Captain Abbas Ali, was born on 3 January 1920 in a Zamindar family in Khurja village in BulandShahar district of Uttar Pradesh. He is from a Muslim Rajput family which never accepted the supremacy of the British. Abbas fought for the liberation of his motherland as a captain in the Indian National Army and was active in political activities for his object of a socialistic pattern of society.
While he was a high school student, Abbas became a member of ‘Nawjawan Bharath Samiti’ founded by Sardar Bhagat Singh and others. He went to Aligarh Muslim University for further studies, where he came under the influence of another freedom fighter and a communist Dr. Kunwar Ahmad Ashraf.
Captain Abbas Ali took membership in the All India Student Federation. Later he joined the British Indian Army on the advice of Dr. Ashraf to bring about a rebellion in the British Indian Army. During the Second World War, he was sent to Singapore in 1941.
When the British forces surrendered themselves to the Japanese Army, Abbas Ali was taken as a prisoner of war. He was later inspired by the speech made by Subhash Chandra Bose in 1943, near the grave of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mogul Emperor.
He decided to dedicate his life for the emancipation of his motherland. Abbas joined Indian National Army wherein he was promoted as captain. He was sent to the Arkan war field in pursuance of the ‘Chalo Delhi’ call given by Subhash Chandra Bose.
Nazir Hussain, the Father of Bhojpuri cinema was a soldier of the Indian National Army
The Indian National Army was forced to retreat with the defeat of Japan in the Second World War. The British Army arrested Captain Abbas Ali, and sentenced him to death after conducting a so-called court martial. But the death sentence was revoked when India became independent.
Abbas played an active role in Uttar Pradesh politics in Independent India. He worked with stalwarts like Acharya Narendra Dev, Jayaprakash Narayan, and Ram Manohar Lohia.
Abbas was arrested more than 50 times during his political career from 1948 to 1974. He spent 19 months in Jail during an emergency. He was elected to Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council in 1978. Captain Abbas Ali breathed his last on 11 October 2014 at Aligarh.
