A.C.N. Nambiar ( left in picture), who was the Berlin correspondent of The Hindu during 1926-1934, shifted his residence to New Delhi in late October 1984. Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had insisted on his return from Zurich as she was worried about his health. From 1927, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi had treated and considered Nambiar to be a close family friend. For them, he was “Nanu”. Nehru had appointed him as India’s Ambassador to Sweden and West Germany. However, Nambiar chose to retire from diplomatic life in 1958 and resume his life as a journalist from Switzerland.
By 1933, Nambiar had become Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s trusted confidante in Europe. It was in the same year that Hitler’s police had expelled him from Germany after arresting him on February 27 for involvement in the Reichstag Fire along with Communists. In 1942, Bose brought Nambiar back to Berlin to join his team to carry on with his Indian independence struggle from Berlin. In 1943 he designated Nambiar as his successor for his European campaign when he secretly left for the Far East to lead the Indian National Army (INA). After the Second World War, the Allied Powers imprisoned Nambiar from 1945 to 1947. He was the only Indian freedom fighter to have been arrested by Hitler and the Allied Forces.
Soon after his arrival, Nambiar met Indira Gandhi on October 21, 1984. On October 22 he received a warm, handwritten letter from her, welcoming him and assuring him of all support including an offer to send him home cooked food from her house! However, on October 31, 1984 the world shattered for him. He was left staring at an uncertain future with Mrs Gandhi’s assassination. His only anchor in life had suddenly gone. He did not know India, which he had left 75 years ago. It adversely affected his health. He had to be in and out of the hospital repeatedly. He passed away on January 17, 1986.
