GUWAHATI: Nagaland chief minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu on Friday unveiled a monolith in Kohima dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Naga Labour Corps joining the British force in France and North African battlefronts in World War I. It was about 2000 of these Naga men, who on return to the state, formed a socio-political association called 'Naga Club' in 1918, that later laid the foundations of the movement for self-determination by the Nagas which continues till date.When the Simon Commission came to Kohima in January 1929, the club submitted a memorandum to it stating that the state should be left alone to decide and shape their own future, thus laying the seeds of this long struggle.Liezietsu, while unveiling the monolith, said, "The Naga Labour Corps created history for our present and for our better future. Let us never forget them for generations to come."Reading out from the engraving on the monolith, he went on, "Forever grateful to the Naga Labour Corps for the foundation they laid for the everlasting friendship and unity of the Nagas".The chief minister's office stated that on April 21, 1917, the first batch of the Naga Labour Corps set sail for Europe to take part in the war."One can hardly imagine the feelings that the Naga Labour Corps must have felt, leaving their homeland for the first time and crossing oceans to distant lands fighting for the Crown. Certainly it was not India's war and it was definitely not the Nagas' war but the Naga Labour Corps' participation and the bravery they exhibited during their battles in Europe and elsewhere would have ramifications much beyond the intended," the CM said in his speech.According to written documents, the Naga Labour Corps arrived in France in two main groups (688 men on 21 June 1917, and 992 men on 2 July 1917).The Naga Labour Corps were formed in the Naga hills under the command of deputy commissioner Herbert Charles Barnes. To avoid confusion with other Indian Labour Corps units serving in Mesopotamia at that time, these companies were numbered as the 35th , 36th , 37th and 38th (Naga) Labour Companies. The men of the Naga Labour Corps worked in various places around France on salvage work, road repair and other duties."Men who returned from France formed a socio-political association called the Naga Club with branches in Kohima and Mokokchung immediately after their return in 1918. This was the association that later in 1929 submitted a representation to the Simon Commission and conveyed to them the right of choice of self-determination of the Nagas when the British left India," the CM said.Liezietsu said that the state government has decided to build a memorial in honour of the Naga Labour Corps in Kohima and a memorial park around this hilltop to appropriately mark the 100th anniversary.

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