Arunachal festival renews push to honour unsung builders of Stilwell Road

The concluding day of the 10th Pangsau Pass International Festival at Nampong turned attention to an unresolved chapter of Arunachal Pradesh’s wartime history, with a renewed call to formally recognise local communities who built and sustained the historic Stilwell Road during the Second World War.

 

Addressing the gathering, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein said communities from across the region — including Singphos, Tangsas, Tai Khamtis, Tikhaks, Abhors (now known as Adis) and Nagas — played a critical role in constructing the Stilwell Road, also known as the Ledo Road. They served as suppliers, guides, porters and labourers, enabling Allied forces to maintain supply lines under “extreme conditions”.

 

Many lost their lives to malaria, typhoid and dysentery, while others died navigating harsh terrain or due to wartime violence during World War II, Mein said. He stressed the need to document and “unearth the names of those who sacrificed their lives” and display them in a museum for public remembrance.

 

The three-day festival was attended by Arunachal East MP Tapir Gao, Women and Child Development Minister Dasanglu Pul, Assembly Speaker Tesam Pongter, along with other officials and community representatives.

 

Mein also highlighted a lesser-known aspect of the wartime effort, noting that elephants were extensively used as working animals. Guided by local mahouts, they hauled logs, carried ammunition and wounded soldiers, built bridges and runways, and pulled vehicles from deep monsoon mud, he said.

 

The festival, held near the India–Myanmar border at Pangsau Pass, brought together participants from India, Myanmar and parts of Southeast Asia. Organisers said the event seeks to highlight shared history, indigenous traditions and cross-border cultural ties. Mein described the pass as “a symbol of remembrance, peace and shared history”, and said the region has the potential to develop heritage-based tourism linked to the memory of the Stilwell Road.

 

During the programme, Mein released the book Tradition, Transformation and Identity – The Tikhak Tangsa of Arunachal Pradesh by Dr Jeevantu Tikhak, which documents the social and cultural life of the Tikhak Tangsa community.