(History From an eyewitness of Sakraba village)
Yu-wan Bomi
Our world had undergone severe attacks from galaxy with asteroids comets and other things that hit and the humanity had struggled seeing battles, war, bloodshed and the time is the silent witness who have every record. Many of the contemporary civilizations are built upon the ruins of the previous civilizations that are under the ground like a mystery now. People interpret the truth in their own way and give versions to leave a legacy. However, the silent time, which does not forget and omits, is the true witness gives the everlasting version of the facts that happened in the world. The country or groups involved in the war always gives their interpretation to show their superiority over the other opponent and many a times in their versions they edit, sometimes delete the facts and gives their own addition to make it beautiful for the listeners, readers and for their own people or supporters. Many a time the truth is been crushed underneath the heavy, spicy and eloquent voice of the untruth but the truth exist like the wind, and on the other hand whether it is truth or not the written seems more valid and oral seems unoriginal version.
Who knows and cares that an eyewitness of the II World War still survives in that part of the world. No body seems interested in facts and preserving that story which had happened and tomorrow a generation will definitely come to search the source of facts. Fortunately, I met the elderly person without a prior idea that he is an eyewitness of one the most deadly wars of the last century. He looked very old and may be the eldest in Sakraba so in asking about his age he open the story, “I exactly do not know what my age is but I remember I was some seventeenth or eighteenth years old when the Japanese came here in that bloody war to this village.” On being asked related questions about the war, he further added, “Like other villagers in the neighbourhood we were enjoying the serenity of this isolated shrine with our relatives, friends by pulling stones (a leisure time prestigious sport in the Tenyime community) totally unknown about what is going on in the world of civilized people. I do not know when they arrived here but their (Japanese) looks resemble us and they were also astonished to see us similar to them in appearance. We even do not know where their country is but inside our hearts, we support them because we hated the British. It is hard to understand, may be because of the colonial purpose the British wanted to protect us from the Japanese, on the other hand the Japanese first won over us to get our support for bunker construction, food supply in emergency by saying that we are same people and these white skinned people are here to destroy us. We did not give our consent but deep down in our heart we were on their side. May be the world is upside down in spite of our inner consent we rather support the British because they promised our leaders that after the war our people will get independence separately from the Indians.”
The war went on for many months. In the beginning, the Japanese seemed like they will win the battle. Every day planes comes above the central Chakhesang area for bombarding and the villagers were succumbed to rest and didn’t worked for months because of the explosion and the planes hovering around every now and then. It is hard to find out which plane drop the bombs in which place but everyday we were alert. Many trees were destroyed and many of their soldiers died. The position of the war turned in a different direction one day when the food supply was short or when it did not reach the place on time whereby the Japanese came to the villages asking rice and fork on gun points warning the village folk to face dare consequences if they refused to give so. The ill-treatment rather weakened the position of the Japanese army in that area, they earn nothing but hatred, and they were insecure day by day. In addition, finding the people going against and irresponsive and giving heed to their enemies the Japanese one day decided to annihilate the people around there. May be it was the intervention of God that the British came to know about the plan and the Japanese troops were on their way to Sakraba to annihilate the whole village. Nevertheless, the British fighter plane hover over there and dropped bombs that killed most of the Japanese and those who survive did not get any shelter but scattered in the jungle without food, ammunition, friend and shelter. The villagers who saw some Japanese soldiers hiding nearby the terrace fields had killed and buried the dead bodies outside the paddy field. May be some of them survive and managed to escape because many troops were sent and we saw the location of Sakraba village in the Japanese map. Nevertheless, the Japanese soldiers did not gain any favour from the people. Like before they fought, daily but one day the Japanese retreat from the place and were seen here no more. Their faces turned pale, failed, lost and surrendered. I do not know what exactly happened to make them retreat like that (most probably that was the week when atom bomb was dropped in Nagasaki and Hiroshima for which the Japanese surrendered). In so many ways in our tribal and poor style, we helped the British army but the British Government betrayed us and left us fighting for freedom until now.
