Shah Nawaz Khan (general)
Encyclopedia
Shahnawaz Khan was an India
n soldier who is remembered as an officer who served in the Second Indian National Army during World War II
and later came to be one of the three defendants in the first of the INA trials
in 1946.
Born in the village of Matore
, Kahuta
, Rawalpindi District
, British India, (now Pakistan
) Khan initially volunteered to join the British Indian Army in 1940, in the opening stages of the war in Asia. He saw action in the Battle of Singapore
before being taken prisoner after the surrender of the city. Although initially reluctant to join the INA under Mohan Singh
, Shah Nawaz Khan joined the second INA after the arrival of Subhash Chandra Bose
in South-East Asia. He later led the INA forces that participated in the Japanese offensive at Imphal and Kohima, and subsequently rose to be the commander of the second division. Khan also saw action against allied forces in the latter's second Burma Campaign, and surrendered to British troops in Burma. In November 1946, Khan, along with G.B.S. Dhillon and P.K. Sehgal faced trial and was convicted for charges of treason at the Red Fort in Delhi, but intense public support and overwhelming nationalist sympathies forced General Auchinleck to discharge Khan and his co-defendants with forfeiture of pay.
In Independent India, Khan joined the Indian National Congress
and came to be a minister for state in Nehru's . Hailing from the Janjua Rajput clan of Matore
. His adopted daughter Lateef Fatima was Shah Rukh Khan's mother.
, studied at the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College, Dehradun
and was commissioned as an officer in the British Indian Army
. He was captured during the Second World War by the Japanese and interned in Singapore
. Subhash Chandra Bose
encouraged him to join the Indian National Army
, to fight the British Empire
.
,Colonel Prem Sehgal and Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon
were put to trial at the Red Fort in Delhi for "waging war against the King Emperor", i.e. the British sovereign. The three defendants were defended by Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, Jawaharlal Nehru
, Bhulabhai Desai
and others based on the defence that they should be treated as prisoners of war as they were not paid mercenaries but bona fide soldiers of a legal government, the Provisional Government of Free India, or the Arzi Hukumate Azad Hind, "however misinformed or otherwise they had been in their notion of patriotic duty towards their country" and as such they recognized the free Indian state as their sovereign and not the British sovereign.
to join his cabinet for minister Railways and transport (1952–1956) (1957–1964), minister of food and agriculture (1965), minister of labour and employment and rehabilitation (1966), minister of steel and mines and minister of petroleum and chemical (1971–1973), minister of petroleum and chemical and minister of agriculture and irrigation (1974–1975), minister of Agriculture and irrigation (1975–1977), chairman of National Seeds Corporation Ltd, concurrently was the Chairman, Food Corporation of India . He was elected four times to the Lok Sabha
from Meerut constituency
in 1951, 1957, 1962 and 1971. he lost 1967 and 1977 lok sabha election from meerut
's death. Major General, Shah Nawaz Khan, headed the committee, whose members included Suresh Chandra Bose. The Committee began its work in April 1956 and concluded four months later when all three members of the Committee signed a paper that stated that Netaji indeed died in the aeroplane crash at Taihoku (Japanese for Taipei) in Formosa (now Taiwan), on August 18, 1945.
They stated that his ashes were kept in Japan's Renkoji Temple
and should be reinstated to India.
.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n soldier who is remembered as an officer who served in the Second Indian National Army during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and later came to be one of the three defendants in the first of the INA trials
INA trials
The INA trials or the Red Fort Trials refer to the courts martial of a number of officers of the Indian National Army between November 1945 and May 1946 variously for treason, torture, murder and abetment to murder....
in 1946.
Born in the village of Matore
Matore
Matore is a village, surrounded by hills, in the heart of Kahuta Tehsil a subdivision of Rawalpindi District, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located at and has an altitude of 778 metres , it is a beautiful valley surrounded by small green hills. It has a big rain water pond called by...
, Kahuta
Kahuta Tehsil
Kahuta Tehsil is one of the seven Tehsils of Rawalpindi District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The neighbouring Tehsil of Kotli Sattian used to be part of Kahuta, but was later created as a separate tehsil.-History:...
