Indian Soldiers Defected to Indonesia

AFTER the Japanese left Medan, the Allied troops arrived. They came to free prisoners of war as well as to disarm the remaining Japanese. The first contingent of Allied troops came from the 4th Brigade of the Indian Division which entered Medan on October 9, 1945.

As the name of the division unit suggests, the Allied soldiers serving in Medan consisted of Indians and Pakistanis, whose countries, at that time, had not yet separated and thus were all called as Indians. British India Army (BIA) was the name for the Indians in the Allied forces. Upon arrival in Medan, they stayed at the Grand Hotel, which was located in front of Medan Besar Station.

Not far from the Grand Hotel, there was Fajar Asia Restaurant (RM) which served Indian cuisine everyday. The Indian soldiers were regular customers in that restaurant. One of its mainstay menus, goat curry, turned out to be a perfect match for the Indian soldiers' taste buds.

“They started defecting to our side at this restaurant. There were almost 70 people but not simultaneously”, explained Muhammad Tuk Wan Haria (TWH), a senior Medan journalist who was also the founder of Yayasan Pelestarian Fakta Sejarah (the Historical Facts Preservation Foundation), to Historia.

According to TWH, the owner of RM Fajar Asia was an Acehnese named Hamzah Abdullah. Not only the restaurant, Hamzah also owned the Cinta Saudara inn next door to Fajar Asia. Apart from being a businessman, Hamzah was a member of Laskar Pesindo Andalas Utara, part of Battalion III of the Medan Area Special Regiment (RIMA). In other words, Hamzah was both a businessman and a nationalist fighter.

He was friendly to the Indian soldiers who were loyal customers to his restaurant. If the soldiers were broke, Hamzah didn't mind being owed money. Sometimes, in exchange for paying their debts, the Indian soldiers willingly gave him their guns and pistols.  

Apart from Hamzah Abdullah, two people of Indian descent named Tabib Ansari and Ajad Husin often hang out at Fajar Asia restaurant. Both played a role in lobbying Indian soldiers to desert from the Allies and join the Indonesian fighting group. Tabib, who was considered a close friend of Hamzah, hung out with the Indian soldiers who often came to Fajar Asia restaurant.

Meanwhile, Ajad only occasionally appeared at the restaurant. His job was to take the weapons of the Indian soldiers who had gathered at the restaurant to be handed over to the TKR headquarters in Trepes. Tabib and Ajad were members of TKR B led by Captain Nip Xarim.

That's how Hamzah Abdullah, Tabib Ansari, and Ajad Husin collaborated to convince the Indian soldiers. The majority of the Indian soldiers did sympathize with the struggle of the Indonesians. Apart from sharing the fate as colonized countries, they were also moved by the sense of comradeship among Muslims.

“Many British soldiers of Indian nationality were very sympathetic to Indonesia's struggle for independence, especially since many of them were Muslims,” said TWH.

There was a total of 12 Indian soldiers defected in the first batch. The defection took place at the Cinta Saudara inn when the Indian soldiers stripped off their Allied uniforms and replaced them with plain clothes. The dated Allied uniforms were then thrown into the inn's well.

The Indian soldiers were then transported in a sado (horse-drawn carriage). Arriving at the station, a truck was waiting to take them to TKR B Headquarters at the Trepes River, where they were received by Captain Nip Xarim. Of the 12 deserters, there was one full-blooded British named Lieutenant John Edward.

According to Firdaus Syam, Zahir Khan, and Taufik Syafii in Peranan Pakistan di Masa Revolusi Kemerdekaan Indonesia (the Role of Pakistan in the Indonesian Independence Revolution), these Allied soldiers who defected were very popular in the War of Independence in North Sumatra. They were no longer referred to as Allied soldiers, but Muslim troops. Both the Medan Area fighters and the public looked up to them with great respect because they benefited the people's struggle.

Nip Xarim in Medan Area Mengisi Proklamasi (Medan Fills the Proclamation) recorded the number of Allied soldiers who defected and joined his troops at 71. The majority were Muslim Indians, a small number were non-Muslim Indians and only one was an Englishman. They were then combined in a battalion called the Putra Asia Battalion led by Major Young Sattar. The Putra Asia Battalion was involved in many battles with the Dutch on the Siantar and Tanah Karo fronts.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant John Edward later became an English broadcaster on the Radio Rimba Raya. At the end of the sovereignty recognition, there were only 30 Allied soldiers left. Half died in battle.  

The news of the desertion of some troops from among the BIA was quite shocking to the Allies. Allied army leader Brigadier General T.E.D. Kelly was reportedly so ashamed by the defection of a number of his men. To save face from the blasphemy of the Allied supreme headquarters, the Allied leadership in Medan issued a radical policy: all Indian soldiers who were Muslims would be sent back to India.