UK Defence Secretary Honours Indian Soldiers Who Fought in World War 1

New Delhi: For eight generations, the family of Colonel Amar Singh Sawant has been fighting wars, first for the British and then later for the Army of independent India, an incredible record by any standard, anywhere in the world.

NDTV met the eighth generation officer and several other war veterans at a ceremony at the residence of the British High Commissioner in Delhi. The veterans had turned up to honour Indian soldiers who have never really been honoured by independent India - soldiers who fought 100 years ago in one of the most hostile wars of all time - the First World War.

For decades, the memory of these soldiers has all but been forgotten.

India Gate, where soldiers who have fought for independent India are honoured, was in fact built by the British in honour of Indians killed in World War 1.

74,000 Indians were killed in the First World War. That is more casualties than the combined death toll of all the wars fought by independent India. And yet, for decades, the role of these men has been relegated to an occasional mention in mainstream history texts.

11 lakh Indian men, the largest volunteer force in military history at the time, participated in World War 1, fighting in treacherous conditions in Western Europe, Mesopotamia and East Africa. Indian soldiers, in fact, have the unfortunate distinction of being among the first victims of chemical gas attacks in the history of warfare - On the Ypres front in Flanders fields in Belgium, Indian jawans were asked to urinate into their turbans to protect themselves from the mysterious low hanging cloud that drifted their way. This was chlorine gas. And the men at the receiving end died a miserable death.

Today, 100 years later, there is a sense of hope. A sense that history can be ignored, but history cannot be changed. Which is why, the honour bestowed upon our men by the British government is a timely reminder that we need to move beyond the argument that these men fought someone else's war and were, therefore, mercenaries.

In fact, even a cursory reading of the politics of the independence struggle at the time reveals an all-together different picture. There was almost unanimous consent that these men were fighting for the right side and that their contribution would be a contribution towards the eventual independence of India. Alas, that happened several decades later. But the memory of these men is eternal and the stories of how lakhs of soldiers crossed the 'kala pani' to embark on the adventure of their lives needs to be told, over and over again.

"We must not and we will not ever forget the enormous service rendered by India's heroes. More than a million Indians fought in every theater of that first World War conflict from Aden to Asia, from Palestine to Persia, from the Gulf of Oman to Gallipoli and their courage is, I think, all the more remarkable for being entirely voluntarily. Not a single Indian was conscripted," said British Defence Minister Michael Fallon.

Finally, there was an admission today that something needed to be done to set the record straight. Moved by the sterling address of the British Defence Minister, whose father served with Indian troops in the War, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley made a profound announcement, one that needed to have been made decades ago. There needs to be a structured history of the Armed Forces in India, a history that doesn't limit itself to the role played by our soldiers in independent India.

For the moment, it's time to reflect on the role of Indians fighting thousands of kilometres away from their homes battling unbelievable hardships a hundred years ago. Today, the British reminded us of that past. It's time for us to take pride in the experiences of these men. Yes, India as an independent nation didn't exist at the time. But the idea of India was well and alive. And these men were Indian soldiers. Their memory has to be honoured.