A grave war story in Kohima

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Death is a powerful equalizer. Kohima war cemetery is one of the most powerful reminders of this fact as you wander among graves thinking of men who died fighting each other in an alien land..... "The seas may roll between us; you are still in our memory dear"- Mum, Dad, Bill. Engraved on Lance Corporal GS Mead's tombstone at Kohima War Cemetery. Mead at 22 was perhaps no different from others of his age, he had a family who loved him and cherished dreams for his future. But those were the times of war, which made soldiers out of men and Corporal Mead fell fighting the Battle of Kohima, one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War. Mead and his fellows had stalled the Japanese advance into India and changed the course of the Second World War paying the highest possible....

Clear And Present Danger

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The latest strike by Maoist at Kakarvitta in Nepal was just a few kilometers away from Siliguri in North Bengal. Clearly the theater has shifted much nearer to India. Not that North Bengal and Sikkim were so far untouched by the 'red tide' ( reports say Maoists routinely infiltrate India through Bihar and Siliguri corridor) but this attack near India's border could have deeper implications. And there many questions to answer. Will the Maoist movement limit itself to Nepal? Maoism by all means is an ideology and there sympathizers on this side as well. Working in North Bengal and Sikkim, we often discussed how the Maoist insurgents could actually use North Bengal if they wanted to for their activities given the geopolitical conditions in the region. People on our side of the border may not appear as desperate as those on the other side. Nepal has been....