Memoirs of Hyderabad’s Forgotten Hero Abid Hasan Safrani
Abid Hasan Safrani, a close associate of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, was a quiet revolutionary from Hyderabad who kept himself out of the limelight though he was present at every important scene of our freedom struggle across Europe and Asia. A member of the Azad Hind Fauj, Safrani is famous as the man who coined the slogan “Jai Hind” which became the national slogan across India. While the contribution of freedom fighters is being remembered and celebrated all over India, one of Hyderabad’s great heroes has been forgotten; his sacrifices and valour gone unrecognised.
Abid Hasan Safrani: Netaji’s Comrade-in-Arms (Orient BlackSwan, 2023) is a compilation of articles on this hero of the freedom movement. It has been put together by by Ismat Mehdi and Shehbaz Safrani. It has a foreword by Sugata Bose of Harvard University.
Prof. Ismat Mehdi will be in conversation with Mohan Guruswamy about the book.
Ismat Mehdi
Ismat Mehdi is a retired professor of Arabic from EFLU. Hyderabad. She was Director of Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture at the Embassy of India Cairo. She is widely travelled and is proficient in many language. She has written on the Middle East and North Africa. As niece of Abid Hasan Safrani, she accompanied him on his foreign postings to Berne and Baghdad. In the book, she recounts anecdotal memories which bring alive the self-effacing, brave, generous, and endearing man that her uncle was.
Mohan Guruswamy
Mohan Guruswamy has had a career in journalism and management. He has been advisor to the Finance Minister, Govt of India and Distinguished Fellow at AWW Shanghai and the Atlantic Council, Washington DC. He is the author of several books on India China relations, crises in Indian agriculture, foreign policy and security issues. His latest book is Chasing the Dragon: Will India catch up with China? As a Hyderabadi, his family has been connected with the Safranis. He was educated in Nizam College, and Harvard and Stanford Universities in International Affairs Law and Diplomacy.
