Interaction with the author of '1962' at Dibrugarh University

The Department of History, Dibrugarh University organized a program on 23.09.2013 in which Mrinal Talukdar discussed his latest book on the Indo-Chinese war titled ‘1962’. Mr. Talukdar who has authored several books and had also made films expressed that the inspiration for his latest literary outing based on a historical theme, came from the paucity of scholarship and literature available on the topic of post-independence Assam. ‘1962’ essentially supports the view that India’s Forward Policy, formulated chiefly by Jawaharlal Nehru, of creating outposts in the disputed areas along the China-India border was the catalyst for the Chinese attack. Talukdar stressed that Nehru’s plan of creating such outposts was responsible for triggering a military response from China which took the form of the 1962 war. Talukdar read out some excerpts from his book highlighting the situation in Beijing, New Delhi, North-East India during the 1962 war. This was followed by a lively interactive session, where Talukdar responded to some burning questions on the topic. A documentary film made by Talukdar titled ‘Road to China’ was shown to the audience during the program. This film captured the existence of a road connecting India and China through Arunachal Pradesh. The strategic importance of this road lies in the fact that it directly connects India and China, unlike the Stilwell road which goes through Myanmar. The program was extremely enlightening, thought-provoking and well-timed as only last year several important archival documents were released owing to the passage of fifty years since the 1962 war.