Archival material on Arunachal heroes handed over to Rajiv Gandhi University

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ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein on Friday officially handed over the archival manuscripts and materials of about 2,000 pages on various tribes to the History Department of the Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) in a simple function organized here.

The History Department of RGU has been appointed by the Government as the nodal department to compile a blueprint on the unsung heroes of the State, who would be given due recognition during the celebration of year-long 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'.

The historic documents were collected by Nepha Wangsa and Chow Bilaseng Namchoom from important repositories of the Delhi-based National Archives of India, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Delhi and the Indian Council of Historical Research, besides the State Archives of Assam, the British Library and Museum and various other sources.

The handing over ceremony was organized at the joint meeting of the Core Committee on Unsung Heroes of Arunachal Pradesh with the research sub-committee of RGU, which was chaired by Mein.

Speaking on the occasion, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the current work is a huge responsibility and should be done with utmost care.

"Many engagements of the indigenous people with the British government are still unknown and untraced. There is the task on our part to rewrite our own history from the perspective of our people," he said.

He added that the British accounts, their official correspondence, writings of Missionaries and other documents found in the archives are the sources of information.

Mentioning the example of the publication of 'Arunodoi', the first magazine published from Assam in 1846, Mein stated that it reflected categorically about the Khamti-British war of 1839 and Mishmis.

"Other documents depict the four Anglo-Abor wars, Wancho engagements with the British at Ninu, other engagements of the Nyishis, Singphos, Akas etc," he said.

"Such documents speak volumes about our people of those times which are not known to the present generation", Mein said, and added that the State needs to rewrite its history with the help of such documents and make it known to the world.

He added, "It is a blessing for our State as the Government of India is initiating 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', which gives us special opportunity to garner information on the unsung heroes of the State and also give them due recognition."

The Deputy Chief Minister urged the History Department to prepare a report within a stipulated time frame with utmost care with thorough research under the leadership of Vice-Chancellor Prof Saket Kushwaha, and assured support of the State Government in the process of the execution of the blueprint.

"The nature of the work to get the unsung heroes of the State recognized is challenging, but it will be historic, once the compilation and extensive research is done in our perspective and included in the NCERT books," he pointed out.

He urged the research committee members to work as a team seamlessly without giving any scope for criticism in future.

Core Committee member Tai Tagak informed about his tour to various parts of the State during which he visited various war memorials. He suggested the need to establish a martyr's memorial at Itanagar.

Tagak also mentioned the war heroes of the Indo-Chinese war of 1962, where many Arunachalee jawans were martyred on the line of duty, besides many porters who volunteered to aid the Indian soldiers during the war.

"Such heroes should also find a place of recognition which can be included in the 50 years' celebration," he added.

Research scholar Nepha Wangsa, while sharing his work experience, informed that he was doing the research work since 2015 on the Wancho-British war incident at Ninu.

He expressed his gratitude to the Deputy Chief Minister for all the help rendered to him to carry out his research works and collect the archival materials from various repositories of India and abroad.

The Vice-Chancellor of RGU informed that the university is making its best effort to execute the work its scholars have toured the State to collect information from various sources and community-based organizations as part of sincere efforts to complete the task.

Prof Ashan Riddi of RGU talked about the progress of the work and field visits carried out by the research sub-committee in various districts of the State. He also presented a timeline and said that the final report to the Core Committee headed by Mein will be submitted in June this year.

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