An illustrated article in the government journal, Indian Information, reported on the visit to India of the recently installed Emir of Katsina, who it described as a ‘keen student of empire and colonial affairs’. ‘By air, rail and road’, the journal explained, ‘he will now undertake a 3,000 mile tour of India and the Arakan, visiting West African units’ (Indian Information, 15 November 1944, 643). His visit was also noted in the American Press, where it was reported that he visited ‘men of the Nigerian regiment [who] flew into northern Burma with Wingate’s Chindits and played a large part’ in the Kaladan valley campaign (Fresno Bee, 4 January 1945). Footage of West Africans serving in India had previously featured in Indian News Parade – for example, issues 67 and 70 – and on the day of the newsreel’s release, The Timesreported their continued efforts, stating that ‘in Arakan West African troops captured another enemy position west of Paletwa’ (The Times, 17 November 1944, 4). The Emir of Katsina’s visit to India also featured in the Colonial Film Unit’s newsreel, The British Empire at War No. 37, which was produced predominantly for African audiences. A synopsis of the newsreel in Colonial Cinema noted that ‘the Emir is very interested in all that the African soldiers do… and gives them a heartening talk before he leaves’ (Colonial Cinema, March 1945, 24).

Indian News Parade 88 also depicts Sir Chhotu Ram, a founder member of the Unionist party, and a vocal supporter of a united India. As the most prominent non-Muslim figure within the Punjab ministry, Chhotu Ram was a pivotal figure in the disputes with the Muslim League over the potential division of Bengal and Punjab during 1944 (Oren, 1974, 415). While Chhotu Ram championed social reform and peasant interests, he received criticism for his close links with the British, particularly for his support of the War. Upon his death, less than two months after this newsreel, The Timesremembered his ‘stirring war speeches’ encouraging peasants of the Punjab to volunteer. ‘We and the British are on the same side’, he is quoted as saying, ‘If they win, we win; if they lose, we lose. So put aside everything and join in the War’ (The Times, 13 January 1945, 6).

The issue of demobilising the Indian army and the post-war plans for the soldiers are also discussed in the fourth item, which features Sir Firoz Khan Noon, a member of the Imperial War Cabinet, who would briefly serve as Prime Minister of Pakistan from December 1957 until October 1958. Indian Information described Firoz Khan Noon as a ‘firm believer in the destiny of his country as a free and equal partner in the British Commonwealth of Nations’ (Indian Information, 15 September 1944, 312). He headed the ‘Policy Committee on [the] Re-Settlement and Re-Employment of Troops’ which was set up towards the end of 1943. Sanjoy Bhattacharya notes the prominence given to this committee and the wide dissemination ‘in all forms of military propaganda’ of these ideas, which were further propagated in the White Paper, prepared by the Government of India in October 1944. Bhattacharya recognises the important role of film here, noting that ‘films dealing with “rural uplift, cottage industries and health” in the most important recruiting areas were screened; as were documentaries about post-war “development”’.  He further noted that ‘films would advertise the inauguration of special educational facilities, like the Indian Troops Training School, established in Nowgong in November 1945’. (Bhattacharya, May 2000, 504). In August 1944, Sir Syed Sultan Ahmed, a government minister for Information and Broadcasting, outlined to the Publicity Advisory Committee ‘the draft plan of publicity that has been drawn up in connection with Reconstruction’. The aim was to ‘increase understanding’ of the Reconstruction reports, which, he argued, outlined ‘a vision of a new India – an exciting experience, an experience to make old men glad and young men eager’. ‘We plan to supplement this editorial publicity’, he continued, ‘with illustrated and visual publicity. We believe that post-war planning must become an affair of the people’ (Indian Information, 15 September 1944, 273).