The Gorkhas In The Freedom Struggle Of India

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K. K. Muktan, a retired bureaucrat turned author, is an Indian Gorkha. His grand- father migrated from Nepal to Assam as far back as 1892 and settled down permanently in Tezpur. While still a student, Mr. Muktan joined the Indian freedom movement in 1942 and became a political sufferer. Graduating from St. Anthony's College, Shillong, he did his M.A. in Economics from Allahabad University in 1956. He joined Assam Civil Service (A.C.S.) in 1960 and then the Meghalaya State Civil Service (M.C. S.) in 1975. He held top ranking posts under the Government of Meghalaya.

On his retirement from service in 1989, he turned back to his old predilection of literary works. Having been closely associated with the activities of socio-economic development throughout his service life, Mr. Muktan is deeply interested in the dynamics of Indian societies and has to his credit, books like The Legendary Gorkhas, Planning for Retirement, Ganga to Gandaki and a number of articles in English and Nepali.

This book tells the unvarnished stories about the legendary Gorkha soldires who joined the Indian National Army (INA) or the Azad Hind Fauz of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in the Second World War. It gives a vivid account of the war as to how the redoubtable Gorkhas, in alliance with the Japanese, fought against the British army in the Arakan hills and laid down their precious lives for the sake of India's liberation from the colonial rule.

This also speaks about India's freedom movement and the role played by the civilian Indian Gorkhas living in various parts of India, such as Darjeeling, Calcutta, Benares, Dehra-Dun and the North Eastern States in the freedom struggle under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.

The supreme sacrifice of lives made by 22 young Gorkha jawans in the Kargil War of 1999 will go down the history of liberation of Kashmir from Pakistan's illegal occupation. This book is a humble attempt at focusing on the valuable contributions made by the Indian Gorkhas for the cause of India, whom they love as their own country.

More than six decades have elapsed ever since India became free from the foreign yoke and yet the written history of India's freedom movement is far from being complete. Many research works have been carried out, many books and articles have been written by Indian as well as foreign historians and yet many facts and events have remained unrevealed, unspoken and unwritten. The Gorkhas' participation in the Indian National Army (INA) or the Azad Hind Fauz is one of the significant events in the annals of India's Freedom Movement which, unfortunately, has not received due attention of Indian historians or, in other words, their writings have not covered all aspects of the episode. Even the missing of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the hero of the INA, is still a mystery, the more of which is probed, the deeper is the enigma. A host of noted historians have dealt with a wide parameters of the Indian National Army including that of its great leader Subhas Chandra Bose but they have chosen to refrain from dealing with the legendary role played by the Gorkha soldiers who joined the INA and fought against the British army to liberate India.

This book is an attempt at throwing some light on the dark corners of the freedom movement of India in the domain of the Gorkha participation in the Azad Hind Fauz that has not been brought to light adequately by historians till today. I believe, this important and integral part of the Indian National Army which has been left unspoken and unknown, if written, will go a long way to open up a new dimension in the history of freedom movement of India.

On 17 February, 1942 45,000 Indian troops including approximately 20,000 Gorkha soldiers joined the INA under the leadership of Captain Mohan Singh. These 20,000 Gorkhas constituted of those who were captured by Japanese earlier in Malaya and those who surrendered at Singapore together with 45,000 Indian troops on 16 February, 1942 consequent upon the fall of Singapore a day before. Major Fujiwara, the Chief of Japanese Intelligence handed over the 45,000 Indian troops including 20,000 Gorkhas to Capt. Mohan Singh to form INA. Here a question likely to arise is, whether the Gorkhas joined the INA voluntarily or under compulsion. Most of the Gorkha soldiers who joined the INA were the sons of retired Gorkha soldiers who had settled down in India permanently. These Gorkha line boys were educated and bred in Indian environ. They were drawn from politically advanced places like Bhagsu, Dehradun, Nainital, Nalapani, Delhi, Darjeeling, etc. They loved India as their motherland and were inspired by political leaders. The history had that their fathers or close relatives actively participated in freedom movement of India in the past and were members of some political organizations till that time. Therefore, the background from which the Gorkha soldiers hailed strongly suggests that they, except a few coming from Nepal, must have joined the INA out of their own volition without any pressure from any quarter. Those from Nepal and a few others might have followed other Gorkhas as also the case in respect of Indian soldiers.

**Contents and Sample Pages**