Wolverhampton filmmakers produce The Sikh Soldier to remember sacrifice of WWI Indian soldiers

[Premi]

https://www.itv.com/news/central/2023-04-13/the-sikh-soldier-new-film-makes-sure-indian-wwi-soldiers-arent-forgotten

 

Wolverhampton filmmakers produce The Sikh Soldier to remember sacrifice of WWI Indian soldiers

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  CENTRAL
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  ENTERTAINMENT
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  WWI
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  Thursday 13 April 2023 at 9:26pm

After two years of delays, strikes, and inflation, a pair of filmmakers from Wolverhampton have finished production on a film that combats the ignorance of Indian soldiers' involvement in the First World War for the British Empire.

 

The Sikh Soldier, a film which has taken three years to develop, follows a man's journey as he fights through The Great War in the British trenches, only to survive and have to face a further hell back in India. 

 

Once home in India, the Sikh soldier is caught up in a massacre in the city of Amritsar, which happened 104 years go today (April 13).

 

In 1919 British Indian troops opened fire on at least 10,000 Sikh men, women and children who were celebrating the holy festival of Vaisakhi in the city of Amritsar, killing hundreds and injuring thousands.

 

It received funding from the National Lottery and the police to increase historical and cultural awareness of hate crime directed towards Sikhs and other Indian minority groups.

 

Despite playing a significant role for the British Empire in WWI, many argue history and onscreen representation of the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers is being ignored.

 

Wolverhampton friends and co-directors Joseph Archer and Sky Cheema set off to change the trend of war films focusing around European territories like Britain, France and Germany by producing The Sikh Soldier.

 

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Sky Cheema added: "For me growing up, I wanted to do a presentation about WWI and what Indians did for the British and my teacher took me to one side and said they didnt do very much.

 

"But now I've gotten old and wiser, and done a lot of research, I think the one thing for not just myself but younger generations for them to know why they're here, what happened, and the key role did they take in the war is good education."

 

The Sikh Soldier will be screened across the UK and the world this year at international film festivals.    

 

What was India’s involvement in World War One?

 

India provided the largest ever assembled force during WWI, with around 1.5million Muslim, Sikh and Hindu men being deployed during the conflict.

 

As many as 74,0187 Indian Soldiers died, 67,000 were wounded and 10,000 were reported missing.

 

Indian soldiers contributed to the European, Mediterranean, Mesopotamian, North African and East African divisions and brigades.

 

In Europe, they were one of the first fighters to enter the trenches and suffer the horrors from the first line of defence.

 

According to the British Council, it wasn’t just volunteer soldiers from India that the British benefited from, the country also supplied 170,000 animals, 3.7 million tonnes of supplies, jute for sandbags, and a large loan (the equivalent of about £2 billion today) to the British government.

[dalsingh101]

I hope they don't gloss over this and make us look like goray's chumchay.