. 735 Google Scholar; Nehru, J., ‘The situation in India—21 June 1938’, in SWJN, Vol. 9, Gopal, S. (ed.), Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1976, p. 22Google Scholar.

41 NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File G-29/Report on China, China Campaign Committee, International Newsletter, 4 November 1938. In the first seven months of 1937, India imported Japanese goods worth 147 million yen, but in the same period in 1938, the import value of Japanese products decreased to 93 million yen.

42 For the British boycott of Japanese goods but also for activities in other European countries, see especially Clegg, A., Aid China 1937–1949: A memoir of a forgotten campaign, New World Press, Beijing, 1989 Google Scholar; Buchanan, T., ‘“Shanghai-Madrid axis”? Comparing British responses to the conflicts in Spain and China, 1936–39’, Contemporary European History, vol. 21, 4, 2012, pp. 537–539 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

43 Kuracina, ‘Colonial India and external affairs’, pp. 517–532; T. A. Keenleyside, ‘Origins of Indian foreign policy: A study of Indian nationalist attitudes to foreign affairs, 1927–1939’, PhD thesis, University of London, London, 1966, pp. 67–82; Owen, N., The British left and India: Metropolitan anti-imperialism, 1885–1947, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2007, pp. 235–251 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Framke, M., ‘International events, national policy: The 1930s in India as a formative period for non-alignment’, in The non-aligned movement and the Cold war: Delhi—Bandung—Belgrade, Mišković, N., Fischer-Tiné, H. and Boškovska, N. (eds), Routledge, London/New York, 2014, pp. 37–56 Google Scholar.

44 Mazower, M., No enchanted palace: The end of empire and the ideological origins of the United Nations, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2008, pp. 17–19 and Chapter 2Google Scholar; Manela, E., The Wilsonian moment: Self-determination and the international origins of anticolonial nationalism, Oxford University Press, New York, 2007, pp. 77–97 and 159–175Google Scholar; Framke ‘International events, national policy’, pp. 37–56.

45 See footnote 35.

46 n. a., ‘Appeal for world-wide boycott’, p. 103.

47 Ibid. NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File 30/Press statement China, issued by Jawaharlal Nehru, 18 December 1937.

48 Brown, J. M., ‘Jawaharlal Nehru and the British empire: The making of an “outsider” in Indian politics’, South Asia, vol. 29, 1, 2006, pp. 73–75 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Owen, The British left, pp. 235–241 and 247–251; Louro, M., ‘Rethinking Nehru's internationalism: The League against imperialism and anti-imperial networks’, Third Frame, vol. 2, 3, 2009, pp. 79–86 Google Scholar. Nehru's correspondence and networks were, however, not confined to Europe but also included non-European politicians and activists (see his Selected Works; Louro, ‘Rethinking Nehru's internationalism’, pp. 86–93; and Petersson, Willi Münzenberg, Vol. 1, pp. 216–217).

49 Louro, ‘India and the League against imperialism’; Petersson, Willi Münzenberg. Nehru was introduced to Romain Rolland by Gandhi in 1926. His relationship with the French writer and activist deepened over the next years due to their shared views on anti-fascism and anti-imperialism. See Nehru, J., ‘To Romain Rolland’, in SWJN, Vol. 2, Gopal, S. (ed.), Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1972, pp. 230–231 Google Scholar; Francis, R. A., ‘Romain Rolland and Gandhi: A study in communication’, Journal of European Studies, vol. 5, 1975, pp. 291–307, here pp. 298 and 306CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

50 Nehru, J., ‘Interview to the press—29 June 1938’, in SWJN, Vol. 9, p. 30 Google Scholar; J. Nehru, ‘Greetings to Spain and China—17 July 1938’, in ibid., p. 77; J. Nehru, ‘Spain, China and India—31 July 1938’, in ibid., pp. 91–92. Nehru's ideas of collective security in the shape of a united peace front constituted, however, only one school of thought among others circulating in the Congress: see Owen, The British left, pp. 249–251.

