Ramgarh: The Ramgarh administration is planning to develop the Chinese war cemetery near Bujurg Jamira village into a tourist destination, officials said. The seven-acre site, on the Ramgarh-Barkakana state highway, holds the graves of 667 Chinese officers and soldiers who fought Japan on the Myanmar front along with Allied forces.Deputy commissioner Rituraj, SP Mukesh Kumar Lunayat, DFO Nitish Kumar and other officials visited the cemetery on Sunday while touring proposed tourism sites. Rituraj said the district has identified religious, historic, cultural and heritage locations for development, including the cemetery, Kaitha Temple, Garhbandh and Murramkala hills. The DC said that the cemetery’s inclusion as a tourist destination depends on permission from its legal owners and the administration will seek approval.The cantonment hosted the Ramgarh Training Centre where American instructors trained Chinese troops for Myanmar operations. Around 30,000 soldiers of the Chinese Expeditionary Force were trained there. The cantonment now houses training centres of the Punjab and Sikh regiments.The camp emerged after Japan overran much of China and seized Myanmar in May 1942 during World War II, forcing Allied troops to retreat west. Republic of China leader Chiang Kai-shek accepted US President Franklin Roosevelt’s nominee, Lt Gen Joseph W Stilwell, as chief of staff of the combined forces. Chiang approved the Ramgarh camp on June 29, 1942, after its prisoner-of-war camp holding captured Italians and Germans was vacated.Ramgarh’s rail links, open land, forests and hills made it strategically useful. From here, Stilwell’s Chinese force moved towards Ledo, Hukawng Valley and Myitkyina, while the British cut Japanese supply lines.On Jan 12, 2018, a Chinese delegation led by consul general in Kolkata, Ma Zhanwu, visited the cemetery, sought its development as a tourist spot and offered cooperation.
