Our Correspondent
MANGALDAI: Sunday marked the daylong birth centenary celebration of Nidhi Ram Saharia, a renowned yet unsung freedom fighter and social reformer affectionately known as Nidhi Volunteer. The event, held at Chapai Yuba Kalyan Kendra near Mangaldai, transformed into a heartwarming reunion of family members of freedom fighters.
The celebration was jointly organized by the Darrang District Freedom Fighters Association (DDFFA) and Nidhi Volunteer’s family members. Lalita Saharia, Nidhi Volunteer’s wife, inaugurated the program by offering a floral tribute to her husband’s portrait, followed by the lighting of lamps by Jayanta Sarma, Kamaleswar Deka, Gajendra Kalita, and Purna Krishna Goswami—all family members of freedom fighters.
In the open session, presided over by DDFFA’s Working President Kamala Kanta Sarma, Dr. Binoy Ranjan Sarma, Secretary of DDFFA, delved into the life and works of Nidhi Ram Saharia. Literateur Dr. Bijoy Kumar Sarma reminisced about Nidhi Volunteer’s pivotal role in the freedom struggle, including his nine-month imprisonment in 1942.
Dr. Bijoy Kumar Sarma highlighted Nidhi Volunteer’s selfless nature: “After independence, he refused pension and other benefits, instead dedicating his life to social reforms, rural development, and upholding Mahatma Gandhi’s ideology.”
Notably, Nidhi Ram Saharia was arrested in 1982 for participating in the AASU-sponsored Assam Agitation, along with other prominent freedom fighters, namely Pani Ram Das, Ratneswar Sarma, Chandra Narayan Konwar, Tarun Kumar Dutta, and Nidhi Ram Deka. He also returned the ‘Tamra Patra’ to the government as a mark of protest during the Assam Movement. Former newsreader and daughter of a freedom fighter, Arati Kalita, released the book on the life and works of Nidhi Volunteer.
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