51 For Krishna Menon and the India League, see Chakravarty, S., V. K. Krishna Menon and the India League 1925–47, 2 vols, Har-Anand, New Delhi, 1997; Owen, The British left, pp. 241–247Google Scholar. For his relationship with British intellectuals, see Moscovitch, B., ‘Harold Laski's Indian students and the power of education, 1920–1950’, Contemporary South Asia, vol. 20, 1, 2012, pp. 40–41 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

52 Clegg, Aid China; Buchanan, ‘“Shanghai-Madrid axis”’; Buchanan, East wind. The CCC was founded in London in August/September 1937 and brought together different groups interested in displaying solidarity with China and working for its relief, such as the League against Imperialism, the Friends of Chinese People, the Union of Democratic Control, and the Left Book Club. The International Peace Campaign was part of the peace movement and worked for the revival of the League of Nations and collective security. As the British branch of a French-based movement, the International Peace Campaign championed communist ideas.

53 Clegg, Aid China, pp. 21, 26, 77 and 127; BL, APAC, IOR/L/PJ/12/323, ‘Extract from New Scotland Yard report, No. 100, 6 October 1937’, ‘Extract from New Scotland Yard report, No. 136, 8 March 1939’, ‘Extract from New Scotland Yard report, No. 145, 12 July 1939’; BL, APAC, IOR/L/PJ/12/451, ‘Extract from New Scotland Yard report, No. 115, 4 May 1938’; BL, APAC, IOR/L/PJ/12/293, ‘Report about Nehru's address to the Left Book Club, 6 July 1938’.

54 WBSA, Intelligence Files, 21/1938, File 221/38: ‘Special Cable: Medical unit for China. Send off to Dr. Atal, 14 July 1938’.

55 NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File 39/Foreign Department, Newsletter No. 26, 30 September 1937; n. a., ‘“China day” in Bombay’, Times of India, 8 July 1938, p. 12; K. N. C., ‘An appeal from China’, Modern Review, vol. 63, 1, 1938, p. 113.

56 n. a., ‘How to help China’, Modern Review, vol. 63, 1, 1938, p. 103; Nehru, ‘The need for help to China’, p. 735; K. N. C., ‘An appeal from China’, p. 113; ‘Letter by A. Smedley to J. Nehru’, in A bunch of old letters: Written mostly to Jawaharlal Nehru and some written by him, J. Nehru (ed.), Asia Publishing House, Bombay, 1958, p. 250.

57 ‘Letter by C. Teh to J. Nehru—26 November 1937’, in Nehru (ed.), A bunch of old letters, pp. 250–252.

58 Ibid., p. 252.

59 NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File 30/Press statement China, issued by J. Nehru, 18 December 1937; J. Nehru, ‘Letter to R. Tagore—9 January 1938’, in SWJN, Vol. 8, p. 734; Nehru, ‘The need for help to China’, p. 735. For British initiatives to deliver medical humanitarian help to China, see Buchanan, East wind, pp. 74–79.

60 For the applications, see NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File F38/1937, Chinese Relief Fund; WBSA, Intelligence Files, 21/1938, File 221/38. The applicants often referred to newspaper reports about the alleged despatch of the Congress mission.

61 NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File F38/1937, Chinese Relief Fund, Letter by A.I.C.C. to R. S. Ghosh, 3 February 1938.

62 NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File 8/1938, misc. correspondence Lohia, Letter by the C. T. Feng to R. M. Lohia, 15 March 1938; NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File G5/Correspondence Nehru, Letter by R. M. Lohia, 21 March 1938.

63 NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File P-1/1938, A.I.C.C. circulars to P.C.C., Press statement by S.C. Bose, 27 May 1938, and Press statement by S. C. Bose, 27 June 1938.

64 NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File P-1/1938, A.I.C.C. circulars to P.C.C., Circular No. 5 by General Secretary, n. d.; Circular No. 6 by General Secretary, 6 June 1938; and Circular No. 7 by General Secretary, 28 June 1938.

