Evolution of Love 2

COLOUR ME MARIGOLD

In a couple of days from now, the commemoration of the centenary of World War 1,
also called the Great War, will officially come to a close. The War which started on
28 Jul 1914 ended with the Armistice on 11 Nov 1918. While it was thought, at that
time, that mankind would be spared the horrors of another world war, it was sadly
not to be. Just two decades later, the world witnessed an even bigger war. India’s
contributions in the two world wars earned her the status of the founding member,
first of the League of Nations and later of the United Nations, while still not being an
independent nation. While each war was unique - if one can use the word - and
occasions its own post mortems and remembrance, much of the world observes
Remembrance Day in honour of all their war dead on the Sunday closest to 11 Nov
(the Armistice day). This year, fortuitously, 11 Nov falls on a Sunday and thus
enables the function to be held exactly hundred years after the war ended.
Many will recall the flurry of activity four years ago when the centenary
commemorations commenced. During this time, in several parts of the world,
especially Europe, there have been events galore, remembrance of specific battles,
several books written, movies and documentaries made, new memorials constructed
and several aspects of the War brought back to life - be it the sacrifices, the horrors,
the political and military salients or poignant individual stories of grit, bravery and
human caprices.
While I was aware, if somewhat hazily, of India’s contribution to both the World
Wars, I experienced its most concrete personal manifestation on the sudden
‘discovery’ of a lone Indian sailor’s grave in the Asmara Commonwealth War Graves
Cemetery, in May 2009, on an official visit to the Eritrean capital, in my tour of duty
as Defence Adviser to the High Commission of India (HCI), Nairobi, with concurrent
accreditation to Eritrea. That experience led to an article called ‘Far Corner of a
Foreign Graveyard’ (inspired, no doubt, by Rupert Brooke) and was published in the
Naval journal ‘Quarterdeck’ in Jan 2010 issue. (Article attached for those interested).
It also led to a renewed quest from my side to ferret out more information about
Indian involvement in East Africa during the Great War. A search for all Indian
cemeteries, better listing and cataloguing of all Indian soldiers who lost their lives
there and endeavouring to organise dedicated memorial services for Indian soldiers
(in which alas I was only partly successful) were some of the things I tried to do.
Locating Indian cemeteries or graves was sometimes a little difficult because, unlike
those of other nations who were buried and have independent tombstones, Indians
(most of who were cremated) are mentioned on plaque stones, with few of these in
obscure places.
But the most challenging part of this job was in disseminating this information to
many stakeholders – officials within the Mission, Indians in Africa – whether they
were the diaspora descended from earlier generations or those recently relocated,
foreigners in East Africa who held impressive memorial services for their countrymen
whose war dead in the region were far less and above all the locals, the East
Africans. On most occasions, the reaction was one of disbelief or bemusement –
most of them had absolutely no idea of India being there. When informed that more
than 3000 Indians were killed in East Africa and are commemorated there, the
reaction tuned to one of incredulity, almost an ‘Are you kidding?’ kind of stupefied
expression.
Needless to say, I would be both angered and pained by these reactions. That so
few knew so little about something ‘so significant’ was jarring to me. But at some
level, this is understandable. Africa was no Europe, the war was fought to no avail
and there were no great strategic gains or losses; this was not Flanders or Ypres or
Neuve Chapelle or even Gallipoli or Haifa. Post-colonial nations had other, more
pressing, concerns. War nostalgia or remembrance was seen as a sort of ersatz
romanticism, a luxury that developing countries could ill afford.
It was more or less the same thing in India. Knowledge of our participation in the War
is scant and that of the East African theatre even less known. Even among those
aware, many, including some of my erudite friends, consider it a war fought for ‘A
King and another country ‘(the title of a book released few years by Shrabani Basu)
and therefore not worthy of praise. In fact, sadly, many Indian scholars and
intellectuals actually look down upon this effort. This neglect or disdain has,
therefore, resulted in near obliteration of this aspect from our memory, even though it
has happened relatively recently. Thus, while India did see some belated
recognition, some India specific books and fair bit of government initiatives,
especially by our Missions and diaspora in Europe, the common man, by and large,
is both ignorant and impervious to this chapter of Indian history.
This is best illustrated by a revealing Instagram post and photo (see pic below) by
my wife’s former colleague and good friend, the eminent photographer Chirodeep
Chaudhuri and I am quoting him in full to
illustrate the malaise His post says “Adjoining the Office of the Superintendent of
Customs and the Shore Guards at the Malvan Jetty is a small structure covered in

