Jaihind Chempakaraman Pillai (Aged 115), alias Venkidi born on 15 September 1891 was an Indian-born political activist and revolutionary. Born in Trivandrum, Kerala, to Tamil parents, he left for Europe as a youth, where he spent the rest of his active life as an Indian nationalist and revolutionary. Although his life was mired in controversies, including a squabble with Adolf Hitler, information on his life in Europe was sketchy in the immediate years after his death. More information has come out in recent years.
Chempakaraman Pillai is credited with the coining of the salutation and slogan “Jai Hind” in the pre-independence days of India. The slogan is still widely used in India. Pillai attended ETH Zurich from October 1910 until 1914, pursuing a diploma in Engineering. After the outbreak of the First World War, he founded the International Pro-India Committee and based its headquarters in Zürich, appointing himself president in September 1914.
He cooperated with the German Intelligence Bureau for the East and helped creating German propaganda directed at Indian PoWs in German camps, particularly the Halbmondlager. Soon branches sprang up in Amsterdam, Stockholm, and Washington, as well as in many other parts of Europe and the Americas. It is widely believed that Pillai and some Indian revolutionaries had a hand in the SMS Emden bombing of Madras.
Pillai later allied with Indian National Army chief Subhash Chandra Bose. Pillai was the foreign minister of the Provisional Government of India set up in Kabul, Afghanistan on 1 December 1915. He passed away by 26 May 1934.
Jaihind Chempakaraman
(1891 – 1934) – (Tamilnadu)
Jaihind Chempakaraman Pillai (Aged 115), alias Venkidi born on 15 September 1891 was an Indian-born political activist and revolutionary. Born in Trivandrum, Kerala, to Tamil parents, he left for Europe as a youth, where he spent the rest of his active life as an Indian nationalist and revolutionary. Although his life was mired in controversies, including a squabble with Adolf Hitler, information on his life in Europe was sketchy in the immediate years after his death. More information has come out in recent years.
Chempakaraman Pillai is credited with the coining of the salutation and slogan “Jai Hind” in the pre-independence days of India. The slogan is still widely used in India. Pillai attended ETH Zurich from October 1910 until 1914, pursuing a diploma in Engineering. After the outbreak of the First World War, he founded the International Pro-India Committee and based its headquarters in Zürich, appointing himself president in September 1914.
He cooperated with the German Intelligence Bureau for the East and helped creating German propaganda directed at Indian PoWs in German camps, particularly the Halbmondlager. Soon branches sprang up in Amsterdam, Stockholm, and Washington, as well as in many other parts of Europe and the Americas. It is widely believed that Pillai and some Indian revolutionaries had a hand in the SMS Emden bombing of Madras.
Pillai later allied with Indian National Army chief Subhash Chandra Bose. Pillai was the foreign minister of the Provisional Government of India set up in Kabul, Afghanistan on 1 December 1915. He passed away by 26 May 1934.
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