By John Chin

SEREMBAN, Malaysia: The Negri Sembilan - based Death Railway Interest Group (DRIG)  is appealing to both Malaysia and India to liaise with Thailand to erect a special monument to pay tribute to the thousands of persons of Indian descent who perished building the rail line during the onset of World War II.

As Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi marks his maiden visit to Malaysia where Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would personally welcome the leader, who hailed from the Gujarat State,  DRIG chairman Chandrasekaran Ponnusamy shared a statement, which he also plans to dispatch to the High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur.

He wants the contents to be made public as it signals a tribute to both the victims and survivors of the dreaded rail line where some 100,000 civilians and Allied military personnel perished while assembling the railway which linked modern day Thailand with Myanmar.

The line under the torrid conditions by the Japanese Imperial Army because they wanted to attack India by using Myanmar as the flashpoint.

As the Australians managed to erect a memorial called HellPass near the area, Chandrasekaran,  wants something similar built for the Indians who died near Kanchanaburi in Thailand.

"If the Aussies were allowed by the Thais, we cannot see why a similar request by both Malaysia and India cannot be entertained. It is a significant step to recognise the victims of the last great war and  a poignant remembrance  not to allow such devastation to humanity to recur."

Chandrasekaran praised Modi for visiting Malaysia.

It marks the first visit by a top Indian leader in less than two decades, and the cementing of special ties both nations enjoy with each other, he said.

"Your joint engagement with the Indian diaspora in Kuala Lumpur is a novel and much anticipated event. Due to the very short notice, we apologise for being unable to put forth our request to put forth our proposal soon," Chandrasekaran tells Modi.

DRIG would like to put a request as key stakeholders of both Anwar and Modi to use this visit to accord attention to the plight of the survivors and families of the forgotten victims of the Death Railway, primarily from Malaysia and India, and the other Southeast Asian countries.  

"We hope both leaders can jointly collaborate with the Government of Thailand to establish a fitting monument and an Information Centre at the site of one of the Mass Graves along the railway where the Asian victims, predominantly Tamil plantation workers from Malaya remain buried and forgotten for over eight decades."

"This would go some way to give them the recognition and their rightful place in history denied to them for so long."

This railway was built between 1942 and 1943 by the Japanese Imperial Army in a record time of a little over a year as a supply line for their troops in Myanmar, said Chandrasekaran.

"Upon its completion, the Siam–Burma Railway was also used to mobilize its troops to Burma and ultimately to invade and free India of British rule with the help of Indian troops who had surrendered to the Japanese, along with young Indian civilians recruited primarily from Malaya and the rest of Southeast Asia."

It is estimated that half of the 300,000 Asian forced labourers had died of disease, malnutrition, lack of sanitation etc. in the harsh conditions of the tropical jungles in Thailand.

Hence, Malaysia and India are the principle stakeholders in this unhappy event and should undertake to address the injustice that has been neglected for over eight decades, he said.