Representing Local Participation in INA–Japanese Imphal Campaign

Abstract

In the history of World War II in eastern India the participation of local people is the least attended subject due to the belief that the whole tribal belt was with the Allied forces. This is untrue. Those groups who had directly come into contact with the invading forces were supporting them in various ways. This is especially true to the people of Manipur. This article makes the point that Kukis had contacted the Indo-Japanese forces even before the invasion and later helped them, during the War, not only in terms of materials, labour, intelligence services and campaigns but also in term of men of war. This assistance was, however, located as a separate resistance movement embedded within the larger war. The Kukis joined the War largely to shake off their bondage under the Raj in a desperate ‘way out’. They did it against the constituted colonial authority on their own understanding of the situation in which they found themselves in an unacceptable situation. It was a political action base on a conscious, pre-mediated, and deliberate decision directed towards a specific local objective and having to do with local grievances.

When Legions Thunder Past: The Second World War and India’s Northeastern Frontier

“…This global war was not of their own making, yet it offered a chance to fulfil longstanding dreams of freedom from the Raj through a pragmatic alliance with the Japanese. 85 The Japanese and the INA did not encounter similar degrees of support among the Mizos, Nagas, or Kachins however. Although Phizo's case stands out as an important example of Naga-INA-Japan cooperation, many Nagas misinformed the Japanese, informed the Allies and continued to join Naga Levies, Armed Nagas, and Naga Pioneers groups.…”

“…Songs about the war (Japan Gal La) expressed their continued wish for self-rule, separate from India. 126 Though more on the Allies side, Lushai Hills inhabitants held not too dissimilar aspirations: the Mizo and Paite chiefs had answered McCall's call on the premise they would thereby gain self-determination. An implicit condition to their support was that "the destiny of Lushais passes to no other hands without the consent of the Lushai peoples" after the war.…”

Indo-Naga Peace Parleys and the Kukis: A Plea for an Inclusive Approach

“…3. For a detailed discussion of Kuki participation in the INA-led campaign against colonial rule, see Guite (2011). 4.…”

Tangled Lands: Burma and India's Unfinished Separation, 1937–1948

“…By 1945, many were campaigning for jurisdictional and territorial change. Many Kukis had actively fought to evict colonial presence in their midst (Guite 2010). From Manipur, a group of Nagas and Kukis petitioned for a single administration across the Patkai and eastern Himalayas and for constitutional protections, stressing that they shared little culturally or historically with India and had only become part of it under the Raj.…”