Eighty years ago today, on Sept. 2, 1945, on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, the Allied powers gathered to witness the surrender of Imperial Japan, ending World War II.
Generals and admirals from the United States were joined by representatives from China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
Missing were representatives of an army that saw 2.5 million volunteers fight the Axis powers from the jungles of Burma to the deserts of North Africa to the mountains of Italy. By the time the guns fell silent, 87,000 of those volunteer soldiers were either killed or wounded.
That army was comprised of Indians fighting under the British flag. Historians reflect that this extraordinary army of liberation may have been one of the most multinational forces in military history. It certainly appeared to be the largest all volunteer force.
With a large, vibrant, Indian-American heritage community estimated at 700,000 and growing in the New York metro area, this milestone anniversary of the end of World War II should become the opportunity for our region to recognize the enormous contribution to freedom’s victory made by the grandfathers of many of our neighbors. Equally important, it is time for the region’s Indian community to reflect inward and finally recognize and embrace the World War II heroes within their own families.
Even a cursory engagement of NextGen members of our local Indian community reveals an ignorance of the events, personalities, and turning points of World War II. It mirrors the finding of an earlier high school survey conducted by the Museum of American Armor and the Long Island Council for the Social Studies last year where just under half of the students surveyed knew the significance of Dec. 7, 1941, when Japan launched its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
When one considers that the Japanese attack brought the United States into WWII, thus ensuring America’s industrial might combined with its considerable population would produce ultimate victory, the results of that survey are nothing less than chilling.
One suspects that fewer know that, despite being a relatively small percentage of India’s population, Sikhs made up a disproportionately large number of the volunteer soldiers in the British Indian Army. Their list of battle ribbons earned while fighting beside the Allies includes the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy, the fight for El Alamein in North Africa, and facing the Japanese in Imphal and Burma. All of these were critical battles that stopped the Axis powers from further victories.
The British Indian Army was disbanded two years after the Japanese surrender, many of its members becoming the core of the armed forces that would defend a newly independent India with a tradition of bravery and valor.
The Sikh heritage of courage in uniform is not unique to serving with the British, as here in the United States, Sikhs have faced challenges. In 2015, a college student and an aspiring Army officer at Hofstra University had to fight for the right to wear his religiously required beard and turban during his tenure as an ROTC cadet. His struggle placed before a federal judge the question of military regulations versus religious liberty. D.C. Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act protected Iknoor Singh’s right to follow the dictates of his faith.
At the time, she wrote, “Given the tens of thousands of exceptions the Army has already made to its grooming and uniform policies, its successful accommodation of observant Sikhs in the past, and the fact that, at this time, (Singh) is seeking only to enroll in the ROTC program, the Army’s refusal to permit him to do so while adhering to his faith cannot survive the strict scrutiny that RFRA demands.”
By January 2017, the Pentagon had issued new regulations stating that Sikh soldiers will not be forced to give up their religious turbans, hair, or beards throughout their military career. That ruling has only added strength and character to the U.S. military as Indian-Americans of Sikh heritage assume their rightful place in defending our nation.
While they were not invited to attend those V-J Day ceremonies on the main deck of the battleship Missouri, the Indian Army’s performance in World War II revealed exceptional courage, valor, and professionalism in countless battles. New York’s Indian community needs to pause along with their fellow Americans and observe a shared sacrifice in bringing World War II to a merciful close 80 years ago.
Kumar’s father served in the British Indian Army during WWII. Dhaliwal is an associate board member of the Museum of American Armor.
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