Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Malaya S. A Ganapathy


This is an humble effort initiated after a long search (kind of a soul search for me as well). Every time when I read about those brave battles episodes of elite unit Force 136 under Spencer Chapman, who fought against the Japanese atrocities in Malaya, when reading the furious battle of Bukit Chandu which almost shaken the Japanese Imperial Army- under the command of a young Malay named Lieutenant Adnan Saidi of Malay Regiment, one question shall persist in my mind; why was there not a single Malayan Indian who stood up and fought for his people and this land?
As my mind started the journey unintentionally to find answer to this question, slowly I have been exposed to pieces of jig-saw puzzles- just like a moving magnet picking up small particles of metal, I started to attract information from all kind of sources. Let me confess here that I am yet to fix these pieces together as I do not know where to start or where to end. Hence, I have created a blog for this great "unsung" hero called Srimugu Arumugadevar Ganapathy (S.A Ganapathy) or also known as Malaya Ganapathy, who was sentenced to gallows - hanged to death by the British on 4th May 1949.

Who actually this Ganapathy was? Why he posed such a huge threat to the British in Malaya until he has to be put off? What was his involvement in Indian National Army in Singapore under the leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose? What were his struggles? What made him so dangerous to the capitalists in Malaya? Why was not there a single line ever been written about this man (forget about those Umno composed "history books", but not even in Malayan Indian history and literature)? Nobody ever spoke about him? Why certain people traumatized with this name..S. A Ganapathy?

The reason behind the creation of this blog is to encourage bloggers and visitors to contribute their experience and views associated to this man and with the hope that one day the history will be re-written; that will make every Indian in this country feel proud for this Indian - as we also can finally stand tall proudly calling out load this man as a Malayan Indian who fought for his fellow working class people, for their freedom and independence of Malaya.

I will try (with my limited proficiency in English and Bahasa Melayu) slowly to exposed all those "pieces" about this man in this blog- his struggles, unfolding betrayal drama as he may or was a pawn in the hand of some Indian politicians. And as I mentioned earlier, I am always open up for criticisms and comments.

Thanking all in advance in helping me to pull all these puzzles together.

Ini merupakan satu usaha yang lahir daripada satu pencarian yang lama. Setiap kali saya terbaca kisah keberanian unit Force 136 di bawah pimpinan Spenser Chapman yang menentang penjajahan Jepun di Malaya, keberanian Leftenan Adnan Saidi yang berjuang sehingga ke titisan darah terakhir dalam pertempuran di Bukit Chandu menentang tentera Jepun di Singapura (pertempuran terakhir yang amat sengit ini menyebabkan tentera imperial Jepun tergaman dan terkejut melihat keutuhan dan kecekalan anak melayu ini)


Lt. Adnan Saidi

Di akhir pertempuran tentera Jepun cukup marah dengan Adnan Saidi sehinggakan beliau diseksa dan tubuhnya dicacak bertubi tubi dengan bonet sehingga hampir terputus lehernya, sering mengungkit persoalan yang tidak terjawab sehingga kini: kenapa tidak ada seorang pun dari keturunan India di Malaya tidak berani bangun untuk memperjuangkan dan mempertahankan kebebasan bangsanya? Dalam pencarian inilah saya bertemu dengan manusia yang bernama S. A Ganapathy atau dikenali juga dengan nama Malaya Ganapathy yang dihukum gantung di Penjara Pudu pada 4 Mei 1949 oleh British. Mengapa dia perlu dihukum sebegitu rupa? Apa kesalahannya? Mengapakah namanya tidak pernah tercacat dalam buku sejarah kita?

Saya percaya semua persoalan ini akan terjawab dalam blog khas ini. Saya berharap pembaca and pelawat blog ini akan menyumbang dan memperkenalkan pautan mengenai perwira ini di samping mengkritik secara membina untuk tatapan bangsa Malaysia. Mungkin satu hari nanti sejarah negara kita akan ditulis semula dengan memuatkan namanya sebagai India Malaya yang memperjuangkan hak golongan pekerja Malaya tanpa batasan agama dan ras serta memperjuangkan kemerdekaan negara ini.

2 comments:

  1. i need more info about malaya ganapathy. can u help me out? kindly reply to me at [email protected]

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your dream has come true. Today the world is turning to his name.

    ReplyDelete

Jananayagam - 5th May 1945 - Ganapathy's Short History

Jananayagam (Democracy) published on the 5th May 1949 carried the life story of Ganapathy on its first page - "Thukkilidapatta Ganapath...