http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/100-years-on-India-confused-about-its-role-in-WWI/articleshow/32609246.cms
That is an interesting article mcan, thanks for posting. I am currently reading the history of the British Indian Army, I've just passed the time of the Mutiny in 1857. I find this subject fascinating, with so many political, religious and cultural overtones constantly running through the organisation. Steve
The story continues: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Home/Opinion/Edit-Page/Heritage-enthusiasts-seek-Indian-soldiers-participation-in-Great-War-commemorated/articleshow/33032487.cms ''World War I was a European war With 2014 being the centenary year of World War I, a group of English heritage enthusiasts is looking for Indian participation for a memorial ride to commemorate the sacrifice of Indian soldiers in the great war. However, such an event would hardly find resonance in India. True, Indian soldiers did play a crucial role in the two World Wars as part of the larger British army. But that is part of our colonial history and has no bearing on post-Independence India. To argue that Indian authorities should take an active interest in a memorial event for WWI - a battle among European powers thirsting for more colonies or fighting to keep what they had - is a stretch.'' CS
Thanks for the additional update CS. From reading on the topic, it seems that returning Indian troops held allegiance to their regiment and their officers, rather than the British/Allied cause or the 'King Emperor'. It was for these reasons that they fought so bravely in such foreign fields. There are very few WW1 Memorials in Indian/Pakistani villages and towns.
While I can understand the perspective of modern Indian nationalism, I think it is a shame if such feelings prevent proper honor being done to India's war dead and veterans of the British Indian Army. That force had a great tradition, and the modern Indian and Pakistani armies inherited it. The world wars are also an important part of the history of those countries, and you can't simply ignore that in the name of some kind of political correctness. The Irish Republic and Irishmen generally are at last giving proper respect to the Irish who served in the world wars. I hope to see India and Pakistan do the same. And by the way, India did have a stake in the outcome of the Great War. The Germans intrigued busily throughout the Middle East, both before and during the First World War, and with Turkish help they launched a 'jihad' against Britain. Seducing Muslim troops of the British Army was one of the Turko-German objectives and the jihad stirred up a lot of trouble in Persia, which had a common border with India. And then after 1917 you get the Bolsheviks in Central Asia, who began their international career as allies of the Germans. Some might say all this was just a dispute between colonial powers, not relevant to Indians or India's future. They would be wrong. Ask an Arab what Turkish rule was like, ask a Herero what the German Empire was like. The Raj was hardly a charitable institution, but not all empires are the same.
Hi TTH, You make good and valid points there. The British Indian Army were extremely concerned over the reaction of Muslim troops when Turkey entered the war and how they would feel about fighting fellow Muslim brothers.
Do we have any Indian or Pakistani members on here? Their perspectives would be valuable, on this and other questions.
You might be interested in this podcast episode, they discuss some of the motivations India had during the war. http://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2012/12/world-war-indian-soldiers-prisoners.html
'I thought Remembrance was a white event' Remembrance serves as a way to honour those who gave their lives for Britain in conflict, including during the two World Wars, but do all those who fought get the recognition they deserve? It was a conversation with a patient researching the Commonwealth contribution to World War One that sparked Dr Irfan Malik's interest in finding out about his ancestors. "Before I knew how much the Indians had contributed, growing up I thought it was very much a white war," he said. "We weren't taught about the Indians in school." It's a sentiment researchers at think tank British Future regularly come across in their efforts to highlight Muslims' participation in World War One and Two. Some 1.3 million Indian soldiers who fought in the WW1, of whom 400,000 were Muslim. In World War Two, about 2.5 million Indian soldiers took part, including 600,000 Muslims. ...
Warning: slight rant ahead and a tangent about the Second World War rather than the First. Every time a new book is published on India during the war years we get a spate of articles lamenting the fact that the Indian contribution to victory is 'forgotten', 'untold' or 'unappreciated'--and it's getting tedious. Professional and amateur historians alike are keenly aware of the vital role played by the Old Indian Army, Navy and Airforce, and if it was once the case that they were afforded insufficient respect for their sacrifices, it certainly is not now. If there is still ignorance of the fact that the war would have been lost without them, it's only from those who are ignorant of pretty much all history that hasn't been dramatised, and have suffered from our dreadful state education. I would go as far to say that from what I've read in the Indian media (admittedly that's the English language Indian media, but I do read a little--some from the Times of India [see above]), the subject is more often discussed in Europe than in the Subcontinent, where many brave and selfless men have been allowed to fade away in poverty. I do hear of admirable work done by regimental associations, but successive Indian and Pakistani governments haven't seemed genuinely interested in a subject about which the people themselves seem to have little interest--and it's all but too late now. The horrors of partition and its subsequent wars have muddied the waters, and the youth of both nations (I know little about Bangladesh) seem to see little gain in looking backwards. If there's more to it than that and I lack some vital knowledge here, I'm open to correction, but this is how the matter looks to me. I'm quite happy to metaphorically raise my paw and bow my head when my country has been shown to have done wrong, but I get tired of the usual suspects in the popular press constantly casting around for sticks with which we are invited to flagellate ourselves. The Indians were the best friends we could possibly have hoped to have had; I, for one, am proud to say that one of my family fought alongside them.
