The Death of Dr. Kotnis
By his wife Guo Qinglan
At 6.15 a.m. on 9th December 1942 Dr. Kotnis breathed his last. He was just 32
years old. He had spent over 4 years in China during the War of Resistance
against the Japanese, treating the wounded and sick Chinese.
On 27th November 1937, at the suggestion of of the eminent American
correspondent, Agnes Smedley, Zhu De, Commander-in-Chief of the ...Chinese
Eighth Route Army wrote a letter to the Indian National Congress leader
Pt.Jawaharlal Nehru expressing gratitude for supporting the anti- Japanese
struggle of the Chinese people and requesting for support in the form of a
medical team and medical supplies from India. Consequently Pt. Nehru proposed
that a Medical Mission be sent to China. China Day was observed all over India
on 29th June 1938. Dr. Kotnis, who had qualified as a doctor from Bombay Medical
College, saw the demonstrations in support of the Chinese, and determined to
join the Medical Mission. He went to Sholapur, his home town, and told his
family about it. At first they tried to dissuade him, His brother Mangesh said
" For the sake of our education father had to borrow a lot of money. Now
our parents are old and need a helping hand." However, when his father saw
that he was adamant he said " So, Dwarka ( Dr. Kotnis' first name), you
have decided to go. I would like to remind you not to let the Indian people
down. Since you have decided to go, you must do a good job and good things to
the Chinese people, and win laurels for your family and country".
At midnight, September the 5 doctors of the Aid China Medical Mission, led by
Dr. Atal, boarded the P.&O. liner , S.S. Rajputana. They were seen off by
Mrs. Sarojini Naidu and others. On 14th September they landed at Hong Kong, and
after a 17 days voyage reached Guangzhou. From there they travelled by road to
Changsha, and then to Wuhan, where they were met by Zhou Enlai, who asked Dr.
Kotnis " How old are you ?". " I am 28", replied Kotnis.
" Wonderful" said Zhou Enlai, " You can do much work for
friendly relations between India and China".
They travelled then to Chongqing, which was the capital of the Chinese.
government under Chiang kai Shek. At Chongqing, Dr. Kotnis received a letter
from his brother in India, which was handed over to him by Dr. Cholkar, the
deputy leader of the Indian Medical Mission. It said " Father has passed
away suddenly ". This was a bolt from the blue, and he could not stop
crying. His colleagues tried to persuade him to go back to India, but he said
that he will never let his father down, and the best way to commemorate him was
to help the Chinese people eject the Japanese invaders. So he continued with
the Mission to Yenan, where they lived in caves. They spent the next 4 years
treating the wounded and the sick Chinese.
During these 4 years Dr. Kotnis had overloaded himself with work for a long
period until his health completely broke down working for the cause of the War
of Resistance against Japan and liberation of the Chinese people. He went
without food and sleep for long periods, and endured extreme pain during this
period,and sacrificed all he had till his last breath.
On 7th December 1942 he performed operations on 5 wounded patients. On 8th
December he taught his students and performed a practical operation for over 20
students in the operation theater. He was operating on a hernia patient.The
operation was difficult as the tissues of the patient were very adhesive. Sweat
started oozing out of his forehead as he was very tired. . After the operation
Dr. Kotnis was completely exhausted and hungry. He grabbed a bite of a stuffed
pancake when he suffered an attack of epilepsy. Earlier also he had suffered
epileptic attacks. After regaining consciousness he convened a meeting to have
a briefing of the day's work.
That evening he returned to his dormitory-cum-office, and started the
compilation work of his proposed book 'Surgery in Detail'. At 8 p.m. he went to
his room to be with me and our 108 days old child. As he was talking he
remembered that the younger brother of his landlady was seriously ill. He went
there to treat the patient, and returned after 2 hours totally exhausted..
At midnight he asked me for some boiled water as he was thirsty. Having taken
it he felt better, but an hour thereafter I was suddenly awakened by the groans
of his pain, only to discover that all his four limbs were severely twitching.
His complexion had turned pale. He had suffered another attack, and it was
serious. I staggered all the way to the Medical School for assistance. After a
while, Principal Jiang Yizhen reached our house in a great hurry. On regaining
consciousness Kotnis said " Principal Jiang, thank you for your visit. I
am sorry to interfere with your rest. Please do not worry about me and go back
to rest. "
Principal Jiang was aware of the convulsions Dr. Kotnis had suffered in the
past, which never exceeded 3 to 5 minutes. This time the convulsions would not
stop, foam oozed out from his mouth, and he went into coma. Dr. Jiang gave him
morphine and camphor liquid, but to no avail. The doctor then tried spine
puncturing, but it was of no use. Dr. Kotnis breathed his last at 6.15 a.m. on
9th December 1942. He was just 32 years old.
