This document proclaims ‘The Provisional Government of Azad Hind’ (or ‘Free India’), and is signed by its leader, Subhas Chandra Bose. In the midst of the Indian independence struggle, Bose founded Azad Hind on 21 October 1943 to establish the promise of an India unshackled from colonial Britain. Azad Hind had its own currency, court system and a 40,000-strong military force known as the Indian National Army (INA).

The provisional government was set up in Japanese-occupied Singapore, where a number of Indian independence activists had escaped to before and during World War Two. Bose, a radical Indian political leader, had escaped from India whilst under British surveillance and travelled to Europe, garnering support for his cause from other countries, predominantly the Axis powers. He arrived in Japan in 1943 and there received financial and military support for Azad Hind. In the notice, Bose states that once the British and Americans had been driven from India, Azad Hind would be established on Indian soil as an ‘India of the Indians’.

The document is signed off with the slogan Jai Hind meaning ‘Victory to India’. This was a popular greeting used in the INA, and it became a national slogan after India attained independence.