Ambassador Speeches

Ambassador’s remarks at the screening of the film “A Little Poland in India”

18 November 2019

Ambassador of Nepal to the United States H.E. Dr. Arjun Kumar Karki

Dr. Surjit Bhalla, Executive Director, International Monetary Fund

Mr. Robert Robert Szaniawski, Minister-Counsellor, Embassy of Poland

Producer and Director Ms. Anu Radha

The delegates from the International Historical Conference “Poland First to Fight”

Members of the diplomatic corps, friends from media

Ladies and Gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all for the screening of the film “A Little Poland in India,” the first Indo-Polish documentary film, written and produced by Ms. Anu Radha.

It is an opportune moment for us to have Ms. Anu Radha, who is visiting DC to present her film in an International Historical conference “Poland First to Fight”, being held in Washington DC.

Vasudaiva Kutumbakam and Athithi Devobhava are the two most important values of Indian tradition from time immemorial. Indian history is dotted with many stories of compassion, generosity and selfless service upholding the above two values. Most of these stories were lost with time and never told to the world. Ms. Anu Radha has unearthed such a story and presented it beautifully with her artistic expression.

As you are probably aware, the German invasion of Poland on the 1st of September 1939, followed by the Russian invasion less than three weeks later resulted in the largest ever contingent of Polish citizens ending up in almost every corner of the globe after World War II. Eventually, thousands took refuge in India.

Through this film, Ms. Anu Radha takes us through a fascinating story from the time of World War II. It is a story of about 1000 orphaned Polish children, who were given protection by Jam Saheb DigvijaySinhji, the then Maharaja of Jamnanagar, Gujarat. He showed that human compassion, which is customary for generations in India, transcended all barriers.

It is important to note that the film has been screened at various National and International forums and also now installed at Yaad-e-Jallian at the Red Fort in New Delhi. Ms. Anu Radha has also been honored with a Bene Merito by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Poland.

She has also documented the Indo-Polish journey through another film, “Jindobrey (Namaste) India,” that extends the story further of India’s empathetic gesture extended to about 5000 Polish women and children in a larger Polish camp in Valivade (near Kolhapur, Maharashtra) from 1943-48.

I am also happy to learn that she is currently working on a proposed feature film with eminent Director Mr. Shyam Benegal and Author Mrs. Shama Zaidi.

I wish Ms. Anu Radha all the best for her future projects and hope that she keeps unearthing many such stories.