Over one and a half million Indian soldiers fought in the First World War, the largest volunteer army from Britain’s imperial dominions. Many soldiers were illiterate and travelled from remote villages in India to fight in the muddy trenches in France and Flanders, and in all the theatres of war.
To write this account of the Indian soldiers on the Western front between 1914 and 1918, the journalist and writer Shrabani Basu accessed the thousands of letters and records to tell the stories of the Hindus, Muslims and Sikh soldiers whose contributions to the war effort have largely been forgotten. In the introduction of the book, Basu writes that the first casualties of the War were not on the Western Front, but on the coast of Chennai (then Madras) where the German ship, SMS Emden, fired 130 shells, killing five soldiers, injuring 13 and causing widespread panic. “So powerful was the effect of the bombing of Madras,” writes Basu, “that the word ‘emden’ entered the Tamil lexicon meaning a ‘person who dares and works with precision.’”
In the excerpt that follows, Basu narrates the story of Maulvi Sadr-ud-Din in 1913, whose displeasure at the treatment of the bodies of the Muslim troops brought about efforts to inter the dead in accordance with their religious beliefs.
Sadr-ud-Din had been requested by the government to bury the Muslim soldiers who died in the hospitals in England. When he consented to do this, the letter was sent to the Viceroy and much publicity given in India to the fact that Muslims would be buried with full religious rites by the Imam of the mosque. Initially the burial ground at Netley Hospital was offered to him, but the Maulvi felt that it was not right for Muslims to be buried in a Christian cemetery. It would also be inconvenient for visitors as they would need the permission of the War Office to visit the burial grounds. Furthermore, as there were six hospitals in the area, it would not be possible for him to go from Woking to the various hospitals to carry out the burials. He had therefore requested that the Muslim soldiers be buried in grounds near the mosque at Woking. It caused a great controversy but ultimately a plot of land was procured. However, the Maulvi, was not satisfied:
I then asked the government whether they would not (1) rail in the cemetery (2) make paths in the ground (3) provide a gravedigger (4) provide a caretaker (5) provide some place where the bodies should be left for the night (6) provide a decent waiting room (7) erect a gateway in Eastern style – however inexpensive – as a Memorial to the fallen Indian soldiers.
At first the government blankly refused to do anything, and many months went past. I could not bury the dead soldiers in the marshy piece of unfenced ground over which people and dogs could stray. Therefore I buried twenty-five of them in the Mahomedan burial ground at Brookwook at my own expense. This is now full, and I have already buried three in the new burial place, but though it is fenced in, it is in such a disgraceful state that it would not be policy to allow the Indian soldiers to go and see the burial place of their comrades. They have frequently asked, but I have had to put them off because – being a loyal subject of His Majesty – I did not desire to raise the resentment which for king and another country must inevitably be felt when the truth becomes known of the manner in which the British government have treated their dead heroes.
I have had bodies sent to me bearing the wrong names, bodies sent without any flowers; bodies sent to me at any hour of the day or night without any previous notice, and no respect shown for them whatever – not even any military demonstration at their graves.
I desire to point out to the government the very grave danger of allowing the impression to gain ground in India that England is not showing sufficient respect to the memories of her Indian heroes.
I need not enlarge upon the very serious effect which an exposure of this kind would make, both among the soldiers at the front, and the entire population throughout India.
COMMENT