Correspondent
IMPHAL, MARCH 23
[dropcap]M[/dropcap]anipur observed the 70th anniversary of Battle of Imphal (WW-II) by paying homage to the departed souls in the World War II (WWII) battles fought in Imphal and Kohima which have been named as the greatest ever battle involving British forces.
A formal inaugural ceremony of the 70th anniversary of Battle of Imphal (WWII) was held at MFDC auditorium here with the state chief secretary PC Lawmkunga as the chief guest. The function was organised by the Manipur Tourism Forum (MTF) and 2nd WWII Imphal campaign foundation in association with the Government of Manipur.
Japan’s ambassador to India His Excellency Takeshi Yagi, Additional Chief Secretary RR Rashmi, Principal secretary Dr Rajesh Kumar and Commissioner RK Nimai of the Manipur government were the guests of the honour while the President of MTF Dr Th Dhabali presided over the programme.The three-month-long commemoration of the historic battle of Imphal is being organised by Manipur Tourism Forum (MTF) and 2nd WW Imphal campaign foundation in association with Government of Manipur after United Kingdom’s National Army Museum named WWII battles fought in Imphal and Kohima as the greatest ever battle involving British forces.
Speaking on the occasion, Japanese ambassador Takeshi Yagi expressed that organising such kind of event will strengthen the relationship between the two countries while chief secretary Lamwkunga assured that the state’s annual tourism festival-Sangai festival will start highlighting the world war II from the current year.
President of MTF Dr Th Dhabali said that they’re organizing the anniversary at 14 different programs at 14 different historic war sites (in Manipur) to draw the attention of the masses and propagate the message of peace across the world.
The battle of Imphal was two months longer than the one in Kohima, was fought from March-July in 1944, involves about 2,00,000 soldiers including pilots of both allied and Japanese forces, has got international, national and state significant, he added.
The Japanese, who fought alongside some Indian nationalists, eventually lost 53,000 dead and missing in the battles. The British forces sustained 12,500 casualties at Imphal while the fighting at Kohima cost them another 4,000 casualties.
Though the fierce battles of the World Ward II (WWII) which was fought in Imphal in 1944 claimed many lives besides destroying many properties, but it changes the lives of Manipur’s population, feels Commissioner Dr RK Nimai of arts and culture department of Manipur government. Manipur’s only existing Tulihal airport and 210 km Imphal-Moreh highway were built during WWII. However, the popular World war time airstips such as Koirengei and Pallel have been unused now.
