The Vanguard of Azad Hind: Colonel Prem Kumar Sahgal, the Hero of Mount Popa and the Red Fort Defiance
He was the son of a High Court judge and an elite British-commissioned officer with a brilliant career ahead of him. Instead, he gave up wealth, privilege, and imperial status to stand shoulder to shoulder with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose—leading the fight for India’s soul.

The Blurb
Born in the cultural and legal heart of Lahore to eminent jurist Sir Achhru Ram, Prem Kumar Sahgal grew up surrounded by constitutional law, intellect, and social prominence. Educated at Government College, Lahore, and trained at the elite Indian Military Academy in Dehradun, he was commissioned into the storied 10th Baluch Regiment. But when British command collapsed in the jungles of Malaya and over 45,000 Indian troops were abandoned at Singapore’s Farrer Park in February 1942, the imperial covenant was shattered forever.

Refusing to let Indian soldiers become pawns in foreign imperial wars, Sahgal found his ultimate purpose with the arrival of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

Recognized for his brilliant tactical mind, Sahgal was appointed Military Secretary to the Provisional Government of Free India (Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind), coordinating strategic maneuvers across Southeast Asia. Yet, when the war reached its most perilous hour in 1945, Sahgal refused to remain at Supreme Headquarters. Demanding a frontline combat command, he took charge of the 2nd Infantry Regiment and marched into the crucible of central Burma.

On the slopes of Mount Popa and along the bluffs of the Irrawaddy River, Colonel Sahgal mounted a legendary asymmetric defense. Facing British armored divisions without anti-tank artillery, he deployed volunteer anti-tank squads armed with hand-placed magnetic mines, launching nocturnal guerrilla raids while sharing the exact starvation rations of his disease-ravaged troops in the trenches.

Captured in the dense forests of Allanmyo and dragged in chains to Delhi, Sahgal was placed in the prisoner’s dock inside the Red Fort alongside Major General Shah Nawaz Khan and Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon. Accused of high treason and “waging war against the King-Emperor”, the trio’s calm, unyielding defiance galvanized four hundred million Indians.

To the deafening national battle cry—”Lal Qile se aayi awaaz: Sahgal, Dhillon, Shah Nawaz!”—millions took to the streets, igniting the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny and shattering the British Empire’s military grip on India once and for all.

Why This Book Captivates Readers
The Vanguard of Azad Hind brings to life the extraordinary, untold depth of an intellectual warrior who chose national freedom over comfort and imperial favor. Drawing from declassified military archives, court-martial transcripts, and personal memoirs, this sweeping account takes readers through:

The Transformation of an Elite Officer: The journey of a high-society Lahore gentleman into a battle-hardened commander of the Azad Hind Fauj.

The Fire on the Frontlines: The gripping tactical reality of asymmetric jungle warfare, nocturnal ambushes, and tank battles on the ridges of Mount Popa.

The Trial That Broke an Empire: The legal defense led by Bhulabhai Desai and Jawaharlal Nehru inside the Red Fort that placed the legitimacy of British rule itself on trial.

A Lifelong Covenant with the People: His post-independence partnership with legendary commander Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, their tireless advocacy for trade union workers and INA veterans in Kanpur, and their fearless stand to protect minority communities during times of crisis.

A stirring saga of military honor, unbreakable secular brotherhood, and supreme sacrifice, this book honors the immortal legacy of a commander who placed the sovereignty of his motherland above all else.

“When a direct conflict arose between loyalty to a foreign King-Emperor and loyalty to my own country, my duty was clear: I chose the freedom of India.”

— Colonel Prem Kumar Sahgal, Red Fort Trial, 1945