Neglect and Decay: World War II Cemetery in Arunachal Pradesh's Changlang District in Deplorable State

TINSUKIA: The World War II cemetery located at 7 km from Jairampur town under Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh on the road towards Pangsau Pass in Indo-Myanmar (erstwhile Burma) border is in deplorable state as thick bushes and trees damaged most of the graves due to perennial neglect of concerned authorities even as some construction works like plaque and pavement leading to the graveyard are being presently undertaken. The cemetery spread over 3 acres is one of the largest WW-II cemeteries in North East India.

A Delhi based traveller, PK Prabhakaran, reported that he was shocked to see the condition of the graveyard. It is an utter disrespect and dishonour to the soldiers of the Allied forces, Prabhakaran stated adding that the cemetery needed an urgent national and international attention. This cemetery was well-maintained even a decade earlier attracting a large number of tourists and family members of the buried soldiers. Renovation of this cemetery would be a herculean task to bring back its glory and heritage. Presently inscription atop the graves have disappeared leaving no opportunity to identify the soldiers, notwithstanding, if record persisted in nearby cemetery museum. The museum was locked besides the site has turned out to be a heaven for antisocial as liquor bottles, cans and plastic bottles were all strewed around. The plaque of memorial inscribed “The Stilwell Road project was not mere an engineering feat but a saga of valour, grit and determination. The memorial is dedicated to the officers and men who gave their lives that Stilwell Road be accomplished.”

The present state of affair is an irony and shame for all. Though the cemetery existed since World War II, it was in early the 90s that the Assam Rifles stumbles upon the ruins of a large burial ground with more than 1000 graves of the Allied soldiers comprising of African, American, Kachins, Indian and British who died in building the longest road of WW-II on China-Burma-India, the “Man A Mile Road” and later named as the famous Stilwell Road to facilitate as an alternative route for transportation of fuel from Calcutta (presently Kolkata) to Burma (presently Myanmar) to carry out massive civilian exodus in 1942 after the fall of Burma. It is said that most of the Allied soldiers buried there did not die of enemy bullets but of malaria, dysentery, snake bites, accidents and natural calamities while constructing the 1726 km long road in an inaccessible terrain from Ledu in Tinsukia district to Kunming in China.

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