A worthwhile project. "THEY are the forgotten heroes of the trenches, the brave men who gave their lives to the Empire but whose names have been erased from the history books. More than 400,000 Muslim soldiers fought in World War One, yet a recent survey by British Future, a think-tank dedicated to racial integration, has revealed that only 22 per cent of people know of their sacrifice. And only a pitiful two per cent are aware of the scale of that sacrifice. Now British Future project co-ordinator Avaes Mohammed is overseeing a scheme to educate Birmingham children about the part Muslims from India played in the Great War. Avaes, assisted by Birmingham historian Jahan Mahmood, is giving history lessons to a Muslim group from Lozells and a group of non-Muslims from Kingstanding . The youngsters will then interview descendants of soldiers who fought in the war. The project is one of four across the country that makes up “An Unknown And Untold Story – The Muslim Contribution To The First World War”." http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/forgotten-army-400000-muslim-soldiers-10325190
The Indian Army was mainly used in the Middle East after 1915. It is a little this has to be told as specifically "Muslim" rather than south asian. There were plenty of Hindu Sikh and Jain soldiers , but I suspect the funding and interest is on an agenda that might be labelled as "countering Islamophobia" or "winning hearts and minds im the War on Terror" depending on taste!
Wow, it's actually really sad that the majority don't even know they existed. My respect goes to those brave soldiers.
I am not too sure that the picture first shown in the article is of Muslims. The people of India have contributed some wonderful troops and heores to the Commonwealth. I think that contribution should be reconized, not the religon. KTK
