SHILLONG: A documentary, Because we did not Choose, will be screened at Khasi National Dorbar Hall, Mawkhar on December 8 to showcase the involvement of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo labourers in the First World War.
Addressing reporters on Thursday, the director of the 92-minute documentary, Wanphrang K. Diengdoh, said, “The film took over four years to make. I’ve researched from various documents outside the country as well.”
He informed that he did his research from the documents available in British libraries, from the archives in New Delhi, Kolkata, Wales and France and from private collections.
Opening the pages of history of WWI in which people of the state took part in the war in France and Mesopotamia, Diengdoh said, “They were working class people and not soldiers. They were the ones who opened the doors of working class thinking.”
Informing that they were taken by the British government along with Welsh Presbyterian missionaries to fight in the war, he said, “They would sing songs, write prose, poetry during their journey there.”
According to Diengdoh, the journey of labourers to take part in the wars in France and Mesopotamia hundred years ago marks the largest movement of people from our state.
“There is a need to commemorate them as till date this is the largest movement of people from the state at any given point of time. Hundred years have passed and it is sad that we don’t remember or understand their sacrifice as labourers in the battlefield,” he said.
He said in his efforts to unearth more information in different parts of the country to seek information about their graves, he found there were no graves and memorials for the labourers.
“It is only in Motphran, Jowai and Garo Hills that we find monuments,” he said.
He expressed concern that in the present generation, people don’t explore and dig deep into research as to why such monuments are erected in such places.
In their journey to a different place, Diengdoh said they encountered people from different communities. In his research he found a seven-page letter written by one of the leaders of the labourers from War-Jaintia of Sohkha and sent to the extra assistant commissioner.
Stating that the person wrote in “immaculate, pristine English, he said “He wrote on the burden of taxation in Jaintia Hills.”
Diengdoh also spoke of the relevance of industrial revolution that made an impact on the ways of living of the Khasis other than bringing a transformation in the world.
“The film also shows how the changes in Europe and America made an impact which thereafter shaped the political conscience of the Khasis,” he added.
Referring to the historical importance of the documentary, Diengdoh said, “A signature campaign will be held for the inclusion of the history of 26th Khasi Labour Corps in the School and College curriculum.”
In this connection, he has petitioned chief minister Mukul Sangma for the same. “This part of their journey might fade away from the pages of history and it is our responsibility to include this in the curriculum of schools and colleges,” he added.
He informed that the film was produced by Reddur Production and Goethe Institute, Commonwealth War Graves Commission as well as the arts and culture department of the state government.
The documentary has been screened in other parts of the country and London, and for Diengdoh, the feedback that he received gave an impetus to make films which focus on the society.
