August 14 to 18, 1946 Calcutta flare-up & benevolent Samaritan Atul Chandra Saikia

Ramlal Sinha

(ramlalsinhar@gmail.com)

Bharat Ratna Dr. Bhupen Hazarika

Dr. Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya, the first Gyanpith award winning writer of the Northeast

Noted freedom fighter and trade union leader Atul Chandra Saikia

Noted poet Amulaya Baruah who died at a young age of 24 in 1946

Kamal Naryan Choudhury, a noted Film and Music Director of Assam

This reminiscence of the fierce riot in Calcutta from August 14 to 18, 1946, evokes tears from every patriotic Assamese for the irreparable losses suffered by Assamese literature while also instilling a sense of pride in the exemplary courage and love that Assamese youth had for the Assamese language and culture. That riot was one of many similar incidents that left countless scars during the lead-up to and aftermath of the partition of India into India (Hindustan) and Pakistan in August 1947. We cannot fully make up for a loss, nor can we fully appreciate a wonderful rescue. This is one aspect of human nature-the tendency to forget.

The communal flare-up between Hindus and Muslims was at its peak in Calcutta in August 1946. This is a faithful English rendering of Kamal Narayan Choudhury's write-up - olop gun koroi bistar. "August 16, 1946, was an unofficially declared day of 'direct showdown' between the people belonging to the two religious groups. Armed with sharp weapons, individuals belonging to the two groups divided along religious lines were busy in attacks and counter-attacks, leading to a bloodbath. The Assamese programme, aired at 6 pm on the shortwave from All India Radio, Calcutta, was the central attraction for the Assamese people living in Calcutta at that time. Kamal Narayan Choudhury, a close confidante of Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwal and Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha, was the anchor and producer of the day's programme. Abidul Latif Baruah, the first Assamese Director General of All India Radio, Purushottam Das and a few others were also involved in the programme. Unrest and sensation prevailed throughout Calcutta due to a communal flare-up. In the fratricidal killings, humans went berserk and turned ferocious and demoniac. That day, All India Radio, Calcutta, interrupted my communication. The situation didn't allow me to go out of the home, let alone go to Dalhousie Square from College Street. The time was running out amid anxiety and uncertainty. The hard-earned radio programme in the cherished Assamese language, rather than in non-Assamese languages, is on the verge of becoming futile.

"Every day the Assamese programme was aired from the Calcutta Radio Centre at shortwave from 6 pm for 30 minutes. What will happen today? In my absence, who will serve as the anchor and producer for the programme? The Assamese radio programme began sharply at 6 pm. An Assamese youth staying in Calcutta for education and searching for a job opened the programme in his mother tongue, Assamese, with the signature tone of All India Radio, Calcutta. Now is the Assamese programme… This non-resident Assamese youth was Atul Chandra Saikia, who risked his life and limbs for the sake of the Assamese programme…"

Atul Chandra Saikia was in no way connected to the Assamese programme on All India Radio, Calcutta. It was his profound love for his mother tongue and culture that emboldened him to risk his life in the mayhem. The unfortunate aspect of this story is that All India Radio, Guwahati, and Prasar Bharati have still not taken any meaningful action to honour Atul Chandra Saikia's daring efforts for the sake of the Assamese programme on radio. However, family members of Atul Chandra Saikia informed this writer that "in the birth centenary year of freedom fighter and trade unionist Atul Chandra Saikia, the birth centenary committee personally approached All India Radio, Guwahati, with all relevant documents, including articles by Dr Bhupen Hazarika, Dilip Sarma, Mayur Bora, and others, approximately three years ago, requesting a story about the risks Atul Chandra Saikia took for the Assamese programme on All India Radio, Calcutta, on August 16, 1946." Nothing tangible has happened on that front yet.       

Atul Chandra Saikia set an example before us that the love for one's mother tongue and culture breeds indomitable courage. And the Assamese society expected such courage from him. He certainly inherited this courage from his mother, Iron Lady Padmashri Chandraprabha Saikiani, also called 'Angisnata' (cleansed by fire). Noted freedom fighter Padmashri Chandraprabha Saikiani played a pivotal role in advancing women's emancipation and empowerment in Assam. The movement for women's empowerment gained momentum through the efforts of noted freedom fighter Padmashri Saikiani and Kiranmoyee Agarwal, the mother of Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala. The duo established the Tezpur Mahila Samity in 1919, which laid the foundation for the formation of the Assam Pradeshik Mahila Samity in 1926. Atul Chandra Saikia was indeed a beloved son of a beloved mother.

In his write-up 'Jeno aan ejon Atul Saikia', noted artiste, advocate, politician and essayist Dilip Kumar Hazarika quoted renowned litterateur Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya as telling him that 'I gave the manuscript of my first Assamese novel to Amulya Baruah to read. We lost Amulya Baruah in the mahem, and so did we lose my novel."

In his write-up 'Uthahe utha mor', Madhab Deka, a boarder who was in the same Raja Bazar Mess with Atul Chandra Saikia, described Saikia as a benevolent Samaritan when the fellow boarders had to face miscreants who cut their power line, water connection, etc. They were not even able to go out to buy essentials. It was Saikia who restored the power connection and managed essentials for all boarders, risking his life. Madhab Deka later became a civil service officer.  

