"Through the 19th century, Indian troops saw action in theaters ranging from Egypt to Japan, from Southern Africa to the Mediterranean. Despite growing nationalist opposition, British use of Indian armed forces surged in the first decades of the 20th century. During the Great War, nearly 1.2 million Indians were recruited for service in the army. When it ended, about 950,000 Indian troops were serving overseas. According to the official count, between 62,000 and 65,000 Indian soldiers were killed in that war. In World War II, the Indian army saw action on fronts ranging from Italy and North Africa to East Africa, the Middle East and the Far East. In Southeast Asia alone, 700,000 Indian troops joined the effort to oust Japanese armies from Burma, Malaya and Indo-China. By the time the war ended, the Indian army numbered a massive 2.5 million men, the largest all-volunteer force the world had ever seen.
Yet, as I noted earlier, modern India’s political leadership has been reluctant to recognize the contributions of its men to the making of the modern world."
That was history but India's contribution to the peacekeeping force is true as of today. The nauseating thing about all this no one gives a damn. Educating people to give a damn is difficult, which is an understatement. People give a damn only if its projected on silver screen or unveiled in a cricket stadium, Well, if that helps, then we should do that too. When countries are trying to weave their own version of history, India is the only country which dumbs it's fully woven history in the garbage.
"A second legacy of the Raj is the “military surplus” in the Subcontinent, which has endured despite all the political changes of the past six decades: partition, permanent Indo-Pak conflict, the occupation of Tibet by China and the resultant Sino-Indian military tensions on the Indo-Tibetan border. Despite these challenges, the now-separate armies of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have made an important mark on international security politics. That the South Asian armies, including those of Nepal, contribute nearly 40 percent of the world’s peacekeepers underlines the region’s role as a military reservoir. But this extraordinary role is widely overlooked in international debates on peacekeeping, particularly in India’s case."
That was history but India's contribution to the peacekeeping force is true as of today. The nauseating thing about all this no one gives a damn. Educating people to give a damn is difficult, which is an understatement. People give a damn only if its projected on silver screen or unveiled in a cricket stadium, Well, if that helps, then we should do that too. When countries are trying to weave their own version of history, India is the only country which dumbs it's fully woven history in the garbage.
"A second legacy of the Raj is the “military surplus” in the Subcontinent, which has endured despite all the political changes of the past six decades: partition, permanent Indo-Pak conflict, the occupation of Tibet by China and the resultant Sino-Indian military tensions on the Indo-Tibetan border. Despite these challenges, the now-separate armies of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have made an important mark on international security politics. That the South Asian armies, including those of Nepal, contribute nearly 40 percent of the world’s peacekeepers underlines the region’s role as a military reservoir. But this extraordinary role is widely overlooked in international debates on peacekeeping, particularly in India’s case."
No comments:
Post a Comment