Abid Hasan Safrani, IFS, born Zain-al-Abdin Hasan, was an officer of the

Indian National Army The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. Its aim was to secure In ...

(INA) and later, after 1947, an

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. Born to an anti-colonialist family in Hyderabad, Abid Hasan was brought-up in India and later went to Germany to train as an engineer. While he was a student in Germany during World War II that Abid Hasan met

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...

and decided to join the Indische Legion. Hasan would later serve as Bose's personal secretary and interpreter while Bose was in Germany. Hasan also sailed with Bose in the German U-boat U-180 in 1943 on Bose's voyage to South East Asia. Over the course of the reformation of the INA and its campaigns in the

south east Asian theatre The South-East Asian Theatre of World War II consisted of the campaigns of the Pacific War in the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Philippines, Thailand, Dutch East Indies, Indonesia, Indochina, British rule in Burma, Burma, British Raj, India ...

, Hasan rose to be a

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the Azad Hind Fauj. It was also during this that he adopted "''Safrani''", after the holy Hindu colour of Saffron, to his name as a mark of communal harmony. After repatriation to India at the end of the war, Abid Hasan was released following the end of the INA trials in 1946 and joined the Indian National Congress briefly. After partition, Hasan chose to settle in Hyderabad and joined the nascent Indian Foreign Service. Over a long diplomatic career, Hasan served as the Indian

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to a number of countries including Egypt and Denmark before retiring in 1969 and settling back in Hyderabad. Abid Hasan Saffrani died in 1984. On suggestion of Abid Hasan, the INA adopted " Jai Hind" as its slogan; The term " Jai Hind" had been coined by Abid Hasan himself. In the 1940s, the INA leaders decided to devise a religion-agnostic greeting for its soldiers: Thakur Yashwant Singh suggested "Hindustan ki Jai", but Hasan felt this was too long and suggested "Jai Hind" as an alternative, which was unanimously accepted. The term emerged as a national slogan after India's independence. Netaji Bose's nephew Aurobindo Bose later married Safrani's niece. Her name is Suraiya Hasan Bose. She was the daughter of elder brother of Abid Hasan safrini by name Badrul Hasan, who worked with Gandhiji. Mr Abid Hasan died on April 5, 1984.

Scholarly activities

Hasan was also a scholar who spent long hours with his Persian and Urdu poetry. His Hindi- Urdu translation of '' Jana Gana Mana'' with the music from

Ram Singh Thakuri Ram Singh Thakuri (15 August 1914 – 15 April 2002) was an Indian freedom fighter, musician and composer. He composed a number of patriotic songs including ''Kadam Kadam Badaye Ja'' and ''Subh Sukh Chain'' whilst serving in the Indian National ...

, became ''

Subh Sukh Chain Subh Sukh Chain (, ) was the national anthem of the Provisional Government of Free India. The song was based on a Bengali poem Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata by Rabindranath Tagore. When Subhash Chandra Bose shifted to Southeast Asia from Germany in ...

'', the anthem of the Provisional Government of Free India. Abid Hasan Safrani died on 5 April 1984 in Hyderabad.

References

*. From

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasan, Abid Subhas Chandra Bose Indian National Army personnel Indian Muslims 1984 deaths Ambassadors of India to Denmark Ambassadors of India to Egypt 1911 births Ambassadors of India to the Holy See

Scholarly activities

See also

References