Respected Rev. Dr. Rachulie Vihienuo, Rev. Dr. Paul K. Ariga, President, AJRM, Rev. Dr. Zelhou Keyho, Gen. Secretary, NBCC, delegates from Japan, Thailand, Korea and U.S.A, and all believers in Christ:
I on behalf of the Government of Nagaland bring greetings to all of you in the name of our Savior Lord Jesus Christ.
I give my sincere appreciation to All Japan Revival Mission and Nagaland Baptist Church Council for bringing Nagas and Japanese together in Christ and to work together for the Lord. Thank You- Khedi Baptist Church for hosting this historic reconciliation service.
In the first place, I would like to share about India and Japan Relationship and the World War-II battle of Kohima in brief :
Indo-Japan Relationship
India–Japan relations have traditionally been strong. For centuries, the people of India and Japan have engaged in cultural exchanges, primarily as a result of Buddhism which spread indirectly from India to Japan, via China and Korea. India is the largest recipient of Japanese official development assistance (ODA).
India and Japan were enemies in World War II, but political relations between the two nations have remained warm since India’s independence. Japanese companies, such as Sony, Toyota, and Honda, have manufacturing facilities in India, and with the growth of the Indian economy, India is a big market for Japanese firms. The most prominent Japanese company to have an investment in India is automobiles multinational Suzuki, which is in partnership with Indian automobiles company Maruti Suzuki, the largest car manufacturer in the Indian market, and a subsidiary of the Japanese company.
In December 2006, India and Japan signed the “Joint Statement towards Japan-India Strategic and Global Partnership”. Japan has helped finance many infrastructure projects in India, most notably the Delhi Metro-system. Also, in the year 2007, the Japanese Self-Defence Forces and the Indian Navy took part in a joint naval exercise in the Indian Ocean, known as Malabar 2007, which also involved the naval forces of Australia, Singapore and the United States. The year 2007 was declared “India-Japan Friendship Year.”
During the last visit of the Prime Minister of India to Japan, Shri. Narendra Modi has stated that the India-Japan ties have been elevated from a “strategic and global partnership” to a “special strategic and global partnership”. Stating that adding “special” is not just a “play of words”, he said it signifies Japan’s increasing role in India’s economic development, increased political dialogue and new thrust to defence ties among other issues.
Five agreements, including defence cooperation, health, roads, women’s development and clean energy, were signed.
During World War II
Since India was under British rule when World War II broke out, it was deemed to have entered the war on the side of the Allies. Over 2 million Indians participated in the war; many served in combat against the Japanese who conquered Burma and reached the Indian border. Some 67,000 Indian soldiers were captured by the Japanese when Singapore surrendered in 1942, many of whom later became part of the Indian National Army (INA).
World War II (1939-1945) is an important event in the history of the world; so is for the Nagas. It had exhibited one of the horrifying capabilities of destruction by humans through the technologies of warfare. It is reported that Participation of Nagas in World War II was mainly due to the Battle of Kohima. The Battle was a part of Burma Campaign which was fought during World War II be- tween the British and Japanese forces from 4 April 1944 and ended on 22 June 1944. Japan’s entry into the war was driven by the need to expand its territory and get access to the natural resources of the occupied terri- tories so that it can enrich its economic condition and become world power. Japan in- vaded India through Kohima and its plan for invasion was mainly motivated by three factors - one, to defend and keep hold of Burma from the British; second, to wipe out the British from Asian countries; third, Japan needed victory in order to boost her morale which was low due to their defeat in the pacific. To the Japanese, the siege of Kohima was essential to secure their conquest in Southeast Asia; while to the British the defence was vital from the point of defending the whole of the India sub-continent. The Battle of Kohima decided the fate of both the British and the Japanese. British with their victory were able to recover their lost glory and honour. Japan with their defeat, their dreams of conquering India and removing the British from the Far East came to end and Japanese had to retreat back. The participation of Nagas had played a great role for both Japanese and British.
