Arunachal: Chowna Mein hands over archival manuscripts of various tribes to RGU
ITANAGAR- Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein on Friday officially handed over the archival manuscripts and materials of about 2000 pages on various tribes collected by Nepha Wangsa and Chow Bilaseng Namchoom to the nodal Department (History) of Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) in a simple yet momentous occasion. The historic documents were collected from important repositories of National Archives of India Delhi, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Delhi, Indian Council of Historical Research Delhi, State Archives of Assam, 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 Rajiv Gandhi University which was chaired by the Deputy Chief Minister at CS Conference Hall, Civil Secretariat, Itanagar.
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Mein stated that the current work is a huge responsibility and should be done with utmost care. He said that 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 added.
He also said that the British accounts, their official correspondence, Missionary writings and other documents found in the archives are the source of information in which we have come to many of the engagements with the British Government. Taking example of the publication of ‘Arunodoi/Oronodoi’ the first magazine published in Assam in 1846 and the publication of 1848 it reflects categorically about the Khamti-British war of 1839 and Mishmis. Other documents which depict the four Anglo-Abor wars, Wancho engagements with the British at Ninu, other engagements of the Nyishis, Singphos, Akas etc.
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“Such documents speak volumes about our people of those times which are not known to the present generation”, said Mein and added that with the help of such documents we need to rewrite our history and make it known to the world.
He said that it’s 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 Arunachal Pradesh and also give due recognition on the occasion.
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He urged the Nodal department that a report should be prepared with utmost care with thorough research and in a stipulated time frame under the leadership of the Vice Chancellor Prof. Saket Kushwaha. He assured of all possible support of the State government in the process of the execution of the blueprint.
He said that the nature of the work to get the unsung heroes of Arunachal Pradesh 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 urged the research committee members to work as a team seamlessly without giving any scope for criticism in future.
The member of the Core Committee on Unsung Heroes of Arunachal Pradesh, Tai Tagak informed the house about his tour to various parts of the State wherever he is informed of the unsung heroes and visited various war memorials. He suggested the need to establish a Martyrs Memorial at Itanagar. He also mentioned the war heroes of Indo-Chinese war of 1962 where many Arunachalee jawans were martyred on the line of duty, there are also many porters who volunteered to aid the Indian soldiers during the wartime. Such heroes should also find a place for the recognition which can be included in 50 years celebration.
Research Scholar Nepha Wangsa, while sharing his work experience informed that he was doing the research work since the year 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.
Vice Chancellor RGU Prof Saket Kushwaha, informed that the University with the Nodal department ‘History’ is making their best effort to execute the work and have toured the State to collect information from various sources and community-based organisations. The university taking this privilege is making a sincere effort to complete the task.
Prof Ashan Riddi presented a PPT on work progress and field visits carried out by the research subcommittee for research works in various districts of the state. He also presented a timeline of the research subcommittee and said that the submission of the final Report to the core committee on unsung heroes will be done in June 2022.
The members present have expressed their gratitude to the State Govt for initiating recognition of the war/unsung heroes which is the need of the hour.
Among others, Prof Saket Kushwaha, Vice-Chancellor Rajiv Gandhi University, Dani Salu Member Secretary Unsung Heroes of Arunachal Pradesh, Dr N T Rikam, Registrar RGU, Dr Bijay Raji, Controller of examination, Prof Tana Showren Professor Department of History, Prof Shyam Narayan Singh, Prof Nabam Nakha Hina Department of Political Science, Prof Jumyir Basar AITS, and Dr Wanglit Mongchan Assistant professor, AITS also expressed their views and actively participated in the meeting.
