AIZAWL, July 21 - Darthawma, the last surviving member of the Azad Hind Fauj, died at the age of 99, at his home in northern Mizoram�s Lunglei town around 3 am on Sunday. He is survived by his children and grand-children.
Darthawma has been bed-ridden for years. His funeral took place at Lunglei today.
Darthawma was born in 1920 at Pukpui village, few miles from Lunglei town. During World War II he was enrolled in Indian Army Medical Corps and then was sent to Penang Island in Malaysia to fight the marauding Japanese troops but unfortunately found himself on the losing side to be taken as prisoners of war in Singapore by the Japanese Army.
Once Netaji visited their prison, Darthawma was among other soldiers to join Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army) to fight for India�s Independence. He fought the British Army along with his comrades of INA and Japanese soldiers in Burma. But they ultimately surrendered to the British with the surrender of the Japanese Army due to bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
He was tried for sedition and convicted for �waging war against the British�. After spending two months in Chittagong jail, he spent one year in Lucknow Jail. He was released as his case, with intervention of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, was converted into a lesser offence on January 15, 1945.
Darthawma had been awarded �Tamrapatra� by the Centre in 1972.
