The 71st anniversary of the ‘Battle of Imphal’ was recently celebrated in Manipur as a part of a larger campaign to preserve the sites of historical importance and promote itself as a world tourism site.
Manipur was the site for one of the most historic battles during the World War-II, termed as the ‘Battle of Imphal’ that took place in 1944.
As a part of a sustained effort to make Manipur a war-tourism hub, a number of organisations like Manipur Tourism Forum and Second World War Imphal Campaign have been working towards preserving the heritage and harnessing the tourism potential of the state.
Recently, in order to commemorate the 71st anniversary of the Battle of Imphal, the 2nd World War Imphal Campaign Foundation, in association with Manipur Tourism Forum organized the “Battle of Red Hill” programme at Maibam Lotpa Ching.
Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh graced the occasion as the Chief Guest along with Ambassador of Japan to India Takeshi Yagi, and Australian High Commissioner to India Patrick Suckling.
The visitors paid floral tributes to those killed in the battle at the India Peace Memorial.
“First and foremost, let me pay my greatest tributes to and pray for all those, regardless of nationality, who have fought and fallen in the battle of Imphal, although 71 years have passed, the name of Imphal is deeply written in the mind of the Japanese. In fact Japanese groups still make memorial pilgrimage to Manipur every year,” said Takeshi Yagi, Ambassador of Japan to India.
Co-Founder of the Second World War Imphal Campaign Foundation,
Rajeshwor Singh, said there are plans to develop the battle sites into a heritage tourist centre.
“We need to make a lot of research in identifying various locations including the Victoria Cross locations and we think that memorial plaque in all of the major battle field should be erected so that in future course of time it will become a major tourist attraction. Regarding our future course of action, we are planning for more research on each battle field sites. And definitely we are coming up with a proper museum,” said Rajeshwor Singh.
Manipur has at present developed two World War cemeteries and a memorial complex that attracts many tourists.
Preserving and developing the battle sites and promoting the World War II memorials has a huge scope for attracting tourists from all over the world into the state. (ANI)