Lost but not forgotten: Remembering martyrs of Assam agitation

Today is Swahid Divas, a day when Assam remembers the martyrs who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Assam Agitation, which sought to expel foreigners from the state.

Between 1979 and 1985, Assam was gripped by a movement that aimed to protect the Assamese language, land, and identity. The movement, known as the Assam Agitation, was largely led by students from across the state who took to the streets to demand the government put an end to the illegal immigration of people from neighbouring countries and safeguard the land, language, and cultural identity of the Assamese people.

In an era before the internet, students and leaders convened meetings and organised protests in a growing wave of regionalism that swept the state, despite facing police brutality. Many agitators sacrificed their lives, and the movement culminated in the signing of the Assam Accord on August 15, 1985, which marked the end of the students' agitation.

Though the Accord brought peace to the state, many of its provisions remain unimplemented. However, following the Biplab Sharma Committee Report, both the State and Union governments are now working to implement all the provisions of the Assam Accord.

Looking back

Reflecting on the days of the Assam Agitation, Jiabur Rahman, a student leader, recalled how meetings were organised by the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) leaders. “In those days, we didn’t have social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp. While telephones existed, they weren’t as accessible as they are now. AASU leaders such as Prafulla Mahanta and Bhrigu Phukan would issue statements in newspapers to announce meetings,” Rahman said.

However, Rahman shared that the government tried to censor these statements. “Despite such censorship, news of upcoming meetings would spread quickly among activists, students, and workers. The government’s efforts to prevent these gatherings often failed,” Rahman said.

AT Photo: Jiabur Rahman along with other student leaders and activists 

The government, however, took stricter measures to control the movement. Pulak Kumar, who lost his uncle during the agitation, described how the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) conducted heavy patrols and subjected those they suspected to torture.

“There was heavy policing by paramilitary forces like the CRPF. Our mothers and aunts still recall the stories. Whenever the CRPF was on patrol, the men would scatter and hide, fearing interrogations and, sometimes, torture,” Kumar said.

Rahman recalled how the CRPF set up camps throughout the area, keeping a tight watch on the population. “The CRPF jawans would sometimes physically assault and beat us. There were CRPF camps everywhere, and occasionally they’d step out in formation, hitting us without reason. If they had even the slightest suspicion, they would beat us up. The brutality was unimaginable,” Rahman said.

Rahman also remembered how the security forces would block off areas during patrols and arrest people they suspected. “There were times when the AASU announced blackouts when CRPF personnel patrolled. In the darkness, some youths would express their anger by throwing stones at the soldiers. In retaliation, the jawans would storm into homes, shouting and instilling fear in everyone,” Rahman recalled.

Rahman also described how the police would arrest activists and agitators. “The police would often come in jeeps, arrest a few people, and take them to lock-ups. They would be released soon after, but even those few hours in detention felt like harassment,” Rahman said.

Despite the hardships, Rahman asserted that it was a people’s movement, one that could not be suppressed by the police or their prisons. “How many people could they possibly arrest? The movement was so massive that their prisons would never have been enough. It was a movement of the people,” Rahman said.

Looking back, Rahman reflected on the lack of peace during those turbulent times. “Even something as simple as stepping out to buy groceries was accompanied by fear. People were always wondering if they would be beaten up. It felt like civil liberties didn’t exist anymore,” Rahman said.

Remembering the fallen

Kumar recollects the stories of the fateful day when his uncle, Joyshoran Kumar, embraced death during a procession led by the AASU. “I was very young back then, a school going student in Class I. I am told my uncle was a part of a procession led by the AASU. They were all rallying on National Highway 37 where the Radisson Blu Hotel presently is. Somehow, in the course of the procession, he was all alone on one side of the road, separate from the rest. It was then that a truck hit him, claimed his life, and he became a martyr,” Kumar said.

Kumar's father and Joyshoran’s elder brother Biren Ch Kumar said, “What happened was something unthinkable. Years seemed to pass on, but my parents endured the loss of a child and my family lost a member. Life, as we had known, had changed forever.”

