Assam: Significance of Pothorughat Uprising; Need for a future sustainability plan

Our Correspondent

MANGALDAI: The historic Peasants’ Uprising at Pothorughat and the supreme sacrifice of 140 farmers on January 28 of 1894 is now a widely circulated chapter in and outside Assam, and it doesn’t require further discussion, which may be merely a repeat of the same facts. Once an ignored chapter, the historic episode of India’s freedom struggle is now considered to be an important topic for the Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) for Civil Services conducted by the UPSC too.

The Pothorughat episode of 1894 took place nearly 25 years before Mahatma Gandhi launched the nonviolent movement in the year 1919. Farmers in large numbers came barehanded and assembled to raise their protest in a nonviolent manner. The incident also set a rare example of a very high degree of communal harmony. Marginal farmers belonging to both the Hindu and the Muslim communities staged the protest together and didn’t hesitate to take the bullets of the tyrant British rulers on their chests and attain martyrdom.

The Indian Army, under the special initiative of Lt. Gen. (retired) S K Sinha, the then Governor of Assam, erected a martyrs memorial tomb at the site on January 28 in the year 2001. Since then, every year, the Indian Army pays tribute to the Krishak Swahids in full military style and honour. It’s known to be the lone instance in Indian history where the Army erects a tomb in the memory of civilians and also pays tribute to them.

Despite the historical significance that occurred 25 years ahead of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, it is a matter of shame that we failed to glorify the Pothorughat uprising at the appropriate level, mainly due to the long apathy of the governments, both at the state and the centre. Anyone who visited Jallianwala Bagh near the Golden Temple in Amritsar of Punjab could easily understand the vast difference in preserving and promoting the memory of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre of 1919 and the Pothorughat Peasants’ Uprising of 1894. It is managed by the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust, formed by the Government of India as per the provision of the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Act, 1951. Everything is very much planned and organized there, unlike Pothorughat.

Mangaldai Media Circle—an organization of media persons based in Mangaldai—has been constantly urging the government to build a national memorial for the Pothorughat uprising and at the same time introduce legislation on the lines of the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Act. Meanwhile, a prayer for the construction of a national memorial and bringing such an Act was also made by Mangaldai Media Circle before the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, during a meeting on August 9 in 2023, where Parliamentarian Dilip Saikia and Legislator Dr. Paramananda Rajbongshi were both present. 

Over the last few years, things have started changing since the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government came to power in the state, and it further accelerated under the regime of Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma. Nevertheless, we must not forget the wholehearted initiatives and subsequent pursuance of Parliamentarian Dilip Saikia, who drew the attention of the nation, both inside and outside the Parliament. It is the initiative of Parliamentarian Dilip Saikia which led legislator Dr. Paramananda Rajbongshi, Journalist Bhargab Kumar Das and Mayukh Goswami of Mangaldai Media Circle to visit the hon’ble President of India and apprise her about the historic episode for the first time and they also invited her to the annual celebrations of the Krishak Swahid Divas .

Moreover, in what can be treated as one step towards national recognition of the episode, the Indian Postal Department released a special envelope in memory of the martyrs in a public function of the Krishak Swahid Divas celebration in 2024. Similarly, this year too, the postal department is coming forward to release a special commemorative postage stamp in memory of the Krishak Swahids on the day of the Krishak Swahid Divas celebration. On both occasions, it was parliamentarian Dilip Saikia who made the necessary communications and convinced the responsible authorities.

“Now the stage seems to be all set for making a futuristic  plan for its proper preservation, promotion and sustainability where a seminar can be organized at the national capital New Delhi  like the way Bir Lachit Borphukan was highlighted, necessary communications could be made with the HRD Ministry to include Pothorughat Uprising as a chapter in the CBSE curriculum at the appropriate standard, introduction of an Act in the State Assembly for a National Memorial before moving it in the Parliament, formation of a Trust or a designated body for holding the Krishak Swahid Divas every year and also ensuring allocation of fund in the State annual budget” said Secretary of Mangaldai Media Circle Mayukh Goswami while talking to ‘The Sentinel’ at Pothorughat on Monday.

Also Read: Assam: Indian Post to issue commemorative postage stamp on Pothorughat Peasants’ Uprising

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