65 n. a., ‘India's sympathy for China’, Times of India, 14 June 1938, p. 13; n. a., ‘China day’, Times of India, 8 July 1938, p. 12; n. a., ‘Calcutta meeting: Processionists collect money’, Times of India, 8 July 1938, p. 12.

66 n. a., ‘Congress Chinese Ambulance unit’, Times of India, 30 July 1938, p. 20; n. a., ‘Medical mission to China’, Times of India, 1 September 1938, p. 12. Additionally, medicine and medical equipment were donated for the mission to take to China: see n. a., ‘Medical unit sails for China’, Bombay Sentinel, 2 September 1938, p. 9; K. A. Abbas, . . . And one did not come back! The story of the Congress medical mission to China, 4th ed., Sound Magazine, Bombay, 1944, pp. 17–18.

67 Lists of donors can be found in: NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File F38/1937, Chinese Relief Fund, here especially ‘List of donors for China Relief Fund’ and ‘List of Donors for China Relief Fund—Second Installment’; WBSA, Intelligence Files, File 21/1938, File 221/38: ‘Extract from A.B.P., dated 1.8.38’; J. Nehru, ‘To R. Tagore—9 January 1938’, in SWJN, Vol. 8, p. 734.

68 NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File F38/1937, Chinese Relief Fund, Letter by R. M. N. S. Pillay to S. C. Bose, 24 June 1938; K. A. N. Aiyer, ‘Ambulance for China’, Modern Review, vol. 64, 1, 1938, pp. 116 and 118.

69 J. Nehru, ‘Letter to S. C. Bose—14 July 1938’, in SWJN, Vol. 9, p. 58; n. a., ‘Jawahar on India's sympathy for China’, Bombay Chronicle, 16 July 1938, p. 7; n. a., Times of India, 1 September 1938, p. 12.

70 n. a., ‘The working committee proceedings, 15–19 May 1938’, in The Indian annual register, Vol. I 1938, H. N. Mitra (ed.), Gian Publishing House, New Delhi, 1990, pp. 323–324. The members of the organizing committee were: Dr Jivaraj Mehta, Dr Sunil Chandra Bose, Dr R. M. Lohia, G. P. Hutheesing, and Subhas Chandra Bose.

71 NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File P-1/1938, A.I.C.C. circulars to P.C.C.: Press statement by S. C. Bose, 27 May 1938. The INC promised to take care of expenses for equipment, room, and board in China and also to give a small allowance to the doctors. It seems that, originally, there had been hopes that it would be possible to send a bigger unit that would have included stretcher-bearers, compounders, dressers, etc. Due to a lack of finances, however, the committee decided to concentrate, for the moment, on the despatch of surgeons (NMML, A.I.C.C. Papers, File F38/1937, Chinese Relief Fund, Letter by R. M. Lohia to S. C. Bose, 1 April 1938; WBSA, Intelligence Files, 21/1938, File 221/38: ‘Extract from interception—Letters by R. M. Lohia, 9 June 1938’). All applications received by the Congress were forwarded to the organizing committee (WBSA, Intelligence Files, 21/1938, File 221/38: ‘Extract from interception—Letter by R. M. Lohia, 21 May 1938’).

72 n. a., Times of India, 30 July 1938.

73 WBSA, Intelligence Files, 21/1938, File 221/38: ‘Extract from interception—Letter by R. M. Lohia, 27 May 1938’ and ‘Special Cable—Medical Unit for China. Sent off to Dr. Atal, 14 July 1938’. For Atal's experiences in Spain see: ‘From our correspondent, “Epic stand: Dr. Atal's impressions of the Spanish struggle”’, Bombay Chronicle, 15 August 1937, p. 10; ‘From our own correspondent, “Fascist attempt on Indian doctor's life”’, Bombay Chronicle, 24 February 1938, p. 8. For the Spanish Medical Aid Committee see: Alpert, M., ‘Humanitarianism and politics in the British response to the Spanish Civil War, 1936–9’, European History Quarterly, vol. 14, 1984, pp. 423–440CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Pretus, G., Humanitarian relief in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), The Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, 2013, pp. 230–231 Google Scholar.

