Tomes have been written on Winston Churchill’s dislike for India and Indians. Yet we know very little about his cold relationship with the Indian Army and its officers, British and Indian alike. Some scholars have argued that India’s military contribution to the British war effort in both world wars was forgotten because Churchill wrote it off. It was ironic, therefore, that 100 years after the First World War, the Indian Army’s significant role was acknowledged and remembered in the House of Commons’ members-only Churchill Room, right under the bust of the man who had once said, “I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion.”
The event held on the eve of Armistice Day had an eclectic mix of British politicians, armed forces personnel, schoolchildren, NRIs and members of the Sikh community as well as descendants of both Indian and British WWI soldiers. The congregation also had a company of re-enactment soldiers dressed as troops of the 15th Ludhiana Sikh Regiment, one of the first Indian Army troops to set foot on European soil in 1914. They all came together to pay glowing tributes to the Sikhs and the wider Indian Army for their pivotal role in the British war effort in the Great War.
It was hosted by Wolverhampton South West MP Paul Uppal in conjunction with the UK Punjab Heritage Association (UKPHA), a body that has been at the forefront of spreading awareness in the UK about the forgotten Sikh contribution through their much-acclaimed exhibition, ‘Empire, Faith and War’, held in London earlier this year. The exhibition, according to the British High Commission, is set to travel to Punjab next year.
Speaking on the occasion, Labour Frontbench spokesperson and MP for Wolverhampton South East, Pat McFadden appreciated the Sikhs for their exemplary role. “As an MP representing a constituency with a large Sikh population, I know this anniversary is of huge importance to the Sikh community today. It is a source of pride and of course of reflection on the many young lives cut short by war. Of what they gave and of the futures they may have had. For our tomorrow they did give their today. We honour their memory, their sacrifice and the brave record of the Sikh contribution to WWI,” McFadden said.
In terms of numbers, the Sikh contribution was disproportionately great: they formed 20% of the Indian Army even though they were only 1% of the Indian population in 1914. “Around 1,30,000 Sikhs served in WWI – around as many Sikhs as currently reside within Greater London. One in six men in the British Empire forces was from India. And India’s war, and that of the Sikhs, was not confined to Europe and Basra – it extended to East Africa, Palestine, Egypt, NWFP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in modern-day Pakistan) and as far as China… This is at the heart of commemoration – to create a change in the collective memory of Britons to recognize, acknowledge and commemorate the role of India in the world war,” said UKPHA chair Amandeep Madra.
Ian Henderson, grandson of Captain Henderson, seen with the great, great grandson of Manta Singh. In the battle of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915, Manta Singh had died saving Henderson. (Photo credit: Raj Gedhu)
The keynote speech was given by cabinet minister, the Right Honourable Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, British government. A UKPHA press release said that Lord Indarjit Singh CBE “spoke eloquently about the Sikh wartime heroics while Major General Nitsch OBE of the British Army added his praise and thanks and quoted from the Great War poem ‘Harnam Singh’ penned by the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Corps on the Western Front, General Sir James Willcocks, and noted how Sikhs continue to serve in today’s British Army”.
The event ended with the rendition of a haunting WWI Punjabi song of separation, gallantry, loss and longing, as also the Last Post that was played, perhaps for the first time, on the dilruba. The organizers called the performance stunning.
Jasdeep Singh (dilruba), Amanroop Kaur (vocals) and Harleen Singh (tabla) perform a WWI Punjabi song of separation.