By K.Puroh
A reference has been made to myself and two of my recent writings on ‘Subhas Bose and the Battle of Kohima’. The main contention of the debate is all about the coming of Subhas Bose to Naga Hills district of Assam during the World War II . In this regard, I stand by what I have argued, that is, Subhas Bose was never in Nagaland during the time of the battle of Kohima. In my first article I wrote, “I am writing this not to malign any particular individual (or group) but to avoid confusion in the near and not so near future and to stop those who are misleading the historical consciousness of younger generation.” In my second article I added, “the government of Nagaland should therefore, refrain from walking the wrong side of historical facts as far as Subhas Bose’s coming to Nagaland during the Battle of Kohima is concerned and unless historical evidence to the contrary of my claim is offered, it stands undisputed that Subhas Bose has never set foot in Nagaland.”
I am an academician by profession, and what I have written is based on historical facts, not conjecture. A scholar is not expected to insert personal feelings or emotions in the process of ascertaining historical facts. If at all there was historical evidence of Subhas Bose coming to Nagaland, I, as an academician, would be happy to acknowledge this. Especially because to the people of my generation (Nagas), Subhas Bose was a role model. Many of us kept posters of him in our rooms while studying in High Schools and Colleges and he inspired many into joining the Naga Army.
Yes, I am about 65 years of age only, but the age of a researcher does not determine and ascertain the historical facts. Moreover, the “85 years -90 years of age” were only minors during the battle of Kohima in 1944. In any event, senior and educated citizens at that time never mentioned or recorded anything about the presence of Subhas Bose during their lifetime. Methodological tests and scientific analysis are not done by patronizing the resource persons, so also not with ones’ kith and kin as witnesses while collecting the impartial and independent data. To ascertain the Subhas Bose coming to this side, if at all he did can only be done by qualified and experienced scholars. It is true that I have ‘neglected the traces of Netaji to these villages’ because I did not find any trace of Netaji coming to this part of our land. Therefore, I did not write anything that was not found in the history and I do not wish to place ‘the villagers of this (Chokri area) region’ into the wrong side of history and therewith shame the region and its people whom I love and care for.
(02-06-2017), I also came across an article written by a scholar on a related topic, in which the fourth paragraph mentions “when the Battle of Jessami was raging- Sato, Bose and Phizo were reported to have camped at Lanye river valley for a few days.” History tells us that the Jessami battle was fought for three days, from the evening of 28th March 1944 to the midnight of 31st March (KOHIMA , Arthur Swinson, pages 39 and 48). By that time, however, Subhas was at Rangoon. In the book ‘His Majesty’s Opponent’ written by Sugata Bose (a grand nephew of Subhas) it is written (pages 272-3) thus, “On April 5 1944, Bose announced the formation of National Bank of Azad Hind at Rangoon.” Moreover, Dr. Tapan Chattopadhyay, in a write-up titled, “Subhas Bose visit to Nagaland in 1944” establishes that “on 8th April 1944, Bose shifted his headquaters to Mymyo ( from Rangoon)”. Rangoon is situated at the tip of Andaman Sea, which is thousands of miles away from Lanye river, (below Jessami). So, unless parachuted and airlifted, it was impossible for Subhas Bose to be available at both Lanye river and Rangoon within a span of 5 days.
History should not be twisted or diluted, and the INA should therefore not be equated with Japanese forces as far as the Kohima battle is concerned. Moreover, events around Imphal should not be cleverly aligned with Kohima incidents. Events in the Naga inhabited areas of other states should not be mixed up with that of the then Naga Hills District, and the general scene of overall retreat should not be mixed up with that of the retreats from Kohima. One might have thought the innocent readers are being cleverly fooled. But as the saying goes, ‘ you can fool some people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time”. History should not be distorted with an aim to hood-wink the public into believing a cooked up story for purely personal gains.
