Samar Dalani
(He can be reached at 7002702268)
The tricolour was hoisted for the first time in the country on August 20, 1942, at the Sootea police station in the erstwhile Darrang district of Assam. The All India Congress Committee passed the resolution for the Quit India Movement during its session in Bombay on 9 August, 1942; along with Mahatma Gandhi, other prominent national leaders were arrested. Gopinath Bordoloi and Siddhinath Sharma were arrested by the administration in Dhubri, Assam, while returning to their respective states, Assam, after participating in the Bombay session. ‘Thane Dakhal’ (capturing the police station) was one of the main resolutions passed in the Bombay Session of 1942. In the British administration, police stations played a major role in maintaining law and order as well as peace in society. This is why it is stated in ‘A Statistical Account of Assam, Vol. 1’ by William Wilson Hunter (2020 edn.) that ‘the present regular police were constituted in 1861’ (p. 69). The existence of police stations at Tezpur, Chutia (Sootea) and Gahpur under the Tezpur Sadar of the undivided Darrang District is confirmed by WW Hunter’s A Statistical Account of Assam, Vol. 1, 2020. (Ref. p. 111).
The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee had geared up to take the Quit India movement to every home and courtyard. To achieve this goal, the regional leadership provided guidance to the organisations. In Assam, leaders like Gopinath Bordoloi, Tarunram Phukan, Omeo Kumar Das, Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, and others led the mass movement for independence under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.
Following Jyoti Prasad’s advice, we made a plan on 20 September 1942 to hoist the tricolour at all police stations in the state. We made a plan on 20 September 1942 to hoist the tricolour at all police stations across the state, following Jyoti Prasad’s advice. Due to this, Lokanayak Omeo Kumar Das organised a meeting of the Tezpur Congress Committee in Tezpur. During that time, all the prominent leaders of the state Congress were arrested by the British government. The British government arrested all the prominent leaders of the state Congress at that time. by the British government. In the meeting held at Tezpur in the presence of Bijay Chandra Bhagwati, Biman Chandra Bora and twelve more members of the Congress, it was decided to hoist the flag at the Sootea police station, and Biman Chandra Bora was entrusted with the responsibility of carrying out that campaign.
On August 11, 1942, Bijay Chandra Bhagwati and Kamakhya Prasad Tripathi were arrested by the administration for delivering a speech at a general meeting in the Namghar of Kachari Gaon, Sootea, where they incited people to join the freedom movement. According to Jyoti Prasad’s plan, the flag was to be hoisted on 20th September. But due to the organizational strength, the people of Sootea prepared themselves to carry out that work a month before the scheduled time. For this event, the teachers Biman Chandra Bora, Bolo Bormudoi, Mahendra Nath Barkataky, Thuleswar Hazarika and students of Sootea High School, including Debendra Nath Sarma, Biren Barkataky, Swarnaprabha Mahanta, Shrenidhar Das, Puwal Barua, Chandra Bora and others, had worked for a long time. Similarly, after resigning from the post of teacher at the Behali High School, Dimbeshwar Hazarika and Kuladhar Hazarika jumped into the movement.
On August 20, a large procession, led by the teacher-students of Sootea High School, marched peacefully through KaproceededHazarimal, Barabhuyan, the railway line, Charaproceedednd Hospital Road, and along the banks of the Marnai River, ultimately reaching Sootea PS. The procession was led by Baloram Barmudai and Dimbeswar Hazarika, while Swarnaprabha Mahanta proceeded with a giant flag in her hand, and the students carried the handmade paper flags. People blocked the police station and peacefully hoisted the tricolour flag. About three thousand people from Sootea, Nagsankar, Jamugurihat, and Biswanath Charali were present in this campaign. After the police intervened, a meeting was held at the police station premises, chaired by Biman Chandra Bora. The police intervened, prompting a general meeting at the police station premises, chaired by Biman Chandra Bora. A general meeting was held at the police station premises, chaired by Biman Chandra Bora. On the same night, Biman Chandra Bora, Dimbeswar Hazarika, Mahendra Barkataky, Biren Barkataky, Kuladhar Hazarika, Chandranath Bora, Chenidhar Das, Baloram Barmudai, Devendranath Sharma, Puwal Baruva and others were arrested by the British administration on the charge of hoisting the tricolour at the police station premises.
Exactly one month after the successful completion of the August 20 campaign, i.e., on September 20, 1942, the tricolour was again hoisted at the Sootea police station, as it was at other police stations in Assam. Due to the organizational skills of the leaders of the local Congress Committee, at seven in the morning, when the people of the police station were not ready to perform their duties, Sootea’s death squad’s sectional commander, Golak Saikia, hoisted the tricolour in association with the students of Sootea High School and comrades from the Sootea death squad. On the same day the Gohpur and Dhekiajuli police opened fire on the people who tried to hoist the tri-colour at Gohpur, and the Dhekiajuli police opened fire on the people who tried to hoist the tri-colour at Gohpur and Dhekiajuli PS, respectively.
To get the recognition of the historic police station as a heritage site, Naduar MLA Padma Hazarika, along with other leading organizations of the greater Sootea area and elite citizens, had raised demands from time to time. As a result, on January 23, 2017, the then Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal (who is now a Union Minister), visited the Sootea police station and granted it the status of a historical heritage site. The present Chief Minister of Assam, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, declared that the Sootea Divas would be observed. Himanta Biswa Sarma had talked about the historical importance of the Sootea police station many times in the national context. Apart from this, Assam’s then Health Minister Keshab Mahanta had highlighted the historical importance of this police station at the Assam Legislative Assembly. Since August 20, 2022, this date has been observed as “Sootea Divas”. The people of Greater Sootea will mark the historic day by celebrating ‘Sootea Divas’ at the Sootea PS (heritage) premises. On August 29, 2024, Naduar MLA Padma Hazarika presented a detailed lecture in the state legislative assembly about the historical significance of Sootea PS (heritage) and made an appeal to the state government to host the Sootea Divas as a government programme. Similarly, the chief minister, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, declared that the Sootea Divas would be observed under the aegis of the state government from 2025. The chief minister, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, attended the Sootea Divas organised by the state government at Sootea as the chief guest and announced a financial grant of 5 crore rupees for the conservation and beautification of the heritage police station. The need of the hour is that the Government of Assam highlight this golden history in the all-India perspective and get it written in golden letters in the history of India’s independence. The State Government, Education Department, and SCERT should come forward in this work