18 revolutionary under-trials under the leadership of Jatindranath Das went on a prolonged hunger strike in protest against the horrible conditions in the British jails. They demanded that they be treated not as criminals but as political prisoners. The entire nation rallied behind the hunger strikers.

In the jail, the force feeding gang came twice a day, armed with doctors, hefty jail warders, rubber tubes, funnels and jugs of milk. Seven persons held Jatin down, four for the two legs, one each for the arms, and one to hold the head in position. When Jatin was held flat on the bed, a tube was thrust through his nostrils down through the food pipe. Milk was poured through a funnel.

However, Jatin knew a trick whereby as soon as the tube through the nostrils reached the throat, a little coughing would divert it to the mouth. When the milk was poured, it came out through the open mouth. The doctor came next with 3 tubes - two for the nostrils and one for the mouth. The nostrils were blocked, the mouth was blocked and the milk was poured.

The doctor had forgotten one thing. How would Jatin breathe. There was a slight coughing, the wind pipe was blocked and lungs went up in revolt. Jatin's face turned red and he had violent convulsions. The tubes were hurriedly withdrawn. But it was too late. Jatin Das was on the way to his death. Jatin's blood showed symptoms of poisoning. The burnt body fats were inviting death. The end came on 13th September, 1929 at around 4 pm. He had been without a drop of nutrition for 40 days, and on hunger strike for 51 days.

The news of his death spread like wild-fire in the city. The jail officers carried the bier to the outer gate and handed it over to the assembled masses to whom Jatin belonged. A train carried his body on a 1600 mile journey from Lahore to Calcutta. Thousands came to pay him homage at every station passed by the train. The compartment was strewn with flowers and fruits. At Calcutta, a two-mile-long procession of more than 600,000 people accompanied the valiant son of Bengal to the cremation ground. The nation's soul will never let such martyrs die.

- Dr. Premdatta Verma, Punjab University Weekly Bulletin, Sep 19, 1964

• A great deal had transpired in the years between the Berlin Olympics in 1936 and the London Olympics in 1948. India got its independence, but suffered a devastating partition when a new state of Pakistan was carved out.
  
  
• Many Anglo-Indians left the country, and a number of Muslims migrated to Pakistan. India lost a rich recruiting ground for hockey talent. A brand new Indian team left for London, without a single player who had played in an earlier Olympics.
  
  
• The captain of the Pakistan hockey team in the 1948 Olympics was A. I. S. Dara. He had represented India in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Besides Dara, Paul Peter Fernandes and Bhopal's Akhtar Hussain and Latif-ur-Rehman, have done duty for both India and Pakistan in the Olympics.
  
  
• India beat Austria 8-0 in their first match. India followed up this victory by defeating Argentina 9-1, Spain 2-0, and Holland 2-1 to enter the finals.
  
  
• The first time that India met Britain in an Olympic hockey match was on September 12, 1948, at Wembley grounds, in the Olympic hockey final. In this long awaited meeting, India beat Britain 4-0 in to win its fourth consecutive gold medal - its first as a free country. Balbir Singh Sr. (Punjab Police) was the find of independent India as a centre-forward. He scored both the first half goals for India, while Pat Jansen and Trilochan Singh (penalty corner) shared the other two. 
  
  
• Balbir Singh Sr. went on to win two more Olympic gold medals, and manage the World Cup winning Indian team at Kuala Lumpur in 1975. His well-known autobiography is 'The Golden Hat Trick'. He presently resides in Burnaby, British Columbia in Canada.
  
  
• The victorious captain Kishan Lal fulfilled a childhood boast when he dined with King George. As a schoolboy in Mhow, Kishan Lal had upbraided a sweets vendor for allowing flies to settle on his wares. The haughty hawker snapped back: 'Who do you think you are? The son of a nawab? Do you dine with princes and rajas?' Kishan retorted: 'Don't be so smart. One day, I'll dine with the King of England.' Kishan Lal, the finest outside-right that India has ever produced, did dine with the British monarch at a formal banquet.
  
  
• After the victory, V. K. Krishna Menon, free India's first High Commissioner to England, gave an official reception at India House. The victorious Indian team went on a goodwill tour of the European mainland - visiting France, Czechoslavakia and Switzerland.
  
  
• The team returned by ship to Bombay, where a red carpet welcome was given to the team. The victory celebrations culminated in Delhi, where President Rajendra Prasad and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru attended a match involving the Olympic team at the jam packed National Stadium.
  
  
• India's record in the 1948 Olympics at London was as follows :
• Played : 5
• Won : 5
• Goals For : 25
• Goals Against : 2
  
  
• The following were the members of the 1948 Indian Olympic Team :
• Kishan Lal (captain)
• Kunwar Digvijay Singh (Babu) (vice captain)
• Leslie Claudius
• Walter D'Souza
• Keshav Dutt
• Lawrie Fernandes
• Ranganathan Francis
• Randhir Singh Gentle
• Gerry Glacken
• Akhtar Hussain
• Patrick Jansen
• Amir Kumar
• Leo Pinto
• Jaswant Singh Rajput
• Latif-ur-Rehman
• Reginald Rodrigues
• Balbir Singh
• Grahanandan Singh
• Trilochan Singh
• Maxie Vaz

Photo Courtesy : Wills Book of Excellence - Hockey