Jairampur (Arunachal Pradesh), Feb. 18: They answered the call of duty and died fighting but it has taken a long time for someone to answer their silent plea for a little respect.
The graves of several valiant soldiers who took on the imperial Japanese army during World War II lie unattended at a cemetery six kilometres from this sleepy town. One of these graves is of Hsiao Chu Ching, a company commander of 2nd battalion of the 10th regiment, Indian Engineers of Chinese Army stationed in India, who died in 1943.
Though belatedly, the New Delhi-based Indo-Taipei Cultural Exchange Centre has proposed a symbolic caretaker for the graves in which Ching and his comrades lie.
The plan envisages placing a chhatri, which is an important element of Buddhist architecture, on top of the memorial tomb in the approach to the cemetery. A chhatri usually crowns a stupa inside a vihara and symbolises the act of taking care of the monument.
The cultural exchange centre has also proposed a waterfall, symbolising mobility and keeping alive somebody’s memory, around the tomb. Talem Tapok, deputy commissioner of Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, said the state government was trying hard to translate the proposal into reality.
A Taiwanese team from the cultural exchange centre had mooted the Rs 3.5-crore project during a visit in 2000.
The delegation discussed the issue with members of a local committee for preservation of the cemetery and senior government officials.
“The idea is to develop an integrated complex that will be of interest to visitors and, more importantly, an honour to the soldiers who died fighting,” M.A. Siddique, one of the officials who have shown a keen interest in renovating the cemetery, said.
The historical importance of the graves was known only in 1982 after somebody discovered an epitaph in Mandarin, dating back to World War II. There are about 1,000 graves in the area.
During their discussions with officials, the Taiwanese delegation had sketched designs and proposed minor changes in the pattern of the graves.
If everything goes according to plan, the cemetery will have walls on all sides, internal pathways, a museum, reception hall, temple, guesthouse and cafeteria.