Bharat Ratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika, who attended Sonaram HS School in Guwahati with Atul Chandra Saikia, was nostalgic when asked about him. Dr Bhupen Hazarika would take a trip down memory lane to their days in school, swimming in the Bharalu River. Dr Hazarika stated that Atul Saikia's work always prioritised the plight of the working class. Despite being the son of Gandhian Padmashri Chandraprabha Saikiani, Atul Chandra Saikia was inclined toward the ideology of Jaiprakash Narayan.  Another write-up - Jinnar samprodayikota aru ejan Axomiar hahox - from noted writer and thinker Mayur Bora buttressed the indomitable love of Atul Chandra Saikia and Dr Bhupen Hazarika, who had gone to Calcutta from Banaras Hindu University in UP at that time, for the people of Assam.  In his article, writer Bora made it clear that two Assamese youths - noted poet Amulya Baruah and Ananda Phukan - went missing after the mayhem. Daring Atul Chandra Saikia and Dr Hazarika went out to ascertain the whereabouts of the two Assam youths. They traced the body of Ananda Phukan. The body of Amulya Baruah, however, remained untraced, and so did the first novel of renowned author Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya, who had given the manuscript of his novel to Amulya Baruah to go through. Thus, the loss of the day trebled: the lives of two valuable Assamese youths and the first novel of litterateur Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya.      

In 1942, Atul Chandra Saikia took part in the Quit India Movement. He underwent imprisonment, and so did his mother Padmashri Chandraprabha Saikiani, and both were lodged in the same jail. Soon after the independence of India, he dedicated himself to ensuring the rights of workers. After doing his PG Diploma in Labour Welfare from Bombay, Atul Chandra Saikia went to Canada to study 'trade unionism' for a year under the Colombo Plan. He quit his lucrative job initially as a research associate and then as a faculty member in the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), now known as the ITUC, with its headquarters in Brussels. He joined the INTUC (Indian National Trade Union Congress) at the request of Gandhian MP and freedom fighter Robin Kakati and his mother, Chandraprabha Saikiani, accepting a nominal salary of Rs 100 per month. He was among the first batch of the organisers of the Assam Chah Majdoor Sangha (ACMS), the biggest trade union of tea estate workers in India. After a year, he was shifted to Guwahati, where he established the State Transport Workers' Assiciation, Guwahati Refinery Workers' Union, Assam Cooperative Apex Bank Employees' Union, Assam Cooperative Apex Bank Staff (Officers) Association, Assam Cinema Workers' Union, Assam Spun Silk Workers' Union, and 25 other small and big trade unions in the state.

Atul Chandra Saikia represented Indian workers several times at ILO and many other international fora. A globetrotter, Atul Chandra Saikia travelled to the UK, Germany, the Soviet Union, Belgium, Switzerland, Japan and many other countries as a trade unionist. In 1982, just before his demise, he was the only invitee from India at the round-table conference of the world trade union leaders in Tokyo. For decades, he was the general secretary of the All India State Transport Workers' Federation, an umbrella organisation for all transport workers in the country. Even though he was an MLA from East Guwahati from 1972 to 1978, when he passed away on June 1, 1982, he left behind a bank balance of only Rs 365.  

In his write-up - Shramik neta Atul Chandra Saikiar sannidhyat - educationist and former principal of B Barooah College, Guwahati, Dr Promod Chandra Bhattacharya said that after graduating from Cotton College and before enrolling himself for the Master's in Calcutta, Atul Chandra Saikia worked as a sub-editor in the 'Dainik Asomiya', an Assamese daily edited by Devakanta Baruah and published from July 1, 1947. Other sub-editors in the desk of the daily at that time were Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya, Kirtinath Hazarika, Rupram Sut, Niron Bhuyan, Sadananda Chaliha, Promod Chandra Bhattacharya, Pulin Changkakati and Kamal Gogoi.  

Atul Chandra Saikia dedicated himself to the labourers' movement until his death. Humanist Atul Chandra Saikia was a freedom fighter; a trade unionist with professional adequacy; a journalist, an MLA shying away from politics; and an Assamese to the core - all rolled into one.

References

(1) A write-up of Bharat Ratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika.

(2) 'Shramik neta Atul Chandra Saikiaesannidhyat' by educationist Dr Promod Chandra Bhattacharya.

(3) 'Jaar jivanadarsha asil shramik shrenir mukti' by Dilip Sarma.

(4) 'Olop gun koroi bistar' by Kamal Narayan Choudhury.

(5) 'Jen aan ejan Atul Saikia' by Dilip Kumar Hazarika.

(6) 'Shramik Bondhu Atul Chanda Saikia' by Dr Lakshmi Goswami.

(7) 'Ejon tejal monor manuh' by Gunin Hazarika.

(8) 'Jinnar samprodayikota aru ejon Axomiyar xahox' by Mayur Bora.

(9) 'Utha he utha mor' by Madhab Deka.