74 ‘From our own correspondent’, Bombay Chronicle, 24 February 1938, p. 8; n. a., ‘Medical unit sails for China’, Bombay Chronicle, 2 September 1938, p. 9. For further information on the ‘global Popular Front’ and other individuals who were closely involved in helping the Spanish and Chinese cause, see Buchanan, ‘Shanghai-Madrid Axis’. Dr Atal was a cousin of Nehru's wife Kamala and accompanied her to Europe in the mid-1930s for medical treatment: Brown, J. M., Nehru: A political life, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2003, p. 111 Google Scholar.

75 WBSA, Intelligence Files, 21/1938, File 221/38; BL, APAC, IOR/L/PJ/12/451; BL, APAC, IOR/L/PJ/12/293; BL, APAC, IOR/L/PJ/12/323.

76 WBSA, Intelligence Files, 21/1938, File 221/38.

77 WBSA, Intelligence Files, 21/1938, File 221/38: ‘Copy of letter No. 798-B/1077, 14 February 1939’ and ‘Copy of an I. B. Memo No. 20692, 8 July 1938’; Basu, B. K., Call of Yanan: Story of the Indian medical mission to China, 1938–43, All India Kotnis Memorial Committee, New Delhi, 1986, n. pGoogle Scholar.

78 The Government of India learned of Basu's ‘communist leanings’ only after his return from China in 1943: BL, APAC, IOR/L/PJ/7/6312, ‘Telegram XX No. 5899 from New Delhi to Ambassador Chungking, 21 July 1943’.

79 Low, D. A., Britain and Indian nationalism: The imprint of ambiguity 1929–1942, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1997, Chapters 6 and 7CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For a comprehensive analysis of the INC emerging as a parallel government in the 1930s, see Kuracina, W. F., The state and governance in India: The Congress ideal, Routledge, London 2010, pp. 23–30 Google Scholar.

80 n. a., Bombay Sentinel, 2 September 1938, p. 9; n. a., ‘We fight for liberation of humanity’, Bombay Sentinel, 1 September 1938, p. 5.

81 Abbas, . . . And one did not come back!, pp. 87 and 108; WBSA, Intelligence Files, 21/1938, File 221/38: ‘Intercepted letter by D. Mukherjee to D. Bannerji, 15 August 1939’, ‘Copy of newspaper article, Hindusthan Standard, 24 June 1940’, ‘Extract from Hindusthan Standard, 5 July 1943’.

82 Additional donations became necessary due to the individual decisions of the doctors to continue their work in China but also because of further Chinese appeals for help after the outbreak of the Second World War which made any procurement of medical supplies from Europe difficult. However, it seems that only limited financial funds were available or could be collected. After his return to India, and with the help of the INC, D. Mukherjee collected further medical supplies in late 1939. However, he was not able to bring them to China himself, as his passport was taken from him in Rangoon and he had to return to India. He delivered the medical supplies to the Chinese consul in Rangoon. J. Nehru, ‘Medical mission to China—8 April 1939’, in Nehru (ed.), SWJN, Vol. 9, p. 250; ‘Letter by Madame Sun Yat-sen to Jawaharlal Nehru, 15 September 1939’, in Nehru (ed.), A bunch of old letters, p. 380; WBSA, Intelligence Files, 21/1938, File 221/38: ‘Copy of newspaper article, Hindusthan Standard, 4 November 1939’, ‘Copy of a letter by J. Nehru to D. Mukherjee, 5 December 1939’, ‘Copy of a letter by J. Nehru to D. Mukherjee, 11 December 1939’, ‘Intercepted letter by J. Nehru to Madame Sun Yat-sen, 2 February 1940’.

83 Abbas, . . . And one did not come back!, p. 25.

84 Ibid.

85 Ibid., pp. 32–33, 47–54, 62, 65–67, 93 and 105–106.

86 Ibid., pp. 57 and 69.

87 Ibid., p. 88.

88 Clegg, Aid China, p. 56; Smedley, A., Battle hymn of China, Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1944, p. 162 Google Scholar; n. a., ‘Spain will never submit to fascism’, Bombay Sentinel, 2 August 1938, p. 4. This arrangement had been made between the Chinese government and the INC before the departure of the mission. Initially, the doctors were supposed to serve in Changsha. The plan was, however, changed after their arrival in China when Yan'an became their destination: WBSA, Intelligence Files, 21/1938, File 221/38: ‘Extract from interception—Letter by C. T. Feng to R. M. Lohia, 26 June 1938’.