Suffering of the Nagas in World War -II
It was reported that during the time of the Kohima & Imphal battle the Nagas suffered lot of hardships at the hands of both the British and the Japanese. Kohima village which was occupied by the Japanese on 4 April 1944 was destroyed by fire before the inhabitants could save their paddy and other house- hold items. It was a scene of bitter fighting for many weeks and villages such as Chedema were completely destroyed during the fighting. The same fate befell Aradura and Chandmari, where not even a house was left standing. The eastern half of Viswema village was blasted by British guns and all the villages along the Indo-Burma road had some shells dropped on them in order to speeden up the departing Japanese. Chizami village was bombed by the British aircraft and many houses were destroyed. Kikruma, Kezoma and Kidima villagers also witnessed the scène of prolonged and bitter fighting and the villagers of Khuzama had to evacuate their village during the battle. In order to do away with the Japanese from the Naga villages, the British conducted air raids.
It was also reported that Naga houses containing paddy were set on fire by the British Army as a measure of denial to the Japanese, and the fire inevitably spread to other houses so that even before fighting began a good many houses and the greater portion of the paddy stocks were completely destroyed.
The retreat of the Japanese caused destruction on a vast scale since each village on the line of retreat was defended by the British. Villages after villages were destroyed, bridges were blown up and villages were dug with mines. Many Nagas became prisoners of the Japanese and even in the most trying times fought with the Japanese, with their indigenous weapons such as spear and daos.
The Japanese when they first came to the Naga Hills were ordered to treat the people well and pay for all their supplies. Initially, they carried out these orders by distributing large quantities of worthless Japanese currency and well forged Rs 10/- Indian currency notes among the villagers in return for their food and labour.
The treatment of the Nagas by the Japanese at first was friendly. But at a later stage it was not. In order to feed their soldiers and mules the Japanese soldiers required rice in large quantities. Thus, once they had finished off with their supply of food they began to live on the food from the Naga villages as they were unable to get hold of the British supply of food and their own supply was not coming forth.
The Japanese killed and ate enormous numbers of chickens, pigs and cattles, mithuns (Indian Black Bison) and buffaloes. It is reported that there was no more livestock except few villages who hided their herds of cattle in the secluded forest areas. Villages on the Japanese line of communication were hit hard and had lost almost all their stocks of food.
The Japanese forced the Nagas to work as coolies (porters) and made them carry heavy loads for long distances. There were even cases of rape, murder and maltreatment”. Most of the ill-treatments which the Nagas suffered were from the hands of the “renegade Indian who had accompanied the Japanese .
The members of the Indian National Army, the Jiffs (Japanese Indian fighting forces) behaved more disgracefully than the Japanese themselves. All cases of rape reported were found to have been committed by this rabble and not by the Japanese” (Colvin 1994: 35).
On the other hand, because of this excessive treatment by the renegade Indian who had accompanied the Japanese in many villages Japanese were hunted and torture and killed. Japanese who could not joined their retreating troops scattered in many villages were arrested and handed over to the British army by the villagers and many of them were also killed.
I was told by my village elders that in Phusachodu village a Japanese soldier was arrested and handed over to the British army but they let him loose and the villagers had hunted him and killed him. There would be many such reported or unreported cases.
But today, it is good that God has opened a way for both Nagas and Japan to come together to forgive and reconcile with each other and to reconcile with God.
I request our Japanese friends to forgive and forget whatever wrong thing that has been committed on Japanese by our people and we too forgive you in the name of the Lord.
Nagaland is situated in a strategic location for the gospel of Christ. We are surrounded by Hindus on the West, Muslims on the South and Budhists on the North and East who are still living in the darkness. We have a lot of things to do for the Lord.
Nagas are fighting for its Independence for the last 60 years. People may say Nagas are poor but I can say we are rich as we have Jesus Christ.
Japan has lost the Kohima Battle in WWII. But together we can win over the whole world with the Gospel of Christ to make the world a better place.
May the Lord bless you all and let the Peace, Love and Joy prevailed upon us and together let us Glorify His Name. Amen