I cried bitterly with my infant Yinhua in my arms and fainted a couple of
times. He parted from me and our infant boy , his wounded patients who were
waiting for him, his international friends, and the army and civilians of the
Shansi-Qahar-Hebei Border Region who were engaged in a bloody battle with the
Japanese on the battlefront. I glanced at the table only to see the manuscript
of 'Surgery in Detail' that he had written upto page 175.
After his sudden demise, Dr. Kotnis' dead body was kept inside a courtyard on a
flagstone.
Dr. Kotnis had spent the last period of his life in the Tang County, treating
patients day and night. There was not a single person in this area who did not
know him.
The sudden demise of Dr. Kotnis left everyone in the Tang County in grief, and
even the Tang River wept. The people in the County felt they were rendered
orphans. An atmosphere of grief shrouded the entire valley. The villagers of
the Ge Gong valley came to our place from all directions. Everyone who came was
crying in the streets and in the courtyard, where his body lay.
Shortly after his death, the Bethune Medical School, the Third Divisional
Command of the Middle Hebei Military Region, and the County Committee of Tang
County, organized a funeral committee.
On 17th December 1942, around 1 p.m. the Shansi-Qahar-Hebei Military Region
convened a mourning ceremony at the southern square of Ge Gong village. There
was an ocean of people inside and outside the square. People from Shennan,
Shenbei, Niangzishen Doufu, and other neighbouring villages walked to the
mourning ground wailing and weeping. Some of the country folk were even
stamping the earth and crying bitterly. People had never witnessed wailing and
weeping of such intensity, and that too over the demise of a foreign doctor.
Many fainted with grief.
As for me, my grief was even worse. All my tears dried up and I fell
unconscious. I lost my hunger, thirst and sleep, and became very weak.
The memorial ceremony was conducted in accordance with the Chinese traditional
funeral. A canopy was put for the departed soul, in the middle of which hung a
portrait of the deceased, and to both sides of the coffin lay the floral
wreaths and mourning couplets offered by people from all walks of life. An
oblong sheet of silk was hung with the words " Doctor who rivalled the
glory of Dr. Bethune". The place was filled with posters stating "
Learn from Kotnis ". The memorial committee consisted of representatives
of Commander Nie, Zuo Huaiying, Cheng Zihua, Wang Ping,etc
The memorial ceremony started with funeral music played by a military band,
followed by floral tributes and bowing in silence, and then speeches commending
Dr. Kotnis' outstanding achievements and spirit. This was followed by a grand
funeral.
Among the crowd were many elderly men and women burning incenses and paper
money. Some people sang a song which they had composed for the occasion :
" You came from the shores of the warm Indian ocean
To brave the cold of North China
For the world of tomorrow
You fought four autumns in China
Alas! At the end of a long night
The fountain of your life ran dry
Oh, Comrade Kotnis, our beloved
Your image will always be with us
And your memory will live forever in our hearts"
The news of Dr. Kotnis' death was soon carried to Yenan. On 18th December 1942,
Zhu De, the Commander -in-Chief of the Eighth Route Army, and Peng De Huai, the
Deputy Commander-in-Chief communicated the sad news to Dr. Kotnis' family. The
news was flashed in the Liberation Daily newspaper published in Yenan, carrying
an article by Zhu De.
On 30th December, a memorial service was held addressed by Zhu De. He said
" Dr. Kotnis, our Indian friend, came to China from afar to assist us in
our War of Resistance. He worked for four years in Yenan and North West China,
giving medical treatment to our wounded and sick, and died owing to constant
overwork. The army has lost a helping hand, and the nation has lost a friend.
Let us always bear in mind his internationalist spirit ".
Zhou Enlai sent a message of sympathy to Dr. Kotnis' family :
"Dr. Kotnis is a symbol of the friendship between the great Indian and
Chinese nations, and a shining example of the Indian people, who are taking an
active part in our common struggles against Japanese militarism and world
fascism. His name will live forever in the hearts of the two great nations to
whom he dedicated his life."
Soong Qingling, widow of Sun Yatsen and Chairperson of the China Defence
League, also wrote to Dr. Kotnis' family :
" His memory belongs not only to your people and to ours, but also to the
whole roll-call of fighters for the freedom and progress of all mankind."
