New Delhi. 23 March 2020. Troops of Japanese 18th Infantry Division landed at Port Blair, Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. Andaman and Nicobar was occupied by Japan for 3 years during WWII.
The Japanese landed at South Andaman on 23 March 1942. They soon took over the islands and freed the cellular jails inmates who were asked to join the Indian National Army. Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, convinced the Japanese to give the islands back to India. They then hoisted the Indian flag here on 30 December 1943 and named the islands Shaeed Swaraj. But all did not remain well. The atrocities of the Japanese on the Indians was nothing short of the atrocities that happened during holocaust, but they aren’t spoken about as much.
Over 2000 Indians died during this period before the British recaptured the islands in 1945. It is rumoured that the Japanese made a secret tunnel connecting Ross Island to Port Blair. It is yet to be discovered.
