(A brief life sketch of Sovehu Nienu, Second World War veteran & NNC pioneer)
Zhokusheyi Rhakho
Sovehu Neinu is one of the last two second world war veterans alive in the whole of North East India. At the age of 97 still hale & heart, seeing clear, hearing good & memory sharp is one of the greatest blessings any mortal could wish for in this one life. Bestowed with 12 children, 33 grand children & 5 great grand children, he stays mostly in his native Phek village, at time travels to Kohima & Dimapur & sometime few visitors comes to enquire about their former comrades by their kits & kins from abroad. As this prolific man narrates his life journey, one can help but simply be astounded.
It was 1941, ww-2 was at its peak with the Japanese gaining victory after victory in the pacific & Far East & the whole of British Empire were in war mode. In that year Sovehu, a young student of Govt. High School, Kohima, joint the British army in the 1st Assam Regiment. Quickly one after another the whole of British south East Asia has fallen & by 1944 the Japanese reached the British Indian frontier. The Japanese India invasion began by early March 1944 when Lieut. General Mutaguchi ordered his forces to cross the Chindwin & by 28th March, the battle of Jessami was fiercely fought between the 1st battalion of Assam Regiment to which Sovehu belongs & the Japanese 31st Division. The British commanding officer captain young was killed and Sovehu along with handful of the British soldier retreated where he sustained major injury. After brief medication he was reassigned at Kohima where one of the world fiercest battles culminated on 4rd April to 22nd June 1944 known famously in history as Battle of Kohima.
It was sheer providence that he came out alive having many a time coming close on the jaws of death. The inhospitable terrain, torrential down pour of the tropical midsummer rain, diseases, stink of death & the horror of battle indeed was real taste of hell on earth. In these 64 days of fierce battle, around 10,000 soldiers (including British & Japanese) perished with another equal number wounded or diseased. The Japanese under Lieut. General Kotoku Sato retreated pursued by General William slim forces deep into Burma where he (Sovehu) stayed till September 1945. When the war ended he decided to retire as he was finding it difficult to cope with strenuous exercise & drill due to injury sustain before. But thrice his pleas were turn down every time asking him to reconsider his decision saying he was soon destined for promotion in recognition of his service though later the same was granted with much hesitation whereby he retired as platoon commander in 1947.
He return to his native village with a firm conviction never to fight war again having experienced the horror of war but relapse into a simple peaceful peasant life, married in 1949 on new year day after already spending a good part of his life. But this was a time when Naga nationalism under the banner of NNC was gaining momentum & it was not long before he was drawn into another prolong & excruciating struggle. Being one of few educated & by virtue of his experience as soldier he was offered C-in-C of Naga safe Guard/Naga Army which he declined, than asked to become one of the kilonsers or even the kedahge of the govt.(FGN) of which he declined too but became a Tartar (member of parliament).
In 1951 Dec.29, along with AZ Phizo went as one of the eight delegates to meet Jawarhalal Nehru at Silghat in Tezpur (Assam) where Nehru began to fidget profusely when the Naga plebiscite was disclosed to him. In 1953 when AZ Phizo & Kaito enroute to Japan went unheard in Burma even after one month, the NNC sent him to lead the enquiry team as he was more acquainted with the places & people of Burma. He was accorded warm reception as they journeyed through Burmese villages in respect of his persona grata as WW-2 veteran & by the fact that he fought for this people. They lodged at one of the MPs house in Saigaing division. The MP soon left for Rangoon to attend the parliament asking them to wait assuring them of lobbying for them in the meeting. But the police put them under house arrest & then to jail though the MP returned soon, got them released & brought the news that Phizo & Kaito who were detained in Burmese jail would be released soon. Everything went well & they all returned home though not at the same time.
But the situation in Naga Hills Tuensang district went from bad to worse & full scale war broke out. Many NNC workers were arrested and he too went to jail though soon released without much hassle. Life became acutely hard with the promulgation of draconian laws like AFSPA, etc with intensive Indian military operation, burning of villages, indiscriminate torture, rape & killing of people and so on. With the entire NNC functionary gone underground, there was none to man the villages, thus the NNC decided to sent him over ground due to his seniority of age & because of being WW-2 veteran where he could hold leverage with the Indian agencies & also assuage & safeguard the villagers better. Thus in 1958 he was retired as tartar with strict instruction never to participate or do anything detrimental to Naga cause & true to his commitment, he never wavered from the same all his life. Many a times he did intercede & mediated with Indian authorities & rescued many innocent villagers from the jaws of torture & imminent death.
This old die hard lived through the hardest of time from the fierce battle of Kohima to the harrowing days of Naga struggle. He continued to live life as usual of modest peasant having refused all comfort & pelf that came his way if he chooses to grab so, but remains probity of unwavering & incorruptible man, a typical attributes of our age old ideals that early NNCs are famously known for. A caring husband & a dutiful father, a man of integrity who never had a boundary dispute with his neighbor, who sacrificed everything for what he stood for but got nothing in return, here is one of our many unsung heroes whom we have almost forgotten.
If Nagas are to sustain as an entity or nation, we dare not forget our heroes, for we need inspiration: an inspiration to keep us going.
