A 'Pillar' of History

I created this blog just 2 days ago, and ever since I was wondering what should I write. Did'nt know what to begin with. Then, finally I came across this article in the news paper about an 88 year old man who was a freedom fighter. He spent the best years of his life fighting for a free India, for our better future. This old man is my Grand - Dad -In - Law. This article salutes him and so do I.

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A page in history

Neha Rishi, Chembur

History is golden, history is a statement that runs down through centuries, it’s a testimony of evolution, it is soaked in shades of sepia, speaking volumes about brave hearts and vigour, which has a narrative worth reading.

We take pride in our history, and we grow on it. The most important chunk glorifying our past is our struggle to drive the British out and taste the fruit of freedom after 100 years of slavery. We are not among the fortunate few who witnessed the fight live but read about it in texts of black and white. How is it to meet a man from the era that was entrenched in oppression, who was an active element of a movement against the British? This man who saw it all, is Bansilal Sharma (88) a resident of Chembur and an ex-major from the Indian National Army(INA). He narrates his first step to a glorious beginning, “I was in Singapore, working as a cloth merchant, when Netaji had given a speech in Bradla hall and his speech was very electrifying. He asked us for assistance to raise funds to build the INA and every Indian in Singapore came forward to contribute in his or her way because they believed in the cause, with their funds this movement was taken forward. We were around 90,000 people in the movement, more than 30,000 people were in the INA. I joined INA when I was 20.”

He recounts that it was not an easy deal to be in INA, “When I started off in the force I was at the lowest bottom, but after the training I was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, then as a lieutenant, after which, I was given a job of an instructor in officers training school, at Batupahat in Malaysia, there was a camp where officers were trained, after that I became a captain. After training for two to three years I was promoted to the rank of a major, at that time the INA was dissolved,” Sharma elaborates.

He shares rather shyly that he was a very good striker, a brilliant shooter and that he was blacklisted in Singapore as he was considered to be a threat to the British force. For his prompt services and remarkable track record in INA, he was awarded the Sword of Honour from Netaji. However, the sword is lying in the Gurudwara in Malaysia. Due to the British rule he was unable to get the sword along with him to India. He has never been able to return to Malaysia and Singapore ever since he was blacklisted.

“After partition I came to Bombay and tried to go back to Singapore but I was not allowed due to the INA activities, so we had to settle down here itself. I was offered a job in the police force but I refused to take it up. Then I was offered a job in BSF, which I refused too, because I never liked these jobs. I consider myself as a freedom fighter, even though the jobs offered were well paying I never wanted to work for money. I wanted a honest hardworking job. I had no money and no place to live when I came here. It was around that time we started cloth business here, which has taken form of a textile processing house today,” reminisces Sharma.

Assuming a serious tone, Sharma explains, “Our backbone was the Japanese and when the bombing on Hiroshima took place, the Japanese had to surrender, thus weakening our spine. But Netaji said that we are not surrendering. The fight is still on till the time we fly our Indian flag at the Red Fort, but unfortunately Netaji died in an accident and we felt we felt as though the struggle was almost over. We returned to India and tried to reorganise our army but there was no cooperation, leaders like Nehru and Gandhi did not cooperate with us, because they did not believe in our extremist approach. While we belonged to the school of thought of putting up a fight against the British, Gandhi held the ideology of freedom through non-violence. The spirit of INA wouldn’t have been dampened, if Hirsohima was not bombed and Netaji would have lived, we would have carried on the struggle without any setback.”

Sharma believes that the spirit harboured in that era, by the people, towards their country, no longer exists. Evils like corruption are eating our system hollow. He avers that if there were more of INA people who had joined the government, the level of corruption would be far less than what it is. “I wanted to join the army and I tried too, but Nehru had signed an agreement with Mountbatten that no INA member will be absorbed in the Indian army,” he shares.

While the conversation trailed away, the visibly pensive Sharma, smiled and concluded, “I lost everything in that struggle but gained freedom at the end of it, which is a fulfilling experience. Gandhi was instrumental in bringing about an awakening among the masses but it was the young Indians who gave the struggle a mood and compelled the British forces to leave India. Gandhi was against the movement like INA while Netaji believed that without a fight they would not leave this country. I was 26 when INA was dissolved and without a speck of doubt, those were the best days of my life.”

Source: Times of India - Chembur Plus