The untold bloody saga of inhuman killing of Azad Hind Fauz (INA) POWs in Barrackpore, West Bengal
I would try those men, who have tried my men in the Red Fort.
Barrackpore: the early barracks of East India Company near Kolkata, which later turned into a small town. Once Lavanyavati river flew through this hamlet of Sahib Bagan which came under the Neelganj Panchayat. The name Neelganj got coined from the cultivation of Indigo (Neel in bangla) in the area. Once, this used to be hub for the Indigo export from India during British Raj. This place has witnessed the historic oppression of the British on the poor peasants for Indigo cultivation. We find many references in the literature by eminent personalities like Ravindranath Tagore and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar etc. Freedom fighters of those days had to fight a massive fight to stop the oppression. There is another more heinous untold history of this place, which when the world knows would be shocked. The true British character would get exposed. In the midnight of 25th September 1945 the british soldiers shot dead three thousand INA prisoners of war in cold blood. The newspaper in those dared to just mention it by saying a mere 5 soldiers of INA were killed in Barrackpore military barracks. Those days the british army in Indian consisted mostly of 2% British, 10-20% Gorkha, 20-30% Pathans and remaining soldiers from the Jats, Gujjars, Marathas etc.
It is a matter of great surprise that how in cold blood the Indian soldiers obeyed the orders of british officers to butcher their own brothers and never ever bothered to mention this to the public at large. If this article reaches one of those repenting souls it would be a matter of great penance to testify the incident.
The backdrop of the incidents starts from the Second World War days where in the Indian front of Kohima, Imphal & Manipur where the Azad Hind Fauz (INA) first hoisted the free India national flag. After the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings Japan surrendered in the hands of Allied forces. Japan used to feed the INA with supplies which stopped all of a sudden. Netaji Subhas due to some strategic reasons had to disappear from the public view and it was his direction to surrender to the british forces since it was impossible to continue with the war without the supplies and for an entire army of 19,000 forces stationed in the Northeast it was impossible to hide. Most of this forces were kept in various jails of the country fearing another round of military coup, but alas they were a far more experienced and seasoned soldiers with a ravaging patriotism in their hearts. The criminals were released on parole for giving way to these patriotic national soldiers in the jails. The jails were filled with 300% capacity and still who could not be accommodated were rounded up in open sky in paddy field with barbed fencing with watch towers on all sides.
The soldiers were interviewed and categorised in three colours namely: Black – Who were extremely patriotic and cannot be ever released to the public since they had the matter to brew up a revolution
Grey – Who were also patriotic but under normal circumstances seemed to be harmless. White – Who can be easily moulded and can be useful as forces in future. The black category soldiers used to face inhuman torture day long, many of them died during the torturous interrogations especially to know the whereabouts about the great hero Netaji Subhas Bose.
There is still some eye witness living till this day to tell the public what happened that night.
“They were kept as fenced animals about 3,000 of them on the western bank of the Noai Canal (erstwhile Lavanyavati River). The food and water were scarce, the scorching heat, rain nothing seemed to deter their souls, they used to shout slogans “Netaji Subhas Jindavad” “Delhi Chalo” and sing in one voice “Kadam kadam baraye ja khushi ke geet gaye ja”. Villagers were not allowed to go near that camp at all times.”
From the beginning the British had no intention to put these hapless POWs under normal judicial trials. They just wanted to finish them off especially the black and grey category. On the unfortunate night of 25th September people heard a continuous sound of rifle and machine gun firing from the direction of the camp. Next day morning when people rushed to the spot, they found the Noai Canal’s colour had changed to red, there was smoke every where, smell of burning bodies and tethered bodies of soldiers lying everywhere. A huge pit dug up in the centre of the camp fire still burning in it, lot of unburnt bodies in them. On 12th of October 1945, the leading daily of Kolkata in those days; Amrita Bazar Patrika published an interview of Jawaharlal Nehru taken two days back, which is as below: “It is reported to me that at the camp prison situated at Nilganj near Calcutta. Where over one thousand Indian National Army prisoners are kept, firing took place on or about 25th September by the guards of these prisons. It is stated a large number of rounds were fired and as a result five of the prisoners died on the spot and many were wounded.�
The local villagers used to rever the place where so many soldiers have laid down their lives without justice. They did not use to till the place although it comes within the cluster of fertile land in the banks of Noai Canal. The then government wanted to cover up the whole incident from the public memory forever, so in 1953 a Jute Research Centre was established in this land in the memory of these soldiers. But mysteriously not a single mention about these brave souls can be found anywhere in the research institute.
The local Netaji Subhas Mission of Baghati Suryapur have been trying to uncover this mystery and bring it to the nation at large since 1998, but to vain. They have written countless times to the state and national government as well as leaders of almost all parties but nothing happened.
It is a great question on why our leadership is so desperate to cover up such incidents from our history, not sure in whose interest. The
purpose of writing this article would be accomplished if you atleast forward this article to another fellow Indian and at some point of your life, if you come across another such untold incident. Please ensure to put some effort to bring it to the public purview. References: 1) “Azad Hind Fauz senader hotyar akothito roktakto itihaas” – Sumanta Ghosh, Barrackpore {Article in “Prasad” Bengali Monthly Magazine; August 2010 Issue} 2) Other References & Pictures :
Jai Hind