Parvinder Bhatia
Jamshedpur: Born in Kobe, Japan, and forged in the fires of India’s freedom struggle, Lt Asha Sahay — a lieutenant of the legendary Rani of Jhansi Regiment in Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army (INA) — passed away late Tuesday night in Patna’s Sri Krishna Puri locality. She was 97.
Fondly remembered by her wartime name, Sahay stood among the last living witnesses of the INA’s battle against British rule. She had spent several years in Jamshedpur when her younger son, Sanjay Choudhry, served as Chief, Corporate Communications at Tata Steel.
She passed away peacefully in the presence of her family at 11.55 pm on August 12, after a brief illness. At 97, she was a living bridge to one of the most stirring chapters of World War II history, a warrior of the Rani Jhansi Regiment, the all-female combat unit of the Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army). Her life was not merely a page in the story of the Indian independence movement but a blazing testament to the courage, sacrifice, and unyielding spirit that drove our nation’s fight for freedom. Lieutenant Sahay’s journey was one of defiance and inspiration. As part of the Rani Jhansi Regiment, led by the indomitable Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, she and many young women like her shattered the chains of gender, caste, and religious divides, standing tall as a symbol of Indian women’s strength in the battle against colonial oppression.
Born on February 2, 1928, to Anand Mohan Sahay and Sati Sen Sahay, she first met Netaji at age 15 in Tokyo, expressing her wish to join the INA. Told to wait, she persevered, joining the Rani of Jhansi Regiment as a lieutenant in May 1945 in Bangkok. She met Netaji twice more — once during training and finally when he disbanded the INA before his fateful last journey.
Returning to India in 1946 after her father’s release from Singapore’s Pearl Hill Prison, she joined a national tour recounting the INA’s sacrifices, igniting public uprisings and military mutinies that hastened India’s independence.
Daughter of Anand Mohan Sahay, the closest associate and chief advisor of Netaji during the INA period, had published the memoirs of her daring father, Stirring Times.
During an interaction with this journalist once, she said: “It was my heartfelt desire to publish the memoirs of my late father. He was the secretary general with ministerial rank and chief of the Cabinet Secretariat of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind and played a crucial role in uniting the Indians to fight against the British army. His life is an inspiration and the book will serve as an insight into his contribution to the freedom struggle” she noted.
Reminiscing about her struggle days, she said, “The Indians in Japan in those days were very
scared of the British. Papa ( Anand Mohan Sahay) arrived in Japan in 1923 and later formed the Indian Independence League to unite Indians to fight for their rights. From his school days he had dreamt of an India where people could greet each other with ‘Vande Mataram’ and later, with ‘Jai Hind’, where The Tricolour could be proudly hoisted and where there would be no poverty or ignorance”.
Bharati was educated at Kobe in a Japanese school and later completed her higher studies at Tokyo Women’s College.
“The best part of education in Japan was that nationalism was prior to religion. We were taught about patriotism, which was important at that time. We also visited Shinto shrines like all our Japanese friends, but we would pray for India’s freedom and victory for Japan in war,”
she noted.
Her association with Indian National Army (INA) is a golden period of her life, which she cherished the most.
