For once the North-Eastern region is hitting the headlines for right reasons. Otherwise the region perceived as a god-forshaken place grabs the headlines either for insurgency related violence or for natural calamities like floods in the mighty Brahmaputra or landslides. Development news, most of them often repeated, are pushed to inner pages for filling the space.

But this time with the war in Kargil the attention was focused on the North-Eastern region which incidentally has similar features. Hence, Central para- military forces and armed units deployed in the region began their march to Kargil. Both the Naga regiments, first and second, were deployed in the treacherous sector to take on the Pakistani Army. Specially the Nagas, who were known for their mountain skill and bravery took the enemies head on.

The Naga battalions and other jawans and officers from the North-Eastern region —— Assam, Manipur and Meghalaya belonging to other regiments fought a valiant battle. Many in the process lost their lives but made both the nation and the region proud.

So overwhelmed the people of the region, the funeral of the war heroes surpasses the record of great political leaders of the region who were legends even during their lifetime. When the body of Captain K. Clifford Nongrum arrived in Shillong for the last rites and placed in the famous parade ground, the crowd was huge. All were unanimous that the crowd were more than that at the funeral of famous Captain (Retd.) William Sangma, former chief minister of the State. This was in Shillong, where once the slogan used to be that we are Khasis by birth but Indian by accident.

Similar was the case with funeral of Lt. Neikezhakuo Kengurusie of Rajputana Rifles, who died in the Kargil war. It is a different matter that his grandfather could not come to Kohima to see his body since he is too old to climb up and down the mountain. But Nagaland never witnessed such a funeral since the passing away of legendary Phizo, eyewitnesses agreed.

The supreme sacrifices made by the jawans of the Naga Regiment and Nagas of other regiments first took the media by surprise. After all for long the Nagas have been described only as insurgents or head hunters. So much so was the lack of portrayal of the Naga heroes that Chief Minister S. C. Jamir made a complain about the same in the Chief Ministers’ Conference called earlier in Delhi to discuss the Kargil issue. Even the official media i.e. the Doordarshan failed to take note of the supreme sacrifices made by the officers and jawans of the Naga Regiment, he said.

Whether by the criticism of Mr. Jamir or otherwise, the media started highlighting the sacrifices made by the North-East soldiers. At least for once the news relating to NSCN factions were relegated to background.

Similar was the crowd when Captain Jintu Gogoi’s body landed in Guwahati from Delhi en route to his hometown in Jorhat district. But the scene of his finance drapped in a white shalwarkameez touched everybody’s heart. She was the sweetheart of the Captain from the school days. But instead of wearing bridal dress, she was drapped in white dress like a widow —— even before the marriage.

The reaction of the parents and the fellow villagers to the supreme sacrifices of their heroes was no different from those in the so-called mainland. All of them wanted to send their sons to the battlefield unmindful of the fatal consequences. Even the grandfather of Neike was of similar sentiment. Incidentally the 83-year-old man in his lifetime has seen the Japanese invasion.