Cast From The Past: Indians who died protecting France during first World War

Over a century ago, Sepoy Kapur Singh of 69th Punjabis regiment of erstwhile British Indian Army left his home in Ambala town innorthern India. Sepoy Kapur, husband of Asa Dai, did not return home. Like Sepoy Kapur Singh, Rifleman Deb Sing Bisht of 39th Garhwal Rifles from Chamoli town of present-day Uttarakhand did not return home either.

Rifleman Deb Sing Bisht's memorial stone at Neuville-Sous-Montreuil Indian Cemetery,in Pas-de-Calais, France | Commonwealth War Grave Commission

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Sepoy Kapur Singh andRifleman Deb Singh Bisht themselves lived under colonial rule. But on French land during the first world war, they fought to keep democratic values of Equality, Liberty and Fraternity alive — laying their lives for the modern democratic values alien to their homeland at the time.

One of the seminal pictures of World War-Iis that of a French woman greeting Indian Sikh soldiers in Paris in 1916 at a site not far from Bastille Day's Celebrations on July 14, 2023 where India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the guest of honour | Toor Collection

About 1.4 million Indian soldiers served during World War-I, of which 1,40,000 battled in the north of France and Belgium. Over 74,000 soldiers from the Indian subcontinent laid their lives during the five-year period between 1914 to 1919, of which 7,000 were killed on their line of duties in France and Belgium – paying the ultimate price in a foreign, unknown land.

After India’s freedom from the British, while the centre of power in New Delhi came to be symbolised by the monumental sandstone arch built by the British in the memory of troops who died in the first world war, in France – until recently – the mainstream awareness about Indians who died protecting French lands during the first world war was scarce.

This has changed in recent years.

India Gate,originally called All-India War Memorial, is a sandstone arch in New Delhi, dedicated to the troops of British India who laid their lives during first world war | AFP

At a war memorial of Neuve-Chapelle, in the north of France, the names of fallen soldiers hint upon their Indian origins – just like the ones whose names are engraved on India Gate.

Commemorative ceremonies are now held to honour the sacrifices made by the Indians who died while saving France from falling into German hands.

For the last three decades, Ramesh Chander Vohra, 75, founder and president of Interfaith Shaheedi Commemoration Association (IFSC) has been spending his savings and later his pension funds to commemorate the sacrifices of Indians who died protecting France in the twentieth century.

In the 2010s, the governments of France, the United States and various European countries planned numerous military ceremonies to celebrate the centenary of victory in the former battlefields of first world war. The Indian soldiers were the great forgotten in these ceremonies, Vohra noted.

On August 30, 2015, Vohra organised an interfaith prayer at the Neuve-Chapelle Indian Memorial site, attended by over a dozen local mayors.

Vedic mantras, verses from the Koran, Shabads of Shri Granth Sahib and Christian psalms werechanted in for the peace of departed souls of the Indian soldiers of diverse religious backgrounds.

Ramesh Chandra Vohra (Centre) during the interfaith prayer at the Neuve-Chapelle Indian Memorial site on August 30, 2015 | By special arrangement

"The French culture as a whole recognises and respects their contributions, fostering a sense of gratitude and remembrance," Vohra told WION.

"I have even purchased land next to the Neuve Chapelle monument and aim to put up a statue in the memory of their gallant contribution," he added.

On Friday, 107 years after they first marched on French streets during a victory parade after saving France from falling into German hands, the Indian troops marched into Paris again.

The Indian tri-services contingent added spectacle to Bastille Day Parade, marching down the tree-lined Champs-Elysee avenue, wowing the crowd in the French capital — Ramesh Chandra Vohra one among them.

According to historian-filmmaker Vijay Singh's 2016-film 'Farewell My Indian Soldier', the letters sent home by Indian soldiers were full of praises for the French.For the French people in Somme region, the Indian battalions were perceived as liberators who had left their tropical country to face the cold fortheir aid.

A soldier's letter was quoted as saying by an article authored by Singh for The Indian Express in 2019: "Over here, marriage is never under 18 and by consent of both the parties. No man can beat his wife. This injustice happens only in India! Man and woman live together in harmony."

Another soldier noted that French girls came out on streets when Indian cavalrymen were trasferred out of a village. A placard read: "Indian soldiers are departing. Mademoiselle France pleure! Miss France is in tears!"

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