A Tribute to Dhiren Chandra Sarma

My neighbour, Dhiren Chandra Sarma, passed away on February 8, 2024, at the age of 96. He was a retired judicial secretary of the Assam government and a former member of the Assam Administrative Tribunal. With a Bar at Law degree from Inner Temple, London, in the early 1950s, the late Sarma was an experienced and successful lawyer and judge. Our family has been friendly with the late Sarma’s family since around 1984, when his family settled in Ulubari, Guwahati, near ours. I used to go to the late Sarma’s house as his second son, the late Sanjib Kumar Sarma (Ritu), was my classmate at Gauhati University. Most of the middle-class families at that time did not have television sets, and our family was no different. That led me to go to their house to enjoy Doordarshan programmes, as often as not, especially to enjoy cricket matches. Despite being a top-level officer in the Assam government, the late Sarma had no pride, and I was well aware of that. The other members of his family were also quite friendly with me.

The late Sarma’s father, the late Purna Chandra Sarma, was a freedom fighter of repute, hailing from Nagaon. After the independence of India, the late Purna Chandra Sarma became a member of the Assam Legislative Assembly and a Rajya Sabha member. In fact, the late Sarma’s parental house (named Ganatantra) at Amolapatty in Nagaon was the point where freedom fighters used to get into a huddle. Late Sarma did witness the scenes of the freedom struggle in Nagaon since his childhood. His parental house hosted many important meetings of the freedom struggle in the presence of the likes of the state’s front-running freedom fighters, the late Bishnu Ram Medhi, the late Amiya Kumar Das, the late Motiram Bora, and others. In fact, that house was no different from a food-and-lodge for freedom fighters of the time. My grandmother, the late Chandraprabha Saikiani, mentioned in her autobiography how she had gone to hold a meeting in Nagaon at the invitation of the late Purna Chandra Sarma.

I saw late Dhiren Sarma for the past few decades from a close range. Despite his father being a member of the Assam Legislative Assembly, he had to undergo an 18-day voyage on a ship to read Bar at Law in London. As I heard, besides reading Bar at Law, he could earn a reputation as a table tennis player in London. He narrated to us his meeting with the late Syama Prasad Mukherjee in his parental house in Nagaon and the thrill of the late Mukherjee blessing him. The blessings from the then Assam Chief Minister Bishnuram Medhi, ministers Amiya Kumar Das, Motiram Bora, and others were fresh in his mind.

Doing Bar at Law from London, the late Sarma had a stint as a junior lawyer under the late Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, a leading lawyer at the time, and became the President of India later. After a brief stint in the high court, he joined the Assam government as an Additional District and Session Judge in the early 1960s. After that, he held posts like District and Session Judge, Registrar of the High Court, Law Secretary of the Assam Government, etc. I did call late Sarma ‘Mohadeow’. I never hesitated to talk to him. Despite holding a high rank in the Assam government, he had no sense of pride. Straight talk his motto, even as that might sound unpleasant to anybody. One day, I did ask him why he opted not to enter politics despite being born and bred in an environment redolent with politics and political leaders. He said that his father had also wanted him to join politics but opted not to exert any pressure on him. The then influential Congress leader, the late Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, also advised him to join politics with the assurance that, if need be, he (Ahmed) would introduce him to Jawharlal Nehru. He said that artificial speaking is not his cup of tea. He liked to speak out freely, as they say, ‘Just speak what is on my mind, even if most can’t handle the truth’. The late Sarma breathed his last at 96. I pay tribute to the late Sarma at his Adhya Shraddha today. 

 Atanu Saikia 

 Also Read: Assam: AGP Pays Tribute to Lalit Chandra Rajkhowa on 34th Death Anniversary

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