After a pause as if he was recollecting the fast or the plash back of the events in his memory lane to see clearly the past he resumed the narration, “not only that war I have seen the Indo-Naga war in which our village participated and we paid a heavy price for that. The Indian soldiers came strait to our village may be they wanted to wipe out the Nagas from the land. The soldiers instead of fighting the Naga fighters in the battlefield started molesting the innocent, weapon less village folk. We thought they came there after defeating our army but they came without fighting the fighters but to show us their cowardice Although we protested a lot but the Indian soldiers burnt down our houses, granary houses too so that we may not survive and it was perception that without food we will surrender to them. They made us stand in queue in the scorching shine, I cannot forget that humiliation, and that haunts me like a nightmare. It is still burning its coal of insult and the bitterness is very green, the dry seasons have come and gone but that bitterness is still green and fresh in my heart, in my whole being.
The whole villagers evacuated to the paddy fields resting hut for sheltering as women and children were with us. They did not leave us there also rather burn our last resort for rest and then only we all retreat to the Jungle. We saw smoke coming out of the villages for few days. In the deep forest we fasted and trying to survive with the eatable leaves and whatever fruit available especially for our children. Many encountered suffered malnutrition and hardest was for the pregnant women. Many borne at that time suffered malnutrition and many starved. The weather became harsh, the mosquitoes and the cold wind tortured and we did not allowed anyone of us to sleep. Amidst those hardships, one of us went to the village to see whether the army left or not. We found our village as ruins only, the surroundings were even burnt, many of the trees faded and dried because of the fire heat and some plants were half burnt. What left was the black ash; some sparks were still there in the paddy grains where smoke was coming out that did not get shelter in the ash. All our neighbouring villages suffered the same consequences.
The elder said that if he were an educated he would record everything in the paper so that the next generation will never forget what had happened to us and the story of the reality will remain forever. Because of my old age now a day, I am forgetting so many things but I remember those events as if it happened yesterday. Then some officers came to our village along with two Christian reverends (most probably that was the historic day of 1964 when the Indo-Naga peace treaty was signed in Sakraba). The war ended resulting into another long struggle for freedom, I don’t know what the future holds for the Nagas but if I live some more years then I might see another war that will take place in my village.”
Further he added with a long sigh, “how many years have remain in my life I don’t know but those dreaded scenes of the wars still haunts me. In addition, those angry faces and hungry villagers, fearful looks, tearful eyes and starving innocent faces have sculptured in the rock of my memory, those firings, sound of planes, bombarding and cry of soldiers still echoes through my ears. The scene of our village in fire and the smoke still flashes back in front of my eyes. Those babies out of hunger cried who once slept with lullaby but could not sleep those days because of the crises that devoured us. We should have pulled two more stones in remembrance of those two wars.” The war is still going on among us and I do not know when it will end. We are fighting among ourselves for freedom but what kind of freedom is this where we cannot breathe air of Independence and unity? Factions claim that freedom will be through them. All are liars and fooling us.
Now I leave the floor for the readers especially the Nagas to think a moment that ideologies are fine but that freedom is what the Nagas strived for these fifty years. May I get the attention of the factions to think ‘Is this long struggle for freedom or to proof which faction have been heavier and killed more people than the other factions? Did the predecessors start this fight so that the successors will enter into ideological factions and become a weapon for the enemies? If someday one of the factions win over all the other factions after killing all and gain freedom then you are looser. Dear factions try to see beyond your factional ideologies and rethink that you actually did not come to the factions for tribalism, murder and annihilation of other factions orphaning children, widowing your mothers and sisters. You are not for blackening the future of the Nagas, are you? We tribal maintain a strong bond of racial, communal and blood relationship but are we not tribal? In the history, enemies outnumbered us but now we are defeating ourselves and opening a way for a total Indian subjugation and Indian way of life and thinking. Let us come together. God is with us that we can see in the participation of the churches in the reconciliation of factions. Do not harden your hearts when God calls you for salvation. Cannot we forgive each other for the Naga cause?