89 Abbas, . . . And one did not come back!, pp. 97, 108–110, 112, 116, 118, 121 and 124.

90 Ibid., pp. 85 and 98; China Defence League, In guerrilla China: A report of China Defence League, China Aid Council, New York, 1943, pp. 6, 9–11, 16–26; Clegg, Aid China.

91 V. Lal, ‘Framing a discourse: China and India in the modern world’, Economic and Political Weekly, 10 January 2009, p. 41.

92 Abbas, . . . And one did not come back!, pp. 10 and 128; China Defence League, In guerrilla China; p. 8.

93 P. D. Wadia, ‘Dr. Dwarakanath Kotnis’, Times of India, 9 December 1956, p. 5; Lal, ‘Framing a discourse’, p. 41; S. Biswas, ‘Why is India's Dr Kotnis revered in China’, in BBC News India, 21 May 2013, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-22599356, [accessed 24 October 2017].

94 Nehru, ‘The need for help to China’, p. 734.

95 Ibid., pp. 734–735.

96 J. Nehru, ‘Greetings to Spain and China—17 July 1938’, in SWJN, Vol. 9, p. 77; J. Nehru, ‘Why India supports China—21 August 1938’, in SWJN, Vol. 9, pp. 209–210; Friedman, ‘Indian nationalism’, pp. 23–26.

97 J. Nehru, ‘India and the world perspective—31 May 1938’, in SWJN, Vol. 8, p. 641; J. Nehru, ‘China and India—7 July 1938’, in SWJN, Vol. 9, p. 56.

98 J. Nehru, ‘Letter to J. B. Kripalani—24 August 1938’, in SWJN, Vol. 9, p. 116.

99 J. Nehru, ‘Note to the Working Committee—1 August 1938’, in SWJN, Vol. 9, p. 104. Nehru received messages of solidarity for the Indian medical mission to China from Romain Rolland and the World Student Association (BL, APAC, IOR/L/PJ/12/293, ‘Report on Jawaharlal Nehru, 25 October 1938’).

100 Nehru, ‘Note to the Working Committee’, p. 104.

101 Nehru, ‘Letter to J. B. Kripalani’, p. 116.

102 J. Nehru, ‘Help to China and Spain—3 January 1939’, in SWJN, Vol. 9, p. 225.

103 Owen, The British left and India, pp. 248–251.

104 n. a., ‘Medical mission to China: Mr. Bose on moral value’, Times of India, 15 August 1938, p. 9.

105 WBSA, Intelligence Files, 21/1938, File 221/38: ‘Press statement: Mission of service and love, undated’.

106 For the extended correspondence see, among others: SWJN, Vols 10, 12 and 13, S. Gopal (ed.), Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1977–1980; NMML, JNP, Individual Coll., Vol. 12, Chiang Kai-Shek and Vol. 13, Madame Chiang Kai-shek.

107 See footnote 28.

108 NMML, JNP, Individual Coll., Vol. 45, Letter by Mao Tse-tung, 24 May 1939. For further examples of Chinese appreciation see: NMML, JNP, Individual Coll., Vol. 95, Letter by Soong Ching Ling, 16 December 1939; n. a., ‘Indian Medical Unit to China: Tribute to its work’, Times of India, 14 July 1939, p. 13.

109 B. R. Deepak, ‘India-China relations 1905–1947: An era of anti-imperialist struggle’, PhD thesis, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, 1996, Chapter 6.

