Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan on Friday said work is underway to virtually link the various military museums to one e-platform under a project that aims to spread awareness about India’s glorious military heritage.
In his keynote address at the inaugural ceremony of the second edition of the Indian Military Heritage Festival here, the CDS also pitched for creating military fiction work that combines literary fiction with military events of the past to make them more accessible to the masses.
“We, in the armed forces, with an intent to spread awareness of our glorious history and heritage, have initiated a project of e-linking of our military museums. We already e-linked about eight-ten of these military museums, and shortly we are going to e-link all 47-48 military museums. So, they will be available at one site, you need not have to go there,” General Chauhan said.
The CDS said, “We are also thinking of e-linking all the war museums” to a national platform, so that it would be available to people, who wish to visit these sites virtually.
Similarly, to familiarise people with military valour, a hybrid model has been adopted for “battlefield tourism”, he added.
“This includes online links of various battlefields where the armed forces have fought, and actual field tours of those battlefields will also be organised for those wanting further information on the exploits of the Indians armed forces in theses theatres of war,” the CDS said.
The event also witnessed the launch of Project ‘Shaurya Gatha’ which is an initiative of the Department of Military Affairs and think-tank USI. The project aims to conserve and promote India’s military heritage through education and tourism, it said.
The festival aims to engage global and Indian think-tanks, corporations, public and private sector undertakings, non-profit organisations, academicians, and research scholars focusing on India’s national security, foreign policy, military history and military heritage.
The CDS, underscoring the import of art in war said, the British not only practised the art of war but also patronised art works related to war.
“Sir Stanley Spencer served as an official war artist in World War 1 and World War 2. His works depicted daily lives of soldiers and emotional toils of the war,” he said.
The British in India had also developed a company school of painting that depicted daily and military lives.
The CDS also recalled the contribution made by Col Arul Raj, whose paintings adorn the walls of military establishments from the South Block to Manekshaw Centre.
Perhaps, there is a need to create a catalogue or organise a retrospective exhibition of his art works, he said.
The CDS further emphasised that military literature plays a significant role in preserving and interpreting experiences, values and ethos of the military.
Poetry and prose, each offer a unique insight into the military experience, he said.
“What I think is missing is the military fiction or the art fiction part of it. When I was very young, I remember authors like Manohar Malgaonkar and his books like ‘Distant Drum’, ‘A Combat of Shadows’, ‘Spy in Amber’, where he combines military historical events along with fiction to make it easily readable for the ordinary audience, or the citizens. That I think is missing in the Indian context and we need to do more about it,” the CDS said.
