UPSC Prelims 2021 Q47: Shah Nawaz Khan, Sehgal and Dhillon — Explained

In the context of Colonial India, Shah Nawaz Khan, Prem Kumar Sehgal and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon are remembered as

  1. leaders of Swadeshi and Boycott Movement
  2. members of the Interim Government in 1946
  3. members of the Drafting Committee in the Constituent Assembly
  4. officers of the Indian National Army

Answer: (d) officers of the Indian National Army

Statement-wise explanation

  • a: incorrect — The Swadeshi and Boycott Movement (1905–08) was a protest against the Partition of Bengal. Its leaders were Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh. Shah Nawaz Khan, Sehgal and Dhillon were born in the 1910s, so they could not have led a movement of 1905.
  • b: incorrect — The Interim Government was sworn in on 2 September 1946 under Jawaharlal Nehru. Its Congress members included Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, C. Rajagopalachari, Baldev Singh, John Matthai and Jagjivan Ram. The Muslim League joined on 26 October 1946 with Liaquat Ali Khan, I.I. Chundrigar, Abdur Rab Nishtar, Ghazanfar Ali Khan and Jogendra Nath Mandal. None of the three men named in the question was a member.
  • c: incorrect — The Drafting Committee was set up on 29 August 1947 with B.R. Ambedkar as chairman. Its other members were Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, K.M. Munshi, Mohammad Saadulla, B.L. Mitter and D.P. Khaitan. N. Madhava Rau later replaced Mitter, and T.T. Krishnamachari replaced Khaitan. None of the three men served on it.
  • d: correct — All three were officers of the British Indian Army who joined Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj). Shah Nawaz Khan became a Major-General; Prem Kumar Sehgal and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon became Colonels. In November 1945 the British put them on trial together by court martial at the Red Fort, Delhi, for 'waging war against the King-Emperor'. That trial is why they are remembered.

How to eliminate

Option structure does most of the work. Swadeshi (1905), the Interim Government (1946) and the Drafting Committee (1947) are well-documented bodies with famous members. A candidate who knows even the main names in each (Tilak–Lal–Bal–Aurobindo for Swadeshi; Nehru, Patel and Liaquat for the Interim Government; Ambedkar, Alladi, Munshi and Gopalaswami Ayyangar for the Drafting Committee) will see that none of the three names fits. The trio also mixes a Muslim, a Hindu and a Sikh name in a military setting, which points to the INA. Their joint trial was promoted as a symbol of communal unity. In the end you have to know the fact: Sehgal, Dhillon and Shah Nawaz Khan were the three INA officers in the first Red Fort trial (November 1945). The popular slogan helps you remember it: 'Lal Qile se aayi awaaz — Sehgal, Dhillon, Shahnawaz'.

Know more

The INA and the Red Fort trials

Origins. The first Indian National Army was formed in 1942 under Captain Mohan Singh, with Japanese backing. Its soldiers were Indian prisoners of war captured in Malaya and Singapore. Rash Behari Bose's Indian Independence League gave it political cover. In July 1943 Subhas Chandra Bose took over in Singapore. On 21 October 1943 he proclaimed the Provisional Government of Free India (Azad Hind). The INA had a women's unit, the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, led by Captain Lakshmi Swaminathan, who later married Prem Sehgal. It fought alongside the Japanese in the Imphal–Kohima campaign of 1944 and was defeated.

The trials (Nov 1945 – 1946). The British held about ten courts martial. The first and most famous was the joint trial of three officers at the Red Fort:

Officer INA rank Background
Shah Nawaz Khan Major-General Muslim; later a Lok Sabha MP and Union minister
Prem Kumar Sehgal Colonel Hindu
Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon Colonel Sikh
  • Defence: Congress set up an INA Defence Committee. Bhulabhai Desai led the defence, with Tej Bahadur Sapru, K.N. Katju and Jawaharlal Nehru on the team.
  • Verdict: On 31 December 1945 the court found all three guilty of waging war against the King-Emperor and sentenced them to transportation for life.
  • Release: Public protest was widespread. In early January 1946 the Commander-in-Chief, Claude Auchinleck, remitted the sentences, and the three officers were freed.

Why it matters. The trials united Indians across communities and ideologies. Unrest then spread into the armed forces, including the Royal Indian Navy mutiny of February 1946. Together these events convinced Britain that it could no longer rely on Indian soldiers to hold India. The barracks where the trial took place now house the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose museum at the Red Fort, opened on 23 January 2019.

In the news

The question is tagged static. In January 2021 the Government declared 23 January 'Parakram Diwas' and began a year-long celebration of Subhas Chandra Bose's 125th birth anniversary. November 2020 also marked 75 years since the Red Fort trials. Either of these may have put the INA back in focus.

NCERT Concepts to Revise

  • INA trials 1945: The three names in the question are tied together by one 1945 event at the Red Fort; this entry explains that trial.
  • Indian National Army: Covers the army raised in South-East Asia that is central to identifying these three men.
  • Subhas Chandra Bose: Bose led the force these men served in; his 1943 takeover explains their ranks and role.
  • Indian Independence League: Rash Behari Bose's league was the political body behind the first INA; it helps place the trio's timeline.
  • Swadeshi movement: One option refers to the 1905–07 movement; knowing its era and leaders helps you test that option.