Inside Kolkata’s Fort William, a military museum that tells many stories—from colonial Bengal to India-Pak War of 1971
It was two years ago that Sekhar Chakrabarti first visited the Indian Army’s Command Museum in Fort William in Kolkata. An author and vexillologist, it was Chakrabarti’s interest in military history and the flags on display at the museum that drew him to Fort William. The septuagenarian recalls that October day in 2022 vividly. “I am nearing 80 but I still remember it. Something interesting happened. That day, a war veteran of the 1971 war was also visiting the museum,” says Chakrabarti.
The veteran was Major General Ian Cardozo AVSM SM (Retd.), whose battalion, the 4/5 Gorkha Rifles, was deployed in what is now Bangladesh during the country’s Liberation War. The meeting that occurred by happenstance resulted in Cardozo reminiscing about the war as the two went through the museum’s galleries.
This year, on Vijay Diwas on December 16, Fort William will witness a series of events to commemorate India’s victory over Pakistan, leading to the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. And though there was initial speculation that the deterioration in India-Bangladesh relations would mean that the Mukti Jodhas, Bangladesh freedom fighters who fought against Pakistan for their freedom, would skip the annual event, the Eastern Command in Kolkata has confirmed the participation of 10-12 veterans in this year’s commemorations.
From an ammunition storage dump to a military museum
Fort William’s Command Museum is the only one of its kind in West Bengal that documents the origins of the 328-year-old British-built fort, the early days of Calcutta, and the three major wars that the Armed Forces’ Eastern Command has witnessed: the Second World War, the India-China War of 1962, and the India-Pakistan War of 1971.
While the museum was first established in 2018, it was rarely opened for civilians and public access was available only in 2022. Even today, not many in Kolkata are aware of its existence. But this less well-known museum in the city serves as one of few institutions that documents the history of the Eastern Command, particularly its important role during the India-Pakistan War of 1971.
“The Eastern Command led the war in 1971. It was integral in all operations during the eastern theatre of the war,” said an Indian Armed Forces personnel, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to comment.
Over the years, particularly post Covid in 2020, the museum has expanded its collection to highlight not only the Eastern Command’s role in the 1971 War but also other important wars that it contributed to.
The ground-floor building that houses the museum was once an ammunition storage dump when the fort was still controlled by the British in pre-Independence India. “In order to preserve the ordnance used during that time, we have a weapons gallery adjacent to the museum,” the PRO, Ministry of Defence, Kolkata, told indianexpress.com.
Photos to flags: Chronicling a slice of history
Fort William occupies an area of approximately 177.42 acres in Kolkata and has an octagonal shape with five sides towards land and three sides towards the Hooghly River. In 1963, the Indian Army’s Eastern Command was shifted from Lucknow to Fort William.
There are six galleries in the museum that document major turning points in the history of Fort William and the Eastern Command. According to a response from the PRO, Ministry of Defence, Kolkata, while “renowned scholars” have contributed to the research that went into the assembling of the galleries, much of the information displayed in the museum on the early days of the fort has been obtained from the 1995 book Fort William: A Historical Perspective, authored by Bhaskar Chakrabarty, Basudeb Chattopadhyay and Suranjan Das.
While the first gallery is dedicated to the history of Fort William during pre-Independence India, the next focuses on the armed forces during the Second World War (1935-1945). In his 2019 book Calcutta Under Fire, David Lockwood writes, “Calcutta served as an industrial centre, a port and a transit point for troops moving up to fight the Japanese in Malaya and then in Burma. It was a city of considerable strategic importance to the allies.” Therefore, one section of the museum is dedicated to the Second World War.
The next gallery focuses on the India-China War of 1962 that centred around the Aksai Chin region. The fifth gallery focuses extensively on the India-Pakistan War of 1971. Here, in addition to archival photographs, the museum also houses some artefacts captured from the Pakistani Army during the war as well as regimental flags.
One of the most striking displays in the 1971 gallery is a large flag that once belonged to 18 Punjab of the Pakistan Army, which was brought to India after it was captured by the Indian Army in Jessore. Like all captured flags, including regimental flags, that belonged to various battalions of the Pakistani Army during the 1971 war, these have been displayed upside down, following flag etiquette.
“After war, captured flags are displayed upside down to show that the flag was captured by the victor. I enjoyed the displays and the write-ups because often the exhibits do not have good texts,” says Chakrabarti.
The Command Museum’s 1971 gallery is important from an archival perspective because it documents pivotal occurrences in the 13-day war and the people who contributed to it. The 1971 gallery also pays tribute to the Mukti Bahini which comprised military and paramilitary personnel and civilians who fought for the liberation of Bangladesh
Although the gallery displays only important moments during the 1971 war as part of its permanent exhibit, the Eastern Command’s wider collection of archival photographs is shown at the annual Vijay Diwas commemorations. These include a fascinating collection of photos and declassified maps, featuring several aspects of the war— from pictures of the Mukti Bahini receiving weapons training to photographs of Bangladesh’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Repository of the past
The museum is also an important resource for researchers and scholars focusing on military history, says Manas Dutta, Assistant Professor at Aliah University’s Department of History, whose area of research covers issues related to war and conflict in South Asia. “The Eastern Command played a pivotal role during the India-Pakistan War of 1971. Museums like the Command Museum need to be opened for the public as well as researchers who are working on the military history of South Asia and India, in particular, as this will generate interest among generations of people across gender and class,” says Dutta, who has made previous visits to Fort William for his research.
The museum may also serve to connect with the wider public, he believes. “Civil-military relations could be enhanced by opening such museums and this will generate greater cohesion between these two stakeholders for better understanding. Academic institutions should connect with such museums to generate interest among scholars and common people towards war studies or war and genocide studies in general,” says Dutta.
In September this year, when 21-year-old Rohit Mondal, who recently graduated from Dum Dum Motijheel Rabindra Mahavidyalaya, visited the Command Museum with a large group of friends, it seemed to him as though “the 1971 Liberation War came alive” in front of him. For Mondal, the museum was an accessible space where he could learn more about the history of the Bangladesh Liberation War.
“There may be some museums dedicated to guns and artillery, but the one at Fort William is a war museum and we do not have this anywhere else in the state,” says Chakrabarti.
Source : Indianexpress
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