Assam government will pay tribute to 11 martyrs of 1961 ‘Bhasha Andalan’: Himanta Biswa Sarma

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Today on the floor of State Legislative Assembly, Assam’s finance minister said that the government will pay tribute to the 11 martyrs of 1961 ‘Basha Andalan’ by offering monetary compensation to their family. The finance minister who recently tabled the state budget had announced a Rs 5 lakh compensation for the family members of those who lost their lives in the Bodo Land crisis. He also mentioned that in the next state budget, government will sanction fund to compensate family members of the ones who lost their lives in Karbi Anglong.

Today in the Assembly North Karimganj, MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha raised the point about recognising 1961 martyrs, he lauded government’s initiative to compensate family members of the people who lost their lives in Bodo Land, and then he raised the point that the government must do something for the ‘Bhasha Andalan’ Martyrs too. Sarma in response to Purkayastha’s motion asked for the names of all 11 martyrs and announced about the monetary compensation.

Kanailal Niyogi, Chandicharan Sutradhar, Hitesh Biswas, Satyendra Deb, Kumud Ranjan Das, Sunil Sarkar, Tarani Debnath, Sachindra Chandra Paul, Birendra Sutradhar, Sukamal Purkayastha and Kamala Bhattacharjee, lost their lives on May 19, 1961. The Assam government had proposed to make Assamese the only official language of Assam including the Bengali populated districts of Barak Valley i.e. Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi by passing a law. Huge number of protestors gathered at Silchar Railway Station, Tarapur for mass picketing against government’s move. The Assam Rifles fired bullets at the unarmed demonstrators at the aftermath of of which nine people died on the spot and two succumbed later. After the incident, the Assam government was compelled to withdraw the circular and Bengali was recognised as an official language in Assam. 1961 was not the last time people lost their lives fighting for the protection and dignity of their mother tongue in Assam, there were conflicts in Karimganj between state machineries and localities in 1972, 1985 and 1986. Four more were martyred in those conflicts, Bijan Chakraborty lost his life in 1972 demonstration and Jaganmay Deb, Dibyendu Das and Krishna Kanta Biswas was martyred in 85-86 movement.

Deputy speaker and MLA Silchar, Dilip Paul also had a discussion with the Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal about recognising the Bhasha Andolon losses. It must be recalled that, several cultural organisations have been appealing for renaming of Silchar station, the regional demand is to officially classify Silchar Railway station as ‘Bhasha Sahid Smoron station’. The appeal was approved by Central Government, but the State has decided to hold it. Minister of Industries, Chandra Mohan Patowary recently said that the change of name might give birth to communal tension in the region and hence the state government has decided to hold it for now.

The local associations and cultural groups in Silchar and other parts of Barak Valley condemned Patowary’s statement and had arranged for several meetings to decide a road map for the way ahead… well for them and for all those who were upset with Patowary’s statement, here is some consolation…