Haryana is known for its brave men

by Haryananewswire

CHANDIGARH, JAN 22

 Haryana is known for its brave men, who have shown exemplary courage. The Indian National Army (INA) which was established at Singapore in 1942 and was turned into a revolutionary Army by Subhas Chandra Bose in 1943, had a total of 2715 officers and other ranks hailing from Haryana.

          While responding to Netaji’s call ‘Give me blood, I promise you freedom’, 346 brave sons of Haryana gave their blood (life) for the noble cause.

          Out of the total number of soldiers hailing from Haryana, 398 were officers and 2317 other ranks. A maximum of 149 officers and 724 other ranks hailed from the districts of Rohtak, Sonepat and Jhajjar followed by 106 officers and 580 other ranks from the districts of Gurgaon, Mewat, Palwal and Rewari.

          As many as 61 officers and 478 other ranks were from districts of Hisar, Bhiwani, Sirsa and Fatehabad. Similarly, 53 officers and 296 other ranks belonged to district Jind, 14 officers and 105 other ranks were from the districts of Karnal, Panipat, Kurukshetra and Kaithal. Similarly, 14 officers and 104 other ranks were from district Mahendragarh. There were one officer and 30 other ranks from the districts of Ambala, Yamunanagar and Panchkula.

          These soldiers gave a very good account of themselves in the several actions against the mighty allied forces in the Eastern sector. Many of these brave soldiers received most enviable awards and decorations. For instance, Col. Ram Sarup, Major Surajmal and Major Khazan Singh got Sardar-i-Jang medal, Capt. Hari Singh received Sher-i-Hind medal. Naik Molar Singh got the honour of Shahid-i-Bharat, the highest gallantry award and Lt. Hari Ram got Tamga-i-Bahaduri.

          The INA failed to win the war, but it succeeded in getting us freedom. After the war was over, despite the British Government’s firm resolve to punish the INA soldiers, it had to release them. Each one of these soldiers was a ‘part of Netaji’-always ready to sacrifice everything for his motherland. On reaching their villages, they jumped into the fray and worked for freedom. The national movement gained fresh blood from them.