The mysterious disappearance of a WW II memento
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: June 23 2011 -

Prior to the removal of the Assam Rifles from the Kangla there used to stand a small Japanese battle tank. It is no longer there, has the Assam Rifles had whisked it away.

To the Assam Rifles that light battle tank or whatever was left of it signifies an unexpected booty resulting from its stay in the Kangla.

To the Manipuris it means much more and is deeply sentimental.

In India the people of Manipur and Nagaland were the only civil populations which experienced WW II. Some of the bloodiest land battles in the Asian theatre were fought in Manipur and Nagaland. Civilians died in the war which was beyond their comprehension.

The population was uprooted from their ancestral homelands as they fled en masse from the scenes of conflict. Our elders had borne the brunt of the collateral damage of the war.

Two social institutions emerged as a result of the demand for entertainment by the Allied troops.

Pass Khela and that peculiar form of Shumang Lila, which had a short existence, wherein the dialogues were peppered with pidgin English.

Today Pass Khela too has disappeared having outlived its purpose. These were components, among others, of the folklore we experienced and grew up in. As children we played in the trenches which were dug in every homestead, straight ones, V shaped and zig zag ones.

Most Shumangs were littered with war relics, fragments of tanks and vehicles, inumerable ammunition boxes and sometimes unexploded bombs.

As a legacy of the war stands a war cemetery reminding one and all of the tragedy of the Second World War. The Japanese too constructed their war memorial, much later at Maibam Lokpa Ching.

The war is long over, but both the Allied forces and later the Japanese government realized the horror of the war forced upon a people who were not exactly a party to it.

Except in Moirang which was under the Japanese, few Manipuris were active participants. In the Moirang area the Japanese succeeded in creating an effective pro Japanese partisan group. Japanese war currency had negated the clout of the rupee to an extent.

The small light Japanese battle tank that stood in the Kangla was a visible symbol of the tragic war that had taken place here in Manipur, fought by people thousands of miles away from their homes.

It was a mute way of saying, we know how much you suffered and let this relic be a standing reminder to us all in testimony.

In fact it was a parting 'gift' to the people of Manipur from the Allied soldiers, particularly the British. Over the years it had become part of our social fabric, and a part of the Kangla.

The question now is what are the proprietal rights of those who have laid claim on that WW II war relic ?

For people who have had no direct bearing on the war, what has made them so covetous of a historical symbol which in any way is not related to them?

Is it because the Manipuris are by and large taciturn and do not react in resentment.

Or is it because of an attitude which smacks of, 'we have done it, so what' ?

Perhaps we should ask the British government to clarify to whom did they leave the war vintage.

If they say it is not meant for the Manipuris, so be it, we will ask no further.

Otherwise it should be returned to the Kangla.