, Rawalpindi District
Rawalpindi District
Rawalpindi is a district of Pakistan in the north of the Punjab province which contains the city of Rawalpindi. The district has an area of . It was part of Rawalpindi Division, until the year 2000 when the division was abolished...
, British India, (now Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
) Khan initially volunteered to join the British Indian Army in 1940, in the opening stages of the war in Asia. He saw action in the Battle of Singapore
Battle of Singapore
The Battle of Singapore was fought in the South-East Asian theatre of the Second World War when the Empire of Japan invaded the Allied stronghold of Singapore. Singapore was the major British military base in Southeast Asia and nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East"...
before being taken prisoner after the surrender of the city. Although initially reluctant to join the INA under Mohan Singh
Mohan Singh
Mohan Singh is an Indian politician from the Samajwadi Party. He was elected three times to the Lok Sabha from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh. He is currently the General Secretary of the Samajwadi Party.-Political career:...
, Shah Nawaz Khan joined the second INA after the arrival of Subhash Chandra Bose
Subhash Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose known by name Netaji was an Indian revolutionary who led an Indian national political and military force against Britain and the Western powers during World War II. Bose was one of the most prominent leaders in the Indian independence movement and is a legendary figure in...
in South-East Asia. He later led the INA forces that participated in the Japanese offensive at Imphal and Kohima, and subsequently rose to be the commander of the second division. Khan also saw action against allied forces in the latter's second Burma Campaign, and surrendered to British troops in Burma. In November 1946, Khan, along with G.B.S. Dhillon and P.K. Sehgal faced trial and was convicted for charges of treason at the Red Fort in Delhi, but intense public support and overwhelming nationalist sympathies forced General Auchinleck to discharge Khan and his co-defendants with forfeiture of pay.
In Independent India, Khan joined the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
and came to be a minister for state in Nehru's . Hailing from the Janjua Rajput clan of Matore
Matore
Matore is a village, surrounded by hills, in the heart of Kahuta Tehsil a subdivision of Rawalpindi District, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located at and has an altitude of 778 metres , it is a beautiful valley surrounded by small green hills. It has a big rain water pond called by...
. His adopted daughter Lateef Fatima was Shah Rukh Khan's mother.
Indian National Army
Lt. Colonel Shahnawaz Khan, son of Captain Sardar Tikka Khan of MatoreMatore
Matore is a village, surrounded by hills, in the heart of Kahuta Tehsil a subdivision of Rawalpindi District, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located at and has an altitude of 778 metres , it is a beautiful valley surrounded by small green hills. It has a big rain water pond called by...
, studied at the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College, Dehradun
Dehradun
- Geography :The Dehradun district has various types of physical geography from Himalayan mountains to Plains. Raiwala is the lowest point at 315 meters above sea level, and the highest points are within the Tiuni hills, rising to 3700 m above sea level...
and was commissioned as an officer in the British Indian Army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
. He was captured during the Second World War by the Japanese and interned in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. Subhash Chandra Bose
Subhash Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose known by name Netaji was an Indian revolutionary who led an Indian national political and military force against Britain and the Western powers during World War II. Bose was one of the most prominent leaders in the Indian independence movement and is a legendary figure in...
encouraged him to join the Indian National Army
Indian National Army
The Indian National Army or Azad Hind Fauj was an armed force formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. The aim of the army was to overthrow the British Raj in colonial India, with Japanese assistance...
, to fight the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
.
I.N.A. Trial
At the conclusion of the war, the government of British India brought some of the captured INA soldiers to trial on treason charges. The prisoners would potentially face the death penalty, life imprisonment or a fine as punishment if found guilty. After the war, Lt. Col. Shahnawaz Khan, Colonel Habib ur RahmanRaja Habib ur Rahman Khan
Raja Habib ur Rahman Khan was an Indian freedom fighter during British colonial rule of India, Rahman was an officer in the Indian National Army who was charged with "waging war against His Majesty the King Emperor". Along with Gen. Shah Nawaz Khan, Col. Prem Kumar Sahgal & Col...
,Colonel Prem Sehgal and Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon
Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon
Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon was an officer in the Indian National Army who was charged with "waging war against His Majesty the King Emperor". Along with Shah Nawaz Khan and Prem Kumar Sahgal, he was tried by the British at the end of World War II in the INA trials that began on November 5, 1945 at Red...
were put to trial at the Red Fort in Delhi for "waging war against the King Emperor", i.e. the British sovereign. The three defendants were defended by Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
, Bhulabhai Desai
Bhulabhai Desai
Bhulabhai Desai was an Indian freedom fighter and acclaimed lawyer. He is well-remembered for his defense of the three Indian National Army soldiers accused of treason during World War II, and for attempting to negotiate a secret power-sharing agreement with Liaquat Ali Khan of the Muslim League.-...
and others based on the defence that they should be treated as prisoners of war as they were not paid mercenaries but bona fide soldiers of a legal government, the Provisional Government of Free India, or the Arzi Hukumate Azad Hind, "however misinformed or otherwise they had been in their notion of patriotic duty towards their country" and as such they recognized the free Indian state as their sovereign and not the British sovereign.
Political career
Shahnawaz Khan joined the Congress party after dissolution of the I.N.A. and was invited by Jawaharlal NehruJawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
to join his cabinet for minister Railways and transport (1952–1956) (1957–1964), minister of food and agriculture (1965), minister of labour and employment and rehabilitation (1966), minister of steel and mines and minister of petroleum and chemical (1971–1973), minister of petroleum and chemical and minister of agriculture and irrigation (1974–1975), minister of Agriculture and irrigation (1975–1977), chairman of National Seeds Corporation Ltd, concurrently was the Chairman, Food Corporation of India . He was elected four times to the Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
from Meerut constituency
Meerut (Lok Sabha constituency)
Meerut Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. This constituency covers parts of Meerut and Ghaziabad districts.-Assembly segments:...
in 1951, 1957, 1962 and 1971. he lost 1967 and 1977 lok sabha election from meerut
Shahnawaz Committee
In 1956, the government constituted a committee to look into the circumstances around Subhash Chandra BoseSubhash Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose known by name Netaji was an Indian revolutionary who led an Indian national political and military force against Britain and the Western powers during World War II. Bose was one of the most prominent leaders in the Indian independence movement and is a legendary figure in...
's death. Major General, Shah Nawaz Khan, headed the committee, whose members included Suresh Chandra Bose. The Committee began its work in April 1956 and concluded four months later when all three members of the Committee signed a paper that stated that Netaji indeed died in the aeroplane crash at Taihoku (Japanese for Taipei) in Formosa (now Taiwan), on August 18, 1945.
They stated that his ashes were kept in Japan's Renkoji Temple
Renkoji Temple
is a Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan. It is assumed to be the purported location of the ashes of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian freedom-fighter, which have been preserved since September 18, 1945....
and should be reinstated to India.
Descendants
General Shahnawaz Khan left behind three sons and three daughters including adopted one. Mehmood Nawaz, Akbar Nawaz, Ajmal Nawaz, Mumtaz, Fehmida and Lateef Fatima (adopted). Mehmood Nawaz has three sons (Mehboob, Asad and Ali), Akbar Nawaz has two (Adil Shah Nawaz Khan and Azam Nawaz Khan) and Ajmal Nawaz has three (Aayan, Aafan and Adnan). Mehboob is married and has two sons (Saad and Ibrahim), Asad has a son Ahmed, while Ali Nawaz is also married and has a son named after his grandfather (Shah Nawaz Khan).Portrayal
In the 2005 movie Bose: The Forgotten Hero, Khan was portrayed by actor Sonu SoodSonu Sood
Sonu Sood is a former model and Indian actor who has acted in Hindi,, Telugu and Tamil films. A participant in the Mr. India contest, he has appeared in commercials for Apollo Tyres, Airtel etc. In Tollywood he is best known for his role as the antagonist, Pasupathi, in the film...
.