The INA memorial complex at Moirang

Imphal, June 24: Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh today said important World War II sites in Manipur would be developed, along with other tourist destinations in the state, under a new tourism policy, which will be announced soon.

“The Manipur government is formulating the Manipur tourism policy, 2013. This will address the need to promote important World War II sites as tourists destinations,” Ibobi Singh told the House.

The chief minister said his cabinet recently discussed the draft tourism policy and it was decided that the policy should be more comprehensive and incorporate the tourism policy of the Union tourism ministry.

“We are working on the draft policy and it will be announced soon. We will include the sites to be developed as tourist destinations in the policy, including the World War sites, after consulting experts and historians,” the chief minister said.

Manipur is one of the important World War II battlefields where the Allied Forces fought a fierce battle with the Japanese forces.

Red Hill in Bishnupur district, nearly 16km from Imphal along the Imphal-Moreh road was one of the major battlefields. Here the British soldiers had fought with Japanese soldiers.

War veterans had constructed a memorial site named India Peace Memorial with funds from Japan in memory of the Japanese soldiers.

Another major battlefield is Shangshak, nearly 40km from Imphal in Ukhrul district. Here, Japanese forces fought a pitched battle with British-Indian soldiers in March 1944.

The Assam Rifles has constructed a war memorial named Shangshank War Memorial at Shangshak village and paramilitary forces pay homage to the slain soldiers every year, observing Shangshak Day.

One of the most important World War II memorial sites is the Indian National Army (INA) memorial complex at Moirang, nearly 45km from Imphal in Bishnupur district.

INA soldiers hoisted the Tricolour at Moirang on April 14, 1944.

After hoisting the flag, Moirang became the headquarters of the INA in Manipur. The memorial also houses a museum and the complex has a statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

The state also has two war cemeteries where British and Indian soldiers were cremated.