Perhaps it is about time. With India’s Northeast region being the only major theatre of conflict in India in the Second World War, with the China-Burma-India (CBI) area seeing some of the most fierce battles, it is only natural that the region was the setting to many a critical battle that impacted the course of the Second Great War.
While the battles of Imphal and Kohima in 1944 had received some amount of recognition when the Allied forces repelled a major Japanese invasion of India, there are many untold stories that brought out the bravery and valour of Indian soldiers in the British Army.
These stories had been buried under a narrative the British espoused in order to undermine the nationalistic fervor that was growing among Indians. Remember, this was just after the Quit India movement of 1942. As Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi pointed out, the British narrative of India’s military history was deliberately faked to suit the strategic aims of the colonial power by crushing Indian morale.
The third edition of Indian Military Heritage Festival (IMHF), being held on Friday and Saturday in New Delhi, may have made an attempt to document many such stories. The IMHF is hosted by the United Service Institution of India, a leading think tank.
Many a battle came to light in the series of talks titled 'The War India Forgot'. Three prominent mentions here are the works of writers Gautam Hazarika (The Forgotten Indian Prisoners of World War II: Surviving Hell Under the Japanese), Sima Saigal (The Second World War and Northeast India: Shadows of Yesteryears) and David Allison (Fight your way out: The Siege of Shangshak).
And then there was an interesting and revealing conversation between prominent journalist writer Rajeev Bhattacharyya, author of several books including 'ULFA: The Mirage of Dawn' and Lieutenant General Vikas Lakhera, director general of Assam Rifles, in a session that was ably moderated by Col Vivek Chadha (retd).
An expert on the Northeast besides Bangladesh and Myanmar, Bhattacharyya held out the future prospects for the region based on the past and the present trends, while Gen Lakhera provided an overview of the respective states and their surrounding region.
The restive Northeast also featured prominently in the discussion themed 'BSF and Bangladesh'.
