Introduction: Framing the Asia Pacific War with an Even Hand

AbstractThe powerful hold the glory of war has on the human imagination is good news for book publishers, filmmakers, and creators of video games—not to mention those invested in military enterprises whose vastness lies almost beyond comprehension. They enjoy economic, political, and cultural markets that seem only to expand with the passing of time. For the purposes of this special issue, that steady and expanding market is bad news because our hope is that governments and people in general will learn from the lessons of war and spend less time on the glory of its violence. We aspire to work with an even hand and begin with an awareness just how blinded we can be by human nature to the realities and memories of war of .the other side.. We also believe that including more attention to the human dimensions of war in our teaching and writing—while placed within the familiar military and historical contexts—will soften the powerful hold that war has on the way we see ourselves and others. The selected letters and diaries introduced in this special issue are offered as a starting point and framework to do just that.

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Meanings of Treason in a Colonial Context: Indian Challenges to the Charges of ‘Waging War against the King’ and ‘Crimes against Peace’

Leiden Journal of International Law ◽

10.1017/s0922156517000383 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 825-845 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

KIRSTEN SELLARS

Keyword(s):

Far East ◽

Asia Pacific ◽

Western World ◽

Pacific War ◽

Starting Point ◽

Military Tribunal ◽

History Of ◽

History Of Violence ◽

British Colonial ◽

Indian National Army

AbstractIn November 1945, the British colonial authorities convened a court martial of members of the Indian National Army, which had fought alongside the Japanese in the Asia-Pacific War. Three defendants were charged with ‘waging war against the King’ – the equivalent of treason, set out in Section 121 of the Indian Penal Code.At the heart of the case was the question of allegiance. The chief defence counsel, Bhulabhai Desai, had the task of presenting a legitimate – i.e., non-treasonable – exception to the duty of allegiance to a state during a war. Drawing on Hobbesian themes, Desai insisted that a specific event – the fall of Singapore – had convinced the surrendered Indian troops of the British Army that Britain was no longer capable of protecting their interests. Further, he questioned the very premise of the ‘waging war against the King’ charge, by arguing that during a war of liberation the justice of the challenger eclipsed the security of the challenged.Desai's approach influenced Radhabinod Pal, who would take these arguments to the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Pal, like Desai, took as his starting point the differing interests of the powerful states and their colonies. He argued that the Allies’ motives for creating the new charge of ‘crimes against peace’ were highly suspect, considering their own history of violence towards the non-Western world. Would it not potentially immobilize the struggle against colonialism? And,paceHobbes, could not a colonized state's duty of allegiance to the society of states be relinquished?

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