Shaheed Major Durga Mala

Countless Gorkhas have fought and made sacrifices for our beloved nation. From the freedom struggle to
the heights of Kargil, Gorkhas have always been at the forefront in the defence of our country.
ShaheedDurgaMalla belongs to the front rank of Gorkha heroes martyred for the cause of our country’s
freedom. He epitomized the fighting spirit and ardent patriotism of Indian Gorkhas.

Born on 1 July 1913 at village Doiwala in Dehradun district of Uttaranchal, DurgaMalla was the eldest of the
four sons of Parwati Devi and Ganga Ram Malla. Ganga Ram Malla was Jamadar (now called Naib-Subedar)
of Gorkha Rifles in the Military and Parwati Devi a housewife. With the passage of time, this family was
blessed with three more sons and three daughters. The eldest among the four brothers, DurgaMalla was an
extremely self-respecting, laborious, dedicated and honest person.
The ancestors of DurgaMalla had been living in Doiwala area since the eighteenth century. Their main was
agriculture and service in military forces. Growing sugarcane crop, preparing ‘gur’ and sugar; and selling
them in the marketwas also part of their profession.

Since his childhood, DurgaMalla was different in nature from other children of his age . Besides having a
keen interest in sports, particularly football, DurgaMalla has a great fascination for literary and social
activities. He was very good at studies. But due to the absence of proper educational facilities in Doiwala
area, he had to join Gorkha Military Middle School, at present Gorkha Military Inter College, near Dehradun.
Since the school was quite far from Doiwala, he shifted to his paternal uncle KedarMalla’s house at Nalapani.
He used to go to school on foot along with one or two of his friends, covering a distance of about 8 or 9
mileseveryday. Despite being tired on return from school late in the evening, he never neglected his studies
and always stood first in his class.

DurgaMalla had drawn inspiration from the poet and social reformer Subedar-Major Bahadur Singh Baral and
the musician and playwright MitraSenThapa. He was greatly inspired by the prominent Gandhian freedom
fighters of Dehradun like Thakur Chandan Singh, Veer Khadagabahadur Singh Bisht,
PanditIshwaranandGorkha and Amar Singh Thapa. The Dandi March of Mahatma Gandhi in 1930 to violate
‘salt rule’ started generating patriotic sentiments in the heart of DurgaMalla, motivating him to take part in
the freedom struggle. He could see the vision of the freedom of India under the leadership of Mahatma
Gandhi.
At the time of the Satyagraha movement, DurgaMalla was only a student of ninth class, but he was actively
engaged in anti-British activities in his locality. He used to enter the Gorkha battalion area in the night with
some of his friends to paste posters of freedom struggle. Sometimes, he participated in processions with
freedom fighters. Due to his anti-British activities, his family was frequently subjected to severe interrogation
by the British Government.

DurgaMalla was also deeply concerned about the subjugation of India and the pathetic condition of the
country. Therefore, he joined the freedom struggle to free the country from the shackles of slavery. This was
the time when the police in Dehradun was frantically arresting freedom fighters. As a result, freedom fighters
started migrating to other places from Dehradun. To dodge the police, DurgaMalla, who was a young student,
went away to the house of a relative at Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh.

In 1931, when he was only eighteen years old, he joined the 2/1 battalion of Gorkha Rifles. In his battalion,
DurgaMalla was comparatively a more educated recruit. Therefore, after completing ‘recruit training’, he was
sent to Pune for ‘signal training’. In the course of time, he attained excellence in several other military
trainings. On the basis of his dedicated services and efficiency, he got quick promotions and after a few
years, was promoted to the important post of Signal Hawaldar.

In 1941, after serving the army for about ten years, DurgaMalla married Sharda Devi, a girl of Thakuri family
of district Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. But fate had something else in store for him. It was the time of the
Second World War. Japanese aggression had become more violent in Burma, Malaya and Singapore. The 2/1
battalion of Gorkha Rifles was also ordered to advance for the war- field. Just three days after his marriage
DurgaMalla got an emergent call from his unit. He was called back for war by the Army even before his newly
married bride Sharda Devi could get acquainted with him.
 Participation in the Second World War
Being a true patriot, DurgaMalla did not get upset while leaving his newly married bride alone back at home.
He marched for war with utmost courage. When his battalion reached Secunderabad, he was sanctioned
leave for 28 days and given an opportunity to reach home and meet his family members before departing for
Malaya. From Secunderabad, his battalion reached Bombay and on 23 August 1941 departed for Malaya from
the Bombay sea-port. By September 1941, all the Gorkha battalions had reached Malaya. Following an attack
on 8 December 1941 by Japan to the Allied Forces deployed in South-East Asia, the war was declared. By 11
December 1941, the condition of the British Forces weakened. Gradually, Japanese forces tightened their
grip over the war.
Never before in the history of British rule had the Indian soldiers felt so demoralized as did in Malaya and
subsequently at other places in South-East Asia. In December 1941, a group of Indian soldiers lost
themselves in the jungle. One of their officers, Captain Mohan Singh decided not to rejoin the retreating
British Forces. He convinced himself that Indian soldiers had no cause to fight for the Britishers and instead
fight the Britishers along with the Japanese. With this mission in his mind, he approached Major Fujiwara of
Japan who assured him that Japan was prepared to go all out to assist India to attain independence. Major
Fujiwara also declared that all Indian Prisoners of War, who were handed over to the Japanese Government
by a British officer Col.Hunt on behalf of the British Government, would be under the control of Captain
Mohan Singh.

To consolidate the Indian Independence movement in South-East Asia and determine the nature of Japanese
assistance to the movement, two conferences were held in Tokyo and Bangkok in March and June 1942,
respectively where the important decision to raise the Indian National Army was taken. On 1 September 1942,
the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauz) was officially formed in Singapore.
Role in the Indian National Army
The formation of the Indian National Army represented a milestone in the history of India’s freedom struggle.
DurgaMalla was one of those who played an important role in the formation of the Indian National Army. In
1942, he not only joined this Army with a patriotic zeal but also inspired his fellow men to join it.
Initially, DurgaMalla was given the responsibility to mobilize volunteers for the Indian National Army from
different Gorkha battalions. Later, by virtue of his patriotic feelings, his sense of duty towards his country
and his valour, he earned promotion to the rank of Major.

When after the formation of the Provisional Azad Hind Government under the supreme command of
NetajiSubhas Chandra Bose war was declared against the Allied Forces on 25 october 1943, soldiers of
different branches of the Indian National Army were deployed on the fronts. DurgaMalla was posted in the
Intelligence Branch. He, along with some other fellow soldiers entered the hilly area of the then greater
Assam across Burma border. There he used to collect and send important information regarding matters of
strategic importance to the headquarters of Indian National Army in Rangoon despite the shortage of
supplies, ammunitions and weapons and adverse geographical conditions. On 27 March 1944, when
DurgaMalla was on a mission to collect information of the enemy camps, he was captured by the soldiers of
enemy side at Ukhrul in Manipur near Kohima.

After his arrest, DurgaMalla was kept in the prison at Red Fort, New Delhi as a prisoner of war. He was
prosecuted by military court under section 41 of the Indian Army Law and section 121 of the Indian Penal
Code. He was given death sentence by the Court Martial, the court of trial before which he was tried at Red
Fort. That was the time when the imperialist British rulers were trying to suppress the Indian freedom
struggle by all means. Therefore, before the death sentence was finally executed, the British authorities tried
to coax Major DurgaMalla into confessing the wrong and promised him grant of remission if he could do so.
But it was against the wishes of Veer DurgaMalla whose only objective was to get the country free. He
preferred to embrace the gallows rather than accepting the proposal of the British rulers. All persuasions
having failed, DurgaMalla’s wife Smt. Sharda Devi was brought before him at the prison cell as the last
resort. British authorities were of the opinion that she would persuade her husband to apologise. But Major
Malla yielded to no devices of the British authorities. On the contrary, he gave his wife his last words by
saying.”Sharda, I am sacrificing my life for the freedom of my motherland. You need not be worried and
distressed. Crores of Hindustanis will be with you after my death. The Sacrifice I am offering, shall not go in
vain. India shall be free. I am confident, this is only a matter of time.”
Supreme Sacrifice
On 15th August 1944, Veer Durga, the great patriot, was taken to Delhi Central Jail from the Red Fort. After
ten days, on 25th August 1944, he was sent to the gallows. Thus ended the journey of one more noble son of
mother India who laid down his precious life at the altar of Freedom. DurgaMalla’s Physical body is no more
but he sacrificed himself after leading a meaningful life of only 31 years and became immortal.