Morung Express News
Kohima | November 24
The Road to Kohima: The Naga Experience in the 2nd World War- the Naga narrative of the WWII written by Charles Chasie and Harry Fecitt was released on November 24 at Nagaland University Kohima Campus, Meriema. The book was released by Professor R C Gupta, Pro-Vice Chancellor, NU.
Considering the book as the first comprehensive Naga narrative of the battle of Kohima, Dr. P. Ngully, Chairman, Kohima Educational Society (KES) noted that Nagas never had something written from their own perspectives on the two world wars even though the Nagas’ contribution has been historic.
“We thought this could be a contribution to the rest of the world about our people and our contribution,” said Dr. Ngully. Citing a song called Thazamo’s song, Dr. Ngully said that the Lothas learned about the WWI through the song which talks about Thazamo and his brother who went to France as labour corps where his brother dies and is given a sea burial. “Learning from our past, we have a better future for all of us,” asserted Dr. Ngully.
Dr. Neivotso Venuh, Dean, School of Social Sciences who chaired the event mentioned that the book is well documented. “We talk about world history we only learn about western history and there is not much mention about Asian history or our own history. We are still dominated by colonials. The situation is such that we are made to read other history more than our history. It is time for all of us to see that our history is inculcated in our own syllabus,” said Dr. Venuh who added that the book is essential for the modern history of the Nagas. After WWI and WWII there were a lot of changes which took place among Nagas, and Dr. Venuh noted that consciously and unconsciously it has influenced Nagas and our history.
Narrating the writing of the book which took two years to research, Co-Author Charles Chasie mentioned that the book came into form while discussions were going on, and co-author Harry Fecitt wrote to them expressing his interest in writing a book. Major Harry Fecitt, who is a former British Army infantry officer has been writing about the less known battles of the World Wars, and felt that the Naga story ought to be written offering a military text.
The first section of the book on the Naga’s perspective is written by Charles Chasie and the second part is written by Harry Fecitt on the military perspective.
“From the beginning we decided that we would limit the book to the battle of Kohima although in a few cases we had to cross the State boundary into Manipur, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh but these directly material and relevant to the battle of Kohima. The reason we did this was that this was meant to be the Naga experiences of the 2nd World War. And because prejudices can creep in, we felt that while the Naga people should tell their story, in the same way the Manipuris should tell their story,” said Charles Chasie, Kohima based Author and independent researcher and former journalist.
“We were moved by a sense of urgency because all the Naga elders who lived through the war have been fast disappearing. Even as we moved around, most people told us that we should have come a few years earlier. So, this work really is more of an attempt to salvage whatever little history was left from some of the elders who were still alive,” said Chasie who hoped that the book will reach every Naga village and school and especially be studied by students who will be main carriers of our people’s story.
The book offers a personal account of the surviving Nagas who lived through the Second World War and contributed to the victory of the WWI. “Before Kohima, the allied forces only knew defeat, after Kohima they only knew victory,” quoted Chasie.
The book is priced at Rs.400 while the DVD combo is priced at Rs.500. Books will be available at Western Book Depot, Crossword and in Dimapur Modern book stall.
