As a fighter and a peace broker, an Indian played a memorable role in Indonesia’s freedom struggle

When TD Kundan migrated to Surabaya in present-day Indonesia in 1931, he could not have foreseen what life had in store for him. Like other Sindhis in Surabaya, Kundan had wanted to be a trader – to set up his own business and tend to his family.

But within decades, his name was etched in the history of the city as a representative of the Indian community, a mediator between the British and the Indonesians, a bridge between Indonesian and Indian leaders, a facilitator of international aid, and most importantly, a peace broker and then a fighter in the famous Battle of Surabaya in 1945.

For this prolific service, Kundan was awarded one of Indonesia’s highest civilian honours. His contemporaries in the Indonesian freedom struggle glowingly attested to his stellar role. When he died, some of his remains were interred in the Memorial Cemetery of Heroes at Surabaya.

Western writers and historians did not acknowledge his story. It was first recorded by PRS Mani, an Indian reporter embedded in the British army’s 23rd Infantry Division. An Australian historian, Heather Goodall, detailed the picture in her 2018 book Beyond Borders: Indians, Australians and the Indonesian Revolution 1939-1950.

Community’s representative

Thakurdas Daryanani Kundan was born in Hyderabad, Sindh, in 1911. A graduate of the...

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