The release of documentary on ‘World War II – The Battle of Kohima as the Naga people saw it’ could not have come at a better day coinciding with the 71st Naga Independence Day on August 14 at conference hall of IPR this afternoon.
The 1st comprehensive Naga narrative on the Battle of Kohima (Naga experiences), a production of the Kohima Educational Society (KES), Kohima Educational Trust (KET) and department of IPR was officially released by Director IPR, Limawati Ao.
Produced and directed by renowned journalist, author and researcher, Charles Chasie the documentary is a presentation of the voices of the last remaining Naga veterans who were directly and indirectly involved in the great Battle of Kohima.
Presenting a brief introduction of the documentary, chairman KES, Dr Phyobemo Ngully said the documentary on WW II and the Battle of Kohima, is a presentation from the Nagas perspective of the great battle that has changed the history of the Nagas.
Though the war was fought on Naga soil, Dr Ngully asserted that ‘it was not their war’ but were caught in it with no choice whereby in many cases they were compelled to take sides.
He also noted that the Nagas were innocent victims and suffered the ravages and traumas of the war resulting deaths, many became wounded and all suffered privations of all kinds. Yet, he added that the war affected the Nagas so profoundly that the traditional society was gone forever.
‘Inspite of the destructions and traumas we have to go through, for the first time felt a sense of belongingness to the rest of the world’ said Dr Ngully and observed that subsequent to the war, Nagas have also developed a sense of nationalism, understanding the values of courage, bravery and sacrifices which have impacted our lives.
Encouraging all to watch the documentary, Dr Ngully was of the view that through sharing, Nagas can understand, learn more and strengthen relationship among ourselves and build a bridge across the world to reach out to the people even to Japan.
Narrating in brief the sequence of the WWII - the Battle of Kohima and the making of the documentary film, Charles Chasie said it is the personal stories of the veterans who were into the war.
He said the idea to produce the documentary film of the Nagas perspective of the great battle was conceived during the 78th anniversary of the Battle of Kohima and to come out with our version so as to ‘leave behind our perspective of the war for the future generation.’
Describing WWII - the Battle of Kohima not only an event that exposed and made Kohima and Nagaland known to the world, but also brought to the Nagas, the world at its doorstep, in a short speech, Limawati Ao said the war has opened the eyes of the Nagas to both positive and negative aspects of the world – a wider world view to the simple and isolated Nagas.
Not forgetting the horrors of the war and the cruelty of mankind in desperate times as demonstrated by the Japanese, Ao also noted that the concept of nationhood, a sense of patriotism and allegiance was conceived out of the war.
While stating matter of fact that many Nagas have not heard or imagined the plight of the Nagas directly or indirectly affected by the battle, he said this documentary brings to fore the experiences of Nagas specially of those villages directly affected by the battle and also the Naga soldiers.
Congratulating the team who brought out an important documentation of the experiences and impact of this world event on the Nagas, he opined that this documentary is a must watch for Naga historians, researchers, students and people who are concern with the growth and march of the Nagas as a people towards a distinct and better future.
It was also informed that the documentary will be telecast on the local channels of Nagaland Cornerstone TV (Dimapur and Mokokchung); Central Cable and Kohima Local Cable at 7:30 pm on August 14 and 15.
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