Mizoram: Two Historical Cannons missing

Aizawl, March 17 and 20, 2009 (PTI & UNI report): A cannon, believed to have been used in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, which had gone missing with another historic canon from Aizawl in 2003, have been found in Arunachal Pradesh, according to Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) sources. The cannons were on display in front of the Assam Rifles Quarter Guard in Aizawl for over a century.

The INTACH member Mr. Thanseia, Mizoram Chapter, claimed that the cannons are belonging to the people of Mizoram. ''We have come to learn that the First Assam Rifles battalion, who moved out from Aizawl to Manipur in 2005, took the two cannons along with them. The paramilitary force is now stationed in Arunachal Pradesh and we have been informed that the cannons are with them,''

The cannons stood in front of the quarters-guard facing the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the other side of the Aizawl main street until they were ''taken away'' by the first Assam Rifles battalion.

''We realized rather late that they had gone missing. During our childhood days there used to be a statue of Queen Victoria standing between the cannons, which had gone missing long back,'' Mr. Thanseia said.

Mr. John Shakespeare, the first Superintendent of Lushai Hills (now Mizoram), wrote in his book “The Making of Aijal” that he brought the two canons to Aizawl for public display and as a “Suitable addition to the memorial of the Great Queen Victoria” from Lunglei in 1897. Mr. Shakespeare believed, had been fired in the Battle of Waterloo, and was part of a warship, which was originally in the Chittagong River (Bangladesh) in 1857.

When the detachment of 34th Native Infantry mutinied stationed in Chittagong got underway on 18th November of that year, the cannons were thrown overboard to prevent them from falling in the hands of the mutineers and were later retrieved and brought to Lunglei via Rangamati in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh.

Later, they were fished out and fitted with wheel carriages and eventually found their way to Lunglei in 1882. . From Lunglei Mr Shakespeare had brought them to Aizawl in 1897.

It was quarter-guarded of the Assam Rifles headquarter in Aizawl, constructed before 1897, having been declared one of heritage sites in Mizoram, the INTACH Mizoram chapter advocated the need to put back the cannons in the original place.

‘‘Efforts are being made to bring back the cannons to Aizawl through the Defense Ministry.’’ The two cannons did not belong to the Assam Rifles, but to the people of Mizoram, Mr. Thanseia said.

''We have also talked to the Assam Rifles authorities and we are very hopeful that the cannons will be brought back home very soon,'' Mr. Thanseia said.

Sources: (1) http://www.zeenews.com/from-the-past/
(2) http://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/
(3) http://www.newkerala.com/