Nagaland Chief Minister, Shurhozelie Liezietsu dedicated the 100th anniversary monolith of the Naga Labour Corps (NLC), who participated in the First World War.
Nagaland Chief Minister, Shurhozelie Liezietsu dedicated the 100th anniversary monolith of the Naga Labour Corps (NLC), who participated in the First World War.
Speaking at the function Liezietsu recalled that it was exactly one hundred years ago on April 21, when the first batch of the NLC sailed to France in 1917 to participate in the first Great War theatre in Europe.
Liezietsu recalled that around 2000 Nagas were recruited and were designated as NLC and according to some written documents, the NLC arrived in France in two main groups (688 men on 21 June 1917 and 992 men on 2 July 1917).
He said the NLC worked in various places around France on salvage work, road repairs among others and according to accounts, the NLC fearlessly carried out their designated duties despite facing the horrors of war in the battlefield and were at the forefront regardless of the possibility of death all around them.
He said that after the NLC returned, the building holding the list of Nagas who went to participate in the First World War were destroyed by Japanese bombings.
However, he reiterated that the relative lack of historical records should not deter Nagas from commemorating their pioneering ventures which led to the subsequent state of Nagaland.
The CM said after NLC returned from France, they formed a socio-political association called the Naga Club with branches in Kohima and Mokokchung immediately after their return. Then in 1918 and later in 1929 the Naga Club submitted a representation to the Simon Commission conveying the right of choice of self-determination of the Nagas when the British left India.
Liezietsu maintained that the brave mission of the Naga Club members must be remembered appropriately for posterity and for which a memorial stone was erected in Kohima. He said the Memorial Park will be built around the hilltop in due course to appropriately mark the 100th anniversary.
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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