Port Blair, Jan 28: Martyr's day is observed on January 30 throughout the country in memory of Gandhiji who was assassinated on this day in 1948.  In A&N Islands this day has an added significance as it was on this day in 1944, that the Japanese Imperial Army had executed 44 prominent citizens of the Islands and had buried them in a mass grave in Homfreyganj.

Every year a solemn function is organized at the Balidan Vedi- the State Martyrs’ Memorial at Homfraygunj on the occasion of martyrdom anniversary of 44 Martyrs of Indian Independence League (Andaman Branch). The program will followed  by all religion mass prayer, the National Anthem and observance of two minutes silence by the gatherings as a mark of respect to Mahatma Gandhi and the departed souls, who laid their lives for the freedom of our motherland.

During the Second World War, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands fell to the Japanese forces. The Japanese forces had occupied Singapore, Rangoon and most of Southeast Asia. Most members of the British Colonial establishment in A & N Islands had been evacuated to the mainland before the Japanese arrived. However, the local people of the Islands were not evacuated to the mainland and were left to the mercy of the invading Japanese forces.

The islanders hailed the Japanese forces as their liberators from British Rule. A peace committee composed of prominent islanders was constituted with the objective of helping the Japanese in administering the Islands. The Andaman Branch of the Indian Independence League (IIL) was formed by the islanders. Likewise, the Andaman Branch of the Indian National Army (INA) was formed. The Japanese began suspecting the islanders of providing intelligence to the British and unleashed a reign of terror in the Islands, which alienated them from the local population. Many members of IIL were arrested by the Japanese forces on charges of spying for British.

In the early hours of January 30, the 44 members of the IIL were taken out from the Cellular Jail where they had been imprisoned and transported by trucks to Homfreyganj. They were shot dead by a Japanese firing squad in batches of four or five. Their bodies buried in a mass grave. On January 30 every year, the Homfreygunj Martyrs Memorial Committee conducts an interfaith memorial service.