From Hyderabad with Pride: The Man Who Gave India Its Freedom Chant — ‘Jai Hind!’

The "Jai Hind!" war cry that has become synonymous with Indian patriotism and national pride was coined by Abid Hasan Safrani, an Hyderabadi national freedom fighter and close friend of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. As an INA Major, Abid Hasan's coining of the slogan provided India with a secular, universal war cry that cut across religious and regional loyalties.

 

Key Highlights:

 

•⁠  ⁠Abid Hasan, originally Zain-al-Abdin Hasan, was born in 1911 in Hyderabad. He studied engineering in Germany, where he became acquainted with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and became his secretary and interpreter in the INA.

 

•⁠  ⁠Tasked with creating a religion-neutral greeting for the INA, Hasan initially proposed "Jai Hindustan ki" or "Victory to Hindustan," which was subsequently shortened to the now-popular "Jai Hind," which Bose employed as the official greeting for the army.

 

•⁠  ⁠“Jai Hind" then became the slogan of India's independence movement and later was immortalized through Jawaharlal Nehru's "Tryst with Destiny" speech on August 15, 1947.

 

•⁠  ⁠After Independence, Abid Hasan was a member of the Indian Foreign Service, a representative of India to a number of countries, and remained a champion of communal harmony until his death in 1984.

 

Prospects: Abid Hasan Safrani's memory lives on in each patriotic gesture and each moment of national pride throughout India. As the nation continues to celebrate its diversity in unity, "Jai Hind" is a living testament to the power of visionary, inclusive leadership by the son of Hyderabad.

 

Source: Deccan Chronicle, Wikipedia, Telangana Today, Siasat, Times of India