Imphal Peace Museum commemorates third anniversary

A centerpiece of the anniversary event was the premiere of video testimonies of people who experienced the Battle of Imphal in Manipur and the Battle of Kohima in Nagaland. Documentary filmmaker Sesino Yhoshü and independent researcher Thingnam Anjulika Samom collected more than 150 firsthand accounts as part of this initiative, supported by SPF and The Nippon Foundation, ensuring these stories will not be lost to time.

For Ms. Sesino, the experience allowed her to reflect on the importance of preserving narratives about the region in order to center the local community perceptive within history. “This generation that grew up with more focus on what the world is doing – learning the ABCs and how to speak English – and less focus on us,” she explained. Through this project, she and her team were able to capture “new narratives, which are not written in books and are not being told or passed on. That is something that is really precious.”

Ms. Anjulika noted that the collaboration uniting the neighboring states of Manipur and Nagaland provided an opportunity to reach across state lines and find commonalities between experiences. “The fact that those two stories came together, it’s like learning that there are two sides to a coin, and bringing these two narratives [from Imphal and Kohima] together, the coin becomes whole,” explained Ms. Anjulika. “What’s happening in Manipur might be different than what’s happening in Kohima, but when you hear those two stories together, the story becomes balanced.”

In the future, the video testimonies will be added to the collection in the Imphal Peace Museum to be screened in an audio-visual room. This addition comes as part of broader plans to run the facility as a “living museum” by updating the exhibits, including integrating donations of new artifacts from the local community, according to Museum Director Shri Haobam Joyremba.
 
“I think this is a very important chapter or period of time where we are still able to find some people who have witnessed the war and are able to narrate their stories,” said Mr. Joyremba. “The new videos that are coming up are going to be a great asset not only for the museum, but for the whole of the state and all of humanity.”