Jai Hind coined by a Hyderabadi

Former chief secretary, Narendra Luther, in his book ‘Lengendotes of Hyderabad’, claims that it was not Subash Chandra Bose but his secretary, Zainul Abideen Hasan, son of a collector from the city, who coined the term, ‘Jai Hind’

Jai Hind, a salutation, slogan and battle cry, is a commonly used term across the country since the time of India’s freedom struggle. It’s still not clear as to who coined the term. Historians are divided that the phrase was either coined by Chempakaraman Pillai, a revolutionary in the Indian Independence Movement or by Major Abid Hasan Safrani of the Indian National Army, who used the phrase as a shortened version of ‘Jai Hindustan Ki’. But the popular opinion is that Subhash Chandra Bose coined the slogan.

Now Narendra Luther, a former civil servant, has refuted all the declarations. In his book ‘Lengendotes of Hyderabad’ (legends and anecdotes of Hyderabad), he claimed that ‘Jai Hind’ was first used by a man from that city who gave up his engineering studies in Germany to become Bose’s secretary and interpreter.

Narendra Luther, a writer, former civil servant, author and columnist, presently lives in the city. He is considered an eminent authority on the history and culture of erstwhile Hyderabad state and its rulers.

In his book, he presents a number of interesting articles, based on documentary evidence, interviews and personal experiences on the city that is much celebrated for its romantic origin and composite culture.

According to the author, ‘Jai Hind’ was coined by Zainul Abideen Hasan, son of a collector from Hyderabad, who went to Germany to study engineering.

“During World War II, Bose had escaped to Germany to canvass support for an armed struggle to liberate India. He addressed meetings of Indian prisoners of war and other Indians exhorting them to join him in his struggle. Hasan met him and inspired by his patriotism and spirit of sacrifice, he told Bose that he would join him after finishing his studies,” said Luther. He further wrote, “Bose taunted him that if he was worried about small things, he would not be able to take up big causes. Stung by that rebuke, Hasan gave up his studies and became Bose’s secretary and interpreter.”

“Bose wanted to introduce an Indian form of greeting for his army, and for independent India. Various suggestions came. Hasan suggested ‘Hello’. Netaji snubbed him. Then he suggested ‘Jai Hind’. Netaji liked it and it became the official form of greeting in the Indian National Army and among the revolutionary Indians. Later it was adopted as the official slogan of the country,” he said.