Should India Not Mark the End of Second World War?

The idea of an ‘end of war’ fest along Kohima-Imphal highway and Stillwell Road times nicely with Indo-Naga accord.

A Missed Chance

• It is fine for India to avoid joining the Chinese celebrations big time
• But India should observe the 70th anniversary of the end of the war in Asia Indians fought on both sides of the divide
• The contribution of its soldiers to the ultimate Allied victory is not inconsiderable
• The role of the INA in the ultimate British decision to quit India cannot be under-estimated
• India is missing a big chance to boost tourism , specially in its Northeastern states, by promoting ‘war nostalgia’ tourism

China’s massive military parade on Thursday to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of Second World War is an attempt to assert its status as a Big Power. Its focus is to highlight the defeat of Japan. which India now sees as a key ally. So Modi’s decision to send only a minister of state ( V K Singh) to these celebrations and not send any military contingent is perfectly justified. But India will make a major mistake if it fails to observe the 70th anniversary of the ‘End of War in Asia’ in its own way.

Indian soldiers played a major role in the ultimate Allied victory that is projected as a victory of democracy against fascism. There is no doubt that the independence India finally got two years after the end of the Second World War is rooted in developments linked to the war. So the process of decolonisation it started cannot be wished off.

The INA may not have much influence on the 1944-45 battles , but the spectre of another ‘Sepoy Mutiny’ Subhas Bose managed to raise surely prompted the British decision to quit. The losses Britain suffered to win its Pyrrhic victory also influenced London to give up the ‘brightest jewel of the British crown’ sooner than later.

India’s ‘War Tourism’ Areas

The Modi government says tourism is a priority industry and the northeast all the more so. The question is whether Delhi will ever again get a better opportunity to kickstart tourism in the northeast than by observing the 70th anniversary of the end of the war in Asia. Some of the toughest battles of the Second World War were fought in India’s northeast.

As you travel down the Kohima-Imphal highway, you find inscriptions on milestones saying “ you are travelling on a road that was the battleground of Second World War.” This was one of the fiercest and most decisive battleground of the war – as decisive as Stalingrad or El Alamein.

Countries like Belgium and France managed to rake in millions of dollars in tourism revenue showcasing their First World War battlegrounds in 2014, the centenary of the beginning of the First World War. Nearly a million tourists turned up at Somme, Verdun and other battlegrounds of France and Flanders to either remember a fallen ancestor or just witness what was a huge battlefield during a Great War.

So there is good reason to believe that if the Indian government used its security forces to pitch tens of thousands of tents in designated ‘war tourism areas’ like Imphal and Kohima and provided basics like clean water and emergency health care, there would a tidal wave of foreign and Indian tourists into states like Manipur and Nagaland.

Those pointing to weak tourism infrastructure must know that war nostalgia tourists don’t crave for five-star hotels or high level comforts – they are out to get the feel of war. So a good tent during the autumn of 2015 (monsoon is not the right time for this in northeast) with camp facilities screening relevant war movies in the evening after morning tours of battlefields and war cemeteries would be good enough for a Paul Harman to spend a few thousand pounds to come looking for the grave of his grandfather John Harnam who fell fighting off the last Japanese banzai charge for the Kohima tennis court.

If the Indian army and para-military forces were drafted into the exercise , as indeed they should be , they could turn round this ‘end of war’ tourism festival into a roaring success and end up with a huge image makeover as a friendly force rather than an oppressive one .

Lifting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in these states , as Tripura has already done, could be timed to fit into the ‘end of war’ spirit, making sense of a historical landmark in terms of a contemporary reality. In fact, it might be a better idea for Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Tourism to jointly organise this festival with the concerned state governments.

‘End of War’ Festival

This ‘end of war’ festival along the Kohima-Imphal highway and the Stillwell Road would have boosted tourism in four Indian states – Nagaland, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh – and generated huge interest in the region’s history, bio-diversity and cultural diversity to sustain the initial impetus for tourism growth. And this would time nicely with the Indo-Naga accord promising an end of conflict in Naga areas -- and if the AFSPA was lifted, that would help India showcase the normality that has returned to the conflict-ridden northeast. That would heighten regional interest in the northeast through which India is seeking to pursue it Look East policy.

Indians fought on both sides of the divide in these battles and there is reason to celebrate both experience. The Indians who fought and died for the Empire can be remembered to drive home the point that if the Allied Powers celebrate the victory in Second World War as a milestone for the victory of democracy , Indians played no mean role in that.

And the INA experience does provide an opportunity to revitalise inclusive Indian nationalism at a time it is feeling divisive pressures again. But though regional forums like the K2K (Kolkata-Kunming) proposed a regional celebration of the 70th anniversary of the end of war in Asia, India has once missed the chance the Chinese used nicely to showcase themselves as a major power.

(The writer, a veteran BBC correspondent, is author of two highly acclaimed books on Northeast India – “Insurgent Crossfire” and “Troubled Periphery”.)