Imphal, May 25: Sustained campaigning by organisations, both government and non-government, to make Manipur a war tourism hub is bearing fruit with two dignitaries from Australia and Japan agreeing to attend World War commemoration programmes here.
Takeshi Yagi, ambassador of Japan to India, and Patrick Suckling, Australian high commissioner to India, will attend the 71st Anniversary Battle of Imphal World War-II programme being organised by Manipur Tourism Forum and Second World War Imphal Campaign Foundation, a non-profit organisation.
The programme will be held at Maibam Lotpa Ching also known as Red Hill, 17km south of Imphal, at Nambol in Bishnupur district on May 29.
Red Hill is one of the battlefields of Japanese soldiers and Allied Forces in the state. The battle for controlling the Red Hill began on May 21 and ended on May 29 in 1944. In memory of the fierce battle, Japanese war veterans constructed a peace park at the foot of Red Hill. Interestingly, the memorial site is named India Peace Memorial.
Another commemoration programme will be held on June 22, the day Allied Forces lifted the three-month siege of Imphal by Japanese soldiers.
Over 20,000 British and Allied troops and over 60,000 Japanese soldiers died in Manipur during the World War. The nationalities included British, Indians, Gurkhas and Japanese.
"The objective of organising the commemorative programme is to pay homage to war heroes, to spread the message of ill effects of war, promote world peace and develop war tourism in Manipur," Dhabali Thangjam, president of Manipur Tourism Forum, said.
The campaign by the two organisations began last year by organising the 70th commemoration of the Imphal battle. They plan to organise it in a "big way" in 2019.
During the campaign to develop war sights and promote war tourism, the organisations identified 13 war sights in Manipur. The Okram Ibobi Singh government has agreed to develop these war sights as tourist destinations and the matter is pending in the Union tourism ministry.
The state government has also agreed in principle to open a war museum in Imphal. It has decided to shift the Imphal Municipal Council office to another location for using the existing office building as the war museum.
Interestingly, the Japanese dignitary will visit the Imphal war cemetery, which is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, for the first time. The cemetery has lists of British soldiers killed during the World War II.
"Visiting tourists and officials from Japan have been avoiding the war cemetery for reasons known to them. But this time, the Japanese ambassador has agreed to visit the cemetery," Santosh Shekhar, the public relations officer of the programme organising committee, said.
Shekhar said another objective of the commemoration programme was to facilitate reconciliation among those who fought against one another in Imphal during the World War II.