110 Quanyu, S., ‘Sino-Indian friendship in the Nehru era: A Chinese perspective’, China Report, vol. 41, 3, 2005, p. 246 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Abraham, I.: ‘From Bandung to NAM: Non-alignment and Indian foreign policy, 1947–65’, Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, vol. 46, 2, 2008, pp. 195–211 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Interestingly, most works on early Indian-Chinese political relations after the Second World War hardly engage with their pre-history in the 1930s and during the Second World War and therefore do not elaborate on the importance of Indian political humanitarianism.

111 Quanyu, ‘Sino-Indian friendship’, pp. 237–252; Abraham, ‘From Bandung to NAM’, pp. 195–211; S. Khan, W., ‘Cold War co-operation: New Chinese evidence on Jawaharlal Nehru's 1954 visit to Beijing’, Cold War History, vol. 11, 2, 2011, pp. 197–222 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

112 Khan, ‘Cold War co-operation’, pp. 197–222; Mazower, No enchanted palace, Chapter 4; Stolte, C., ‘“The Asiatic hour”: New perspectives on the Asian Relations Conference, New Delhi, 1947’, The non-aligned movement and the Cold war: Delhi—Bandung—Belgrade, Mišković, N., Fischer-Tiné, H. and Boškovska, N. (eds), Routledge, London/New York, 2014, pp. 57–61 Google Scholar.

113 For early post-colonial development aid, see: Chaturvedi, S., ‘India's development partnership: Key policy shifts and institution evolution’, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, vol. 25, 4, 2012, pp. 558–559 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

114 Nehru, J., ‘Note on Foreign Policy, 2 December 1948’, in SWJN, Vol. 8, 2. Ser., Gopal, S. (ed.), J. Nehru Memorial Fund, New Delhi, 1989, pp. 325–328 Google Scholar.

115 Ghoshal, B., ‘India and the struggle for Indonesian independence’, Akdemika, vol. 54, 1, 1999, pp. 105–130 Google Scholar.

116 Wahn, K. C., ‘The role of India in the Korean War’, International Area Review, vol. 13, 2, 2010, pp. 26–27 Google Scholar.

117 Lüthi, L., ‘Sino-Indian relations, 1954–1962’, Eurasia Border Review, vol. 3, Summer, 2012, pp. 95–119 Google Scholar.

118 n. a. ‘China commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the Indian medical mission to China’, China Report, vol. 25, 1, 1989, pp. 87–93; Y. Sun, ‘Speech on the Book release: My life with Kotnis’, in Website of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of India, no date, http://in.china-embassy.org/eng/ssygd/zyyhn/zyhde/t269628.htm, [accessed 29 July 2016]; P. Mukherjee ‘India-China relations: 8 steps to a partnership of the people’, in: Press Information Bureau, Government of India, President's Secretariat, 26 May 2016, http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=145679 [accessed 24 October 2017].

119 Lal, ‘Framing a discourse’, p. 41.

120 See the subtitle of Clegg's monograph ‘A memoir of a forgotten campaign’: Clegg, Aid China; Pretus, Humanitarian relief, pp. xiii–xiv.

121 See, among others, Abbas, . . . And one did not come back!; Kotnis, M. S., The bridge for ever: A biography of Dr. Kotnis, Somaiya Publications, Bombay, 1982 Google Scholar; Liang, G., Dr. Kotnis: A short biography, Sen Gupta, S. (ed.), New Book Centre, Calcutta, 1983 Google Scholar; Basu, Call of Yanan; Quinglan, G., Baojun, X. and Deepak, B. R., My life with Kotnis, Embassy of the People's Republic of China in association with Manak, New Delhi, 2006 Google Scholar; Dauharia, H. (ed.), The immortal stories of Dr. D. S. Kotnis and Dr. Norman Bethune, Unistar Books, Chandigargh, 2012 Google Scholar.

122 Majumdar, N., ‘Immortal tale or nightmare? Dr. Kotnis between art and exploitation’, South Asian Popular Culture, vol. 6, 2, 2008, p. 146 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

123 Pritchett, F. W., ‘The world of Amar Chitra Katha’, in Media and the transformation of religion in South Asia, Babb, L. A. and Wadley, S. S. (eds), Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, New Delhi, 1997, pp. 77–78 Google Scholar.