Assam Agitation veterans pay tribute to late colleague Pratima Bora

OUR CORRESPONDENT

MANGALDAI: Nearly 150 participants of the 1979 Assam Agitation, from Darrang and Udalguri districts, reunited on Sunday at Outala HS School playground in Darrang district, joined by a number of local residents, to pay tribute to their Late colleague, retired teacher Pratima Bora (63 years). Late Bora, from Bengabora village in Outala, had passed away on August 15.

The gathering highlighted Bora’s legacy of resilience in the six-year AASU-led movement, sparked by illegal immigration fears. It demanded detection and deportation of foreigners, culminating in the 1985 Assam Accord after the supreme sacrifice of over 855 swahids.

As a teenager, Bora bravely joined the AASU Volunteer Force’s women’s wing under Kalaigaon Anchalik Students Union, participating in protests, satyagrahas, and agitational programmes.

On a serene autumn afternoon on Sunday, under a sprawling tree in the lush green playground, the event opened with traditional earthen lamps lit before portraits of Bora and singer Zubeen Garg. It featured wreath-laying, homage speeches, and shared stories of the agitation, especially the 1983 unrest.

Presided over by former AASU activist Hiren Kumar Saharia and inaugurated by ex-AASU Assistant General Secretary Bhargab Kumar Das, the function included addresses by Dr Zoii Nath Sarma (former AASU activist and two-time AGP minister) and Bhabendra Kumar Sarma (former AASU activist). Mediaperson Ganesh Dutta released a souvenir on Bora’s life and works, edited by Tapan Saikia and Bhadra Krishna Saikia in the function anchored by Hirak Shan Deka (upcoming singer-entrepreneur) and Sahabuddin Ruitan.

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