By Nava Thakuria
As Burma (Myanmar) is presently changing its face from a military ruled country to a quasi-democracy and starts attracting heavy investments from various western agencies in its real-estate sector. Incidentally the trend has brought worries to many Indians. The apprehension is that the rampant developmental activities in Rangoon (Yangon) may pave the way for destruction of many historical sites, including the heritage buildings related to India’s freedom struggle. The question also arises, whether the Headquarters of the Azad Hind Fauj (AHF) that had fought the British rulers and many other monuments in the former Burmese capital can be preserved.Formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 with the motto of Ittehad, Itmad aur Qurbani (unity, faith and sacrifice) during World War II, the (AHF) comprised over 40,000 valiant soldiers and belonged to the entire sub-continent (including the present day Pakistan and Bangladesh) who fought many battles against the British imperialist forces. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose assumed the leadership of AHF, Commanded by Lt General Shah Newaj Khan in 1943 and took a ground-breaking march towards Indian territories from the Burmese soil to make it independent.
“To liberate the Indian soil from the clutches of the British Empire the INA soldiers fought courageously in the hills and plains of Nagaland, Manipur and some parts of greater Assam. Imphal, Palel, Kohima, Bishenpur and many frontier areas witnessed great valour, patriotism and sacrifice of the INA soldiers, which still inspire present generation of the Indian youth,” said Rupam Barua, an expert on India’s freedom movement.
Barua, who is also the president of All India Patriotic Forum’s Assam unit added that the AHF soldiers even liberated Moirang of Manipur on 14 April 1944 and hoisted Indian tricolour there replacing the British Union Jack. Thus it was a part of the then greater Assam that was cleared of the British domination for the first time by Netaji’s army.
The AHF remained in possession of about 1500 square miles of territory in this eastern tip of India for about six months. Many brave and patriotic youths from various communities of northeast India like Meitei, Naga, Mizo, Kuki, Khasi joined the AHF to fight against the British. Assamese soldiers including Lieutenant Umesh Chandra Dev choudhury, soldiers Jalaluddin Ahmed, Chittaranjan Debnath, Sridam Chandra Mahanta, S. Rahman, Laurat Singh, arendra Nath Mech etc fought for the liberation of India under the AHF flag.
Statistics reveal that the Myanmar construction industry has increased its volume tremendously in the last few years. Supported by the improving political stability and atmosphere, the flow of foreign direct investment on various sectors like real estate, infrastructure,energy projects have enhanced.
Media reports suggest that there are some non-government organisations including the Yangon Heritage Trust, which is trying its best to conserve
Rangoon’s historic buildings from the clutches of land-grabbers. But in the absence of any legal protection guideline, the trust has found it very difficult to convince the Burma government based in NayPieTaw. When this writer visited Rangoon in 2005, the entire country was under the grip of senior general Than Shwe. The local residents were simply scared of talking about democracy, elections and even uttering the name of pro-democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The military rulers engaged thousands of spies on the streets of Rangoon to check if anyone was revealing information about Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, who was then under prolonged house-arrest in a two-storey lake-side building in Rangoon.
Suu Kyi’s father General Aung San, Burma’s independence hero, was a close friend of Netaji, the supreme commander of AHF. The friendship between the two patriots was also reflected in a cordial relationship between the noble soldiers of AHF and Burma National Army (BNA).
The military rulers, as they were always scared of Suu Kyi as a proponent of change in Burma, remained reluctant in paying due respect, not to speak of adoring their independence hero, who was assassinated just days before Burma got independence in 1948. As there was a hidden ban on talking about General Aung San’s daughter in public places, it had indirect negative impacts on discussion on Netaji Subhas related issues.
So when this writer tried to find out the exact location and latest status of the AHF building in Rangoon, the ever smiling hotel manager,
who was otherwise well-aware about all important locations in the city, got confused. The local residents nearby the splendid Rangoon railway
station in the down town area, where the AHF headquarter is understood to have been located, were scared of talking about the building. Many, who had little understanding about the AHF building and knew little Hindi or English, simply avoided this writer with a wan smile on their faces.
The local media in Burma, though slowly, starts coming out of government empowered censors’ clutches of late, still prefers to remain silent about any historical monuments related to AHF and the India’s freedom movement. No Indian newspapers or satellite news channels have full-time correspondents in Rangoon till today. So nobody knows if at all the AHF building still exists in the historic city or has already been grabbed by the military people for sale to real-estate developers at some exorbitant high price.
“The Indian Union government should pursue with the Burma government led by President Thein Sein to restore all monuments related to India’s freedom struggle with base in that country,” asserted Barua – expert on India’s freedom movement – adding, “New Delhi should also engage Suu Kyi, who is now a lawmaker in Burmese Parliamentarian, in the process of preserving all memorials related to India’s freedom movement in Burma.”
(The author is a northeast India based journalist and writes on south & southeast Asian affairs)
