Gorkha
Shaheed "Major Durga Malla"
Gorkhas have fought and made
sacrifices for our beloved nation. From the freedom struggle to the heights of
Kargil, Gorkhas have always been at the forefront in the defence of our
country. Shaheed Durga Malla belongs to the front rank of Gorkha heroes
martyred for the cause of our country’s freedom. He epitomized the fighting
spirit and ardent patriotism of Indian Gorkhas.
His Family and Early Life
Born on 1 July 1913 at village
Doiwala in Dehradun district of Uttaranchal, Durga Malla was the eldest of the
four sons of Parwati Devi and Ganga Ram Malla. Ganga Ram Malla was Jamadar (now
called Naib-Subedar) of Gorkha Rifles in the Military and Parwati Devi a
housewife. With the passage of time, this family was blessed with three more
sons and three daughters. The eldest among the four brothers, Durga Malla was
an extremely self-respecting, laborious, dedicated and honest person.
The ancestors of Durga Malla had
been living in Doiwala area since the eighteenth century. Their main was
agriculture and service in military forces. Growing sugarcane crop, preparing
“gur” and sugar; and selling them in the market was also part of their
profession.
Since his childhood, Durga Malla was
different in nature from other children of his age . Besides having a keen
interest in sports, particularly football, Durga Malla has a great fascination
for literary and social activities. He was very good at studies. But due to the
absence of proper educational facilities in Doiwala area, he had to join Gorkha
Military Middle School, at present Gorkha Military Inter College, near
Dehradun. Since the school was quite far from Doiwala, he shifted to his
paternal uncle Kedar Malla’s house at Nalapani. He used to go to school on foot
along with one or two of his friends, covering a distance of about 8 or 9 miles
everyday. Despite being tired on return from school late in the evening, he
never neglected his studies and always stood first in his class.
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Durga Malla had drawn inspiration
from the poet and social reformer Subedar-Major Bahadur Singh Baral and the
musician and playwright Mitra Sen Thapa. He was greatly inspired by the
prominent Gandhian freedom fighters of Dehradun like Thakur Chandan Singh, Veer
Khadagabahadur Singh Bisht, Pandit Ishwaranand Gorkha and Amar Singh Thapa. The
Dandi March of Mahatma Gandhi in 1930 to violate “salt rule” started generating
patriotic sentiments in the heart of Durga Malla, motivating him to take part
in the freedom struggle. He could see the vision of the freedom of India under
the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.
At the time of the Satyagraha
movement, Durga Malla was only a student of ninth class, but he was actively
engaged in anti-British activities in his locality. He used to enter the Gorkha
battalion area in the night with some of his friends to paste posters of
freedom struggle. Sometimes, he participated in processions with freedom
fighters. Due to his anti-British activities, his family was frequently
subjected to severe interrogation by the British Government.
Durga Malla was in his youth in
1930. He always remained worried and restless at the plight of the Gorkha
society. The following lines, composed by Durga Malla and published in the book
Thakur Chandan Singh authored by Magan “Pathik” writer -editor and poet of
“Bhaksu”, reflect his sentiments and restlessness in his heart for
self-respect:
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क्या हुआ हमें, क्यों हुई आज मति मंद;
वीरता, पौरुष के कारन मिली वीर गोरखा की उपाधि;
ओ हीरे के समान था उज्जवल, क्यों हुआ माती तुल्य
आज देखकर यह, कुछ कह नहीं सकता;
कब जानेंगे यह अपने कर्त्तव्य, सभी के उड़े हैं होश.
कैसे मिला जन्म इन्हें, बदल गए सारे;
करते हैं अपनों की चुगली, प्यार बाँटने के बदले.
चली गई पुरखों की प्रतिष्ठा, जाट हुई बदनाम;
सिर्फ बचा है मानव चोला, क्यों बनाते हो माटि.
“दुर्गा” लिख रहा है लेख, प्रभु चूर करो इनका दर्प;
नेत्र हों, तो अब भी देखो, अन्य लोगों की चलने की राह
Durga Malla was also deeply
concerned about the subjugation of India and the pathetic condition of the
country. Therefore, he joined the freedom struggle to free the country from the
shackles of slavery. This was the time when the police in Dehradun was
frantically arresting freedom fighters. As a result, freedom fighters started migrating
to other places from Dehradun. To dodge the police, Durga Malla, who was a
young student, went away to the house of a relative at Dharamshala in Himachal
Pradesh.
In 1931, when he was only eighteen
years old, he joined the 2/1 battalion of Gorkha Rifles. In his battalion,
Durga Malla was comparatively a more educated recruit. Therefore, after
completing “recruit training”, he was sent to Pune for “signal training”. In
the course of time, he attained excellence in several other military trainings.
On the basis of his dedicated services and efficiency, he got quick promotions
and after a few years, was promoted to the important post of Signal Hawaldar.