Joyshoran Kumar had embraced death in 1985 at the age of 22. According to Pulak Kumar and his father, he was the youngest in the family and was not married.

Rahman recollects the day his brother passed away. “That day, my mother and I had to go to Nalbari. It was only in the evening that we received the news of my brother’s passing away. He had lost his life in an explosion,” Rahman said.

Rahman’s brother, Matiur, was a higher secondary school student of Arya Vidyapeeth College in Guwahati. He had passed away on April 7, 1983. Along with him on that fateful day, Anil Deka also embraced death and another man, Sailen Phukan, had sustained severe injuries.

“We were all a part of the movement and my brother was no exception. He too was actively involved in the movement. There were hardly any people who were not a part of the agitation, it was a movement in which people participated in huge numbers,” Rahman said, adding that life was not the same for his family after the passing away of Matiur.

AT Photo: The State Government in 2016 had granted a financial aid of Rs 5 lakhs to Rahman's and other martyrs' families (left) and Matiur Rahman (right) who passed away in 1983

Kalpa Bhattacharyya had embraced death in 1980 during the Assam Agitation. Recollecting the stories from her mother-in-law about that fateful day, Reena Bhattacharyya said, “I never met my father-in-law. On that day, I am told; he had bought fish and awaited his morning course of maas-bhaat when he got the news of a procession leaving from the Handique College. He left home hurriedly to join the rally without having food and never came back.”

AT Photo: Kalpa Bhattacharyya (extreme left)

Bhattacharyya was a part of a procession that started from the Handique Girls’ College on a day in 1980 and had sustained severe injuries during a lathi charge by the police, following which he had a fatal stroke that claimed his life. Bhattacharyya’s granddaughter, Nitusmita, recollected stories she had heard about the family after her grandfather embraced martyrdom.

“From what my grandmother had told us, the family been through a severe financial crisis. Although one of her daughters was married before my grandfather passed away, three other unmarried daughters remained. My father had just gotten into a job back then and while situations changed for the better, my father’s salary didn’t suffice. We lost a lot of our ancestral lands in village as people took advantage of our vulnerable situation and had taken possession of them by unfair means. Some other plots of land remained that had to be sold to marry off the three young women,” Nitusmita recollected.

Staring at a framed picture of her grandfather on the wall, Nitusmita said, “We had a few newspaper clippings, but I’m not sure if we can find them now. Many may have been misplaced during renovations and painting, and some might have been lost over the decades.”

AT Photo: A framed picture of Assam Agitation martyr Kalpa Bhattacharyya and his wife

As time passes, she reflects that generation fades away, and even the ones that followed are dwindling. The public memory, too, is being erased as these generations pass, a reality that troubles Nitusmita.

“Memories are not being preserved the way they should be,” she said. “As a society, we seem to be forgetting our past. After my grandmother and father passed away, it feels like the stories of my grandfather and the agitation have also faded. We should be doing more to preserve the memories of these people and their sacrifices.”

AT Photo: A grant of Rs 5 lakhs was given to the family of Kalpa Bhattacharyya and other martyrs of the Assam Agitation by the State government in 2016 

‘Sacrifices should not be in vain’

Pulak Kumar stated, “We urge the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. I believe that would be a fitting tribute to the 860 martyrs who lost their lives during the Assam Agitation.” Reflecting on the legacy of Kalpa Bhattacharyya, both Reena Bhattacharyya and her daughter Nitusmita expressed their desire for the protection of their community’s language.

“We are all Indians, part of this great nation, living together. But we seek the protection of our community’s identity. The sacrifice of my grandfather and countless other martyrs must not be in vain,” they said.

Jiabur Rahman highlighted the importance of Assamese language retaining its prominence alongside others. “English is an international language, and Hindi is India’s official language. But Assamese must coexist alongside them in all its glory. Our language has been granted classical status, but we have a long way to go. If Assamese continues to be taught as a compulsory subject until the end of high school, and is made mandatory in workplaces and offices alongside English, it will endure. Only by speaking and writing in Assamese will the language thrive,” Rahman said.