| caption: |
British Colonial administration in the Naga Hills |
| caption: |
Naga view of independence |
| text: |
Although it was not clear what the future held for us, I myself was determined to return to India before Independence so as to share the new and exciting posting. I settled the children in boarding schools and set off for Mokokchung in June 1947. On arriving I at once started to keep a diary. On returning to England it seemed to me that this diary perhaps gave an unusual view of India at a significant moment, just before and just after the transfer of power. Most people in England saw this phase of history from the point of view of Delhi and those areas where there was trouble - the NorthWest Frontier Province, the Punjab, and Calcutta. They did not see it from the point of view of the remote districts nor did they see how it affected the life of the ordinary villager. This diary may therefore be of some interest in viewing the transfer of power from an odd and unusual angle. For most of India 15 August was a day of rejoicing, of freedom from a hated foreign domination, but in the Naga Hills it was a day of consternation for there British rule was still respected while Indians were suspected and disliked. |
