Army Pays Tribute to Martyrs of Pothorughat

Our Correspondent

MANGALDAI: For political leaders, the significance of the supreme sacrifice offered by 140 village farmers at the historic peasants uprising at Pothorughat on the fateful day of January 28, 1894 is centred only on January 28 and in the remaining 364 days of the year, they are simply indifferent towards this glorious chapter of the history of the freedom struggle of the country. On the contrary, the Army has always been concerned with this peasants’ uprising in the sleepy village of Pothorughat, 16 km to the west from Mangaldai, the district headquarters town of Darrang.

The esteemed readers of The Sentinel are well aware that at the initiative of former Governor of Assam Lt. Gen (retired) SK Sinha, the army in 2001 had constructed the Krishak Swahid Memorial at Pothorughat. This memorial is the only of its kind in the entire country ever constructed by the Army in memory of civilian Krishak Swahids. And since then the Army has been celebrating Krishak Swahid Divas every year with full military honour and style.

On Wednesday morning, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Red Horns Division, Major General Sanjeev Khatri, who had taken over the command of the division few months back, made an official visit to Pothorughat and offered floral wreath at the Krishak Swahid Memorial in military style and honour. Commanding Officer of 14 Garhwal Rifles, Colonel Rahul Singh was also present in the homage-paying function and briefed the GOC about the history of Krishak Swahid Divas. He also apprised him of the ongoing construction work for beautification of the area at the approximate cost of Rs 700 lakh sanctioned by the State Government.

General secretary of Mangaldai Media Circle Mayukh Goswami and adviser Bhargab Kumar Das extended a hearty welcome to the visiting GOC with a phulam Bihuwan and aronai and also offered him the book Pothorughat written by Padmashree recipient and eminent author Arup Kumar Dutta.

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