pink bathroom tiles. It no higher than 5 feet. At first I thought it might be a drinking
water pyau and then spotting the plaque, which for some reason didn't quite seem to
be appropriate on a structure such as this, I decided to get out of the car and
explore. ‘From this town 75 men went to the great war. 1914-1919. Of these
some gave up their lives’ read the inscription on the marble plaque. Around us
on the jetty was the usual lazy activities that are typical of such places. Locals and a
few tourists were shooting the breeze on the few benches. Flea infested stray dogs
itched themselves furiously and snarled at each other. A group of young girls
sporting colourful ribbons in their hair crowded around a bhel puri stall. Sindhudurg,
Shivaji's fort in the sea, sat in a grey haze in the distance. Tiny boats bobbed in the
sea.
I was curious about when this memorial might have been installed. I looked
around but could see none who I felt might be able to throw any real light on the
matter. Just then a man emerged from inside that crumbling Customs office. I
enquired with him. "I'm not sure. I have been posted here for 10-11 years. I have
always seen it here," he said. "I think it's from sometime in the 1800s...It's a
memorial to martyrs of some old war but I don't know the exact year," he
added almost apologetically.
India and the World War 1 is an aggregate of many such stories. Of many towns that
sent its sons and of some that never came back. And of those very towns and places
and the country at large forgetting about that. It saw the participation of about 1.5
million Indian soldiers and about 74,000 of them lost their lives. They went to
different theatres - Europe, West Asia and East Africa to fight a war which was not of
their making. They faced harsh weather with inadequate clothing, they went into
varied terrain with inadequate preparation, they were often without enough artillery or
logistics support and through all this they put up brave fights. They won some and
lost some but by and large their courage and commitment was never in doubt.
To recollect what Marshal Ferdinand Foch, supreme allied Commander of WW 1 said to
the Indian troops at the unveiling of the Neuve Chapelle memorial in 1927 “Return to your homes in the distant, sun-bathed East and proclaim how your countrymen drenched
with their blood the cold northern land of France and Flanders, how they delivered it
by their ardent spirit from the firm grip of a determined enemy; tell all India that we
shall watch over their graves with the devotion due to all our dead. We shall cherish above all the memory of their example. They showed us the way; they made the first
steps towards the final victory”.

In addition, Indian contribution towards the expenditure of the war, supplies and
equipment was significant. Hence, it was natural that most soldiers came back to
India expecting a heroes' welcome, but to their disappointment had found nothing of
the sort. They had also presumed that the British promise of self-rule or dominion
status would get a boost by recognition of their participation. Alas, the Brits reneged
on their commitment, to reward India's support in the Great War. This absence of
recognition at personal and national level was to possibly scar them forever.
However, as per Sqn Ldr Rana T.S. Chhina (retd), Secretary, Centre for Armed
Forces Historical Research at the United Service Institution of India (USI), ‘it fuelled
a renewed cry for the fight against the British rule. The war acted as a catalyst for the
freedom struggle that ultimately helped India to gain her freedom.”
It is only now, belatedly, that some authorities, entities and individuals are
striving hard to win recognition for the stellar role played by our Army in this war. The
India Remembers project is a joint endeavour of the USI and the Commonwealth
War Graves Commission (CWGC) as a part of the ‘India and the Great War’
Centenary Commemoration project initiated by the USI in 2014 with the support of
the Ministry of External Affairs. I have read reports that the USI is collaborating with
travel agencies to boost battlefield tourism and make the historical war locations
more popular across the world. With active support from MEA, a war memorial is
also being constricted through USI at Villers Guislan, a town about 200 km from
Paris. It is scheduled to be inaugurated on 10 November 2018.
Just three days ago, a 3-metre statue of a Sikh soldier was unveiled in Birmingham,
UK and has been paid for by the local Sikh community. (See
https://t.co/VLHb5krgWm for details)
It is also understood that the USI in association with the government is actively
campaigning to identify the descendants of WWI, both in India and Pakistan, to
recognise and felicitate them.
Even so, one can see that the bias is towards the European theatre. Africa suffers by
neglect. As author Shrabani Basu says “The harshest thing we can do is forget them.
It was time for their stories to be told". And, in this connection I have a unique story
to tell. Of the African theatre. That will be for a subsequent follow on article but I will
attempt a sneak peek. Shortly after my experience in Eritrea, our mission in Nairobi
received a strange request. A gentleman wanted to trace if his great grandfather’s
grave was somewhere in East Africa. He wanted to build a memorial for his great
granddad in his home town, but the latter’s name was not inscribed at the India Gate
and more ‘proof’ was needed. To cut a long story short, we indeed found that proof
and furnished it to him. But his struggle had only begun. It took him five years to get
this information, it was to take him another five to move an indifferent and ignorant
bureaucracy in India and construct the memorial. To me, that story of one man and
a memorial not in ‘far corner of a foreign field’ as Rupert Brooke wistfully wrote, but
in the heart of an Indian village illustrate Indian reality and apathy despite the
Government doing its best. To borrow a quote from author Raghu Karnad “the idea
of India in War or War in India’ is distant and strange to many’. Do watch this space
for part two.
Meanwhile, it fills me with lots of happiness to learn that the marigold flower has
been chosen as the uniquely Indian symbol of India’s sacrifices; like the red poppy
(from the poppy of Flanders fields) does internationally, the marigold will be the
concrete symbol to allow citizens in India, as well as the international diaspora, to
‘acknowledge the valour and sacrifice of the Indian armed forces in the service of the
nation, including those who fell in the two world wars’. As Sqn. Ldr. Chhina puts it
“The marigold was chosen because it is easily and widely available and also
because saffron is often seen as a colour of sacrifice”. (Remember Rang De Basanti
the great song written by Ram Prasad ‘Bismil’, one of India’s revolutionaries and a
song that Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru apparently had on their lips when
they were led to the gallows).
Centenary commemorations may pass but as the childhood cliché goes we must
“Remember, not to forget’ and ‘Forget Not, to remember’ those who are now
standing guard elsewhere in eternity. As, we used to say at the conclusion of every
memorial service in East Africa that I attended, “Their name liveth for evermore.” Let
us colour ourselves marigold on this occasion of the centenary commemoration and
for the future.