Broze Statue of Durgamalla
In”"1941, after serving the
army for about ten years, Durga Malla married Sharda Devi, a girl of Thakuri
family of district Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. But fate had something else in
store for him. It was the time of the Second World War. Japanese aggression had
become more violent in Burma, Malaya and Singapore. The 2/1 battalion of Gorkha
Rifles was also ordered to advance for the war- field. Just three days after
his marriage Durga Malla got an emergent call from his unit. He was called back
for war by the Army even before his newly married bride Sharda Devi could get
acquainted with him.
Participation in the Second World
War
Being a true patriot, Durga Malla
did not get upset while leaving his newly married bride alone back at home. He
marched for war with utmost courage. When his battalion reached Secunderabad,
he was sanctioned leave for 28 days and given an opportunity to reach home and
meet his family members before departing for Malaya. From Secunderabad, his
battalion reached Bombay and on 23 August 1941 departed for Malaya from the
Bombay sea-port. By September 1941, all the Gorkha battalions had reached
Malaya. Following an attack on 8 December 1941 by Japan to the Allied Forces
deployed in South-East Asia, the war was declared. By 11 December 1941, the
condition of the British Forces weakened. Gradually, Japanese forces tightened
their grip over the war.
Never before in the history of
British rule had the Indian soldiers felt so demoralized as did in Malaya and
subsequently at other places in South-East Asia. In December 1941, a group of
Indian soldiers lost themselves in the jungle. One of their officers, Captain
Mohan Singh decided not to rejoin the retreating British Forces. He convinced
himself that Indian soldiers had no cause to fight for the Britishers and
instead fight the Britishers along with the Japanese. With this mission in his
mind, he approached Major Fujiwara of Japan who assured him that Japan was
prepared to go all out to assist India to attain independence. Major Fujiwara
also declared that all Indian Prisoners of War, who were handed over to the
Japanese Government by a British officer Col.Hunt on behalf of the British
Government, would be under the control of Captain Mohan Singh.
To consolidate the Indian Independence movement in South-East Asia and determine the nature of Japanese assistance to the movement, two conferences were held in Tokyo and Bangkok in March and June 1942, respectively where the important decision to raise the Indian National Army was taken. On 1 September 1942, the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauz) was officially formed in Singapore.
Role in the Indian National Army
The formation of the Indian National
Army represented a milestone in the history of India’s freedom struggle. Durga
Malla was one of those who played an important role in the formation of the
Indian National Army. In 1942, he not only joined this Army with a patriotic
zeal but also inspired his fellow men to join it.
Initially, Durga Malla was given the
responsibility to mobilize volunteers for the Indian National Army from
different Gorkha battalions. Later, by virtue of his patriotic feelings, his
sense of duty towards his country and his valour, he earned promotion to the
rank of Major.
At the War Front
When after the formation of
the Provisional Azad Hind Government under the supreme command of Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose war was declared against the Allied Forces on 25 october 1943,
soldiers of different branches of the Indian National Army were deployed on the
fronts. Durga Malla was posted in the Intelligence Branch. He, along with some
other fellow soldiers entered the hilly area of the then greater Assam across
Burma border. There he used to collect and send important information regarding
matters of strategic importance to the headquarters of Indian National Army in
Rangoon despite the shortage of supplies, ammunitions and weapons and adverse
geographical conditions. On 27 March 1944, when Durga Malla was on a mission to
collect information of the enemy camps, he was captured by the soldiers of
enemy side at Ukhrul in Manipur near Kohima.
After his arrest, Durga Malla was
kept in the prison at Red Fort, New Delhi as a prisoner of war. He was
prosecuted by military court under section 41 of the Indian Army Law and
section 121 of the Indian Penal Code. He was given death sentence by the Court
Martial, the court of trial before which he was tried at Red Fort. That was the
time when the imperialist British rulers were trying to suppress the Indian
freedom struggle by all means. Therefore, before the death sentence was finally
executed, the British authorities tried to coax Major Durga Malla into
confessing the wrong and promised him grant of remission if he could do so. But
it was against the wishes of Veer Durga Malla whose only objective was to get
the country free. He preferred to embrace the gallows rather than accepting the
proposal of the British rulers. All persuasions having failed, Durga Malla’s
wife Smt. Sharda Devi was brought before him at the prison cell as the last
resort. British authorities were of the opinion that she would persuade her
husband to apologise. But Major Malla yielded to no devices of the British
authorities. On the contrary, he gave his wife his last words by saying.
Sharda, I am sacrificing my life for the freedom of my motherland. You need not
be worried and distressed. Crores of Hindustanis will be with you after my
death. The Sacrifice I am offering, shall not go in vain. India shall be free.
I am confident, this is only a matter of time.
Supreme Sacrifice
On 15th August 1944, Veer Durga, the
great patriot, was taken to Delhi Central Jail from the Red Fort. After ten
days, on 25th August 1944, he was sent to the gallows. Thus ended the journey
of one more noble son of mother India who laid down his precious life at the
altar of Freedom. Durga Malla’s Physical body is no more but he sacrificed
himself after leading a meaningful life of only 31 years and became immortal.
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