Honour and loyalty are known to be the mark of a perfect soldier. And World War II veteran, Rasool Khan, a resident of Chanchalguda in Hyderabad, fits the bill notwithstanding his age at over 90 years.
This former Sepoy of the Royal Indian Service Corps, a British Army unit active in the Burmese front during WW II, had even denied himself the chance to enrol in Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army as he had taken an oath to be loyal to the outfit he served.
“We were excited when we got an offer to join Netaji’s force but were bound by our oath,” says the ex-soldier, referring to the days when feelers were sent to Indian personnel in the British Army in Burma to desert their units. “We came out of the War with honour,” he adds as he throws light on the crucial period in World history.
The veteran was talking to The Hindu after being honoured at the ex-servicemen rally, which he came to attend in Adilabad, on Sunday. However, he observes, “The uncertainty of those times was quite an experience.”
Born on September 9 1923, Rasool Khan had enrolled in the British outfit in Secunderabad in 1939 at the tender age of 16. He was trained in a military training facility in Allahabad before being shifted to the Burmese front in an anti-aircraft gunnery unit.
“We never got a chance to use the anti-aircraft guns during all the six years I served on the front. Life in the trenches and open jungles, however, taught me to be tough,” says the nonagenarian ex-solider, who has remained single.
The fast paced events associated with the country’s independence made people forget about WW II and its veterans, which had Rasool Khan live a life of virtual seclusion. “ Humku koi bhi nai puchte the ,” he says in a typical Hyderabadi accent as he talks about the condition of WW II veterans in the wake of independence.
Later in life nevertheless, the ex-soldier was given employment in the Army Supply Corps (Maintenance and Transport) at Ramagundam. He is thankful for the support given by the Army.
