http://twocircles.net/2013apr29/visually_challenged_youth_clueless_after_duped_saradha_guwahati.html

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Homegrown star’s homecoming

Adil Hussain needs no introduction as he has been able to book a sizeable space of his own in the world of acting — be it theatre or cinema. In addition to winning the best actor award in the New Jersey Independent South Asian Cine Festival (NJISACF) for Lessons in Forgetting, he has the rare honour of featuring in three films, including Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi, which were screened at the International Film Festival of India in Goa, including the opening and closing film.

A scene from his latest Assamese film Sringkhal with co-actor Badal Das. Pix: Abdul Gani

The actor, who is the face of the region in the national film scene and beyond, is set to work in an Assamese movie after 22 years. In an exclusive conversation with Abdