Prem Sahgal Biography 
Colonel Prem Kumar Sahgal, shortly called Prem Sahgal, or simply P. K. Sahgal was an officer of the British Indian Army, who later under the influence of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose joined Indian National Army in the 1940s. Famous freedom fighter Lakshmi Saighal, also known as Captain Lakshmi was his wife. Noted social worker and political activist, Ammu Swaminathan was his mother-in-law. Thus Mrinalini Sarabhai, celebrated classical dancer was his niece. He was one among those three soldiers who faced Red Fort Trial in 1944.
Prem Kumar was born and brought up in Lahore where he completed his education. He passed the military entrance exam in 1936 and joined Indian Military Academy at Dehradun, where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on the Special List in 1939. He was attached to the 2nd battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. From there on, he served as a member of British Indian Army till he got influenced by Indian National Army and ideologies of Subhash Chandra Bose. He was held as prisoner of the Japanese army during World War Second, before he joined INA.
He married Lakshmi Swaminathan (maiden name) in March 1947 at Lahore. Captain Lakshmi has been working as the head of the women's wing of the Indian National Army, and they closely worked, which later resulted in their marriage. The couple had two daughters, Subhashini Ali and Anisa Puri. Subhashini Ali is a noted communist women's activist, who was formerly married to noted film-maker Muzaffar Ali. Prem Sahgal was an atheist who believed in communist ideology. He passed away on 17 October 1992.
A close associative of Netaji Subhash Chandra Boss in INA, he was one among the three soldiers who were tried and sentenced to death in a public court-martial carried out by the British Indian Army, accusing of treason during World War II, for "waging war against the King Emperor of Delhi”. The other two members of INA were Prem Sahgal and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon and the news gained much attention from media and public. However they were defended by a group of Indian leaders and lawyers including Jawaharlal Nehru and Bhulabhai Desai, and their sentence was reduced to cashiering by the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army.
Published: N/A
Updated: February 27, 2016
