KALAIGAON, Oct 26 � �Gone, but not forgotten, never shall thy memory fade. Oh, Martyrs, we salute you�, these are the words inscribed in the memorial tomb constructed in memory of the 140 peasant martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the hands of tyrant British rulers on January 28 of 1894 at the historic peasants uprising at a small village of Patharighat, 16 km to the west from Mangaldai in Darrang district.
J R Berington, officiating commandant of the military police, ordered the firing against hundreds at Patharughat when they protested against the British government policy of imposing exorbitant taxes. But Patharughat residents� aspiration for giving national recognition to this event like the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on April 13, 1919, is yet to be fulfilled. Althogh the Patharughat massacre occurred long before the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, it was only since 2000, the army has been paying homage to the martyrs on January 29 every year.
The supreme sacrifice offered by 140 common peasants belonging to both the Hindu and Muslim communities leaving aside their religion at the cruel hands of the British rulers while raising a protest that too in a non-violent way is a benchmark of the history of freedom struggle of our motherland and this glorious chapter of the history of freedom struggle of our motherland should get due recognition in the national level.
But no book had so far been written in English language except the book Patharughat written by eminent writer Arup Kumar Dutta which was published by the Mangaldai-based Organizing Committee for the National Level Seminar on Patharughat uprising by Agricultural Peasants. The book had been inaugurated by prominent journalist and former Editor of The Sentinel Dhirendra Nath Bezbarua on September 28, 2010 at a well-organized function at Mangaldai Natya Mandir in presence of Asam Sahitya Sabha president Rong Bong Terang.
Fortunately the book has recently been catalouged in Library of Congress,USA. Mention may be made here that a worthy son of Darrang, Dr Hiranya Kumar Nath presently working as an Associate Professor of Economics at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) in Huntsville, Texas, USA has taken up the initiative in taking up the matter with the authority who after going through the book, readily agreed to catalogue it at the Library of Congress. The link for the Library of Congress catalogue record for the book is: http://lccn.loc.gov/2012493997.
It may also be recalled here that Dr Nath has also instituted �Assam Scholarship� for the undergraduate students studying Economics and/or International Business at Sam Houston State University since 2009. According to Dr Nath, in order to attract foreign investment in the global economy, it is extremely important that the host region or place (for foreign capital) is known to the prospective international investors and business communities. He has learned from his extensive travels across the globe that Assam is relatively unknown to the outside world and that is the first major hurdle as Assam strives to achieve economic growth and development in the current global economic environment. This scholarship is purported to increase awareness about Assam among students, faculty members, and parents in US universities and thereby to introduce Assam to the current and future generations of international investors. The one-time scholarship of USD 500.00 will be awarded every semester to a third/fourth year undergraduate student who demonstrates academic excellence.
On the other hand, though as many as 140 peasants belonging to Hindu and Muslim communities had sacrificed their lives at the hands of blood thirsty tyrant British officers on January 28 of 1894 at a sleepy village of Patharughat or Patharighat-16 km to the west from the district headquarter town of Mangaldai while raising their voice in a peaceful manner against the enhanced land revenue, yet this glorious chapter of the history of the freedom struggle of India is little known to the countrymen nor it got its mention in the national level. Though in that firing 140 peasants from both the Hindu and Muslims had sacrificed their lives at the hands of the British rulers in an open rebellion against the government, yet this tragic episode failed to find its single mention in the national history. The entire nation is well aware of the Jalliwanwala Bagh killing, but the same time the people outside the state of Assam are not aware of it. The Patharughat rebellion is significant in many ways. It took place much before the Jalliwanbalabagh massacre; the village farmers adopted the policy of non violence which was adopted by Mahatma Gandhi many years later and the entire rebellion was spontaneous without any specific leader.