Abid Hasan Safrani : Netaji’s Comrade-in-Arms

Anecdotal memories of Safrani recounted by family and friends also reveal a self-effacing, fiercely loyal, braveand generous man with an endearing persona.

Safrani grew up in old aristocratic Hyderabad of the 1920s in a richly syncretic, secular culture and a vibrant social and intellectual environment that influenced him deeply, leading him later to plunge into politics under Subhas Bose’s leadership. He went on to become one of Netaji’s closest associates, and was the only one to accompany him on his historic submarine voyage from Kiel in Germany to Japanese territory in Sumatra, Malaysia, during World War II. A polyglot and connoisseur of art and history, Safrani also served independent India as a diplomat of distinction in China, West Asia, Africa and Europe. Compiled by his niece Ismat Mehdi, who accompanied him on his foreign postings to Bern and Baghdad, and his nephew Shehbaz Safrani, who was with him in Baghdad and Damascus, Abid Hasan’s accounts of his time and journeys with Netaji—collected from his notebooks—bring alive key historical events and fill in crucial gaps in the narration of India’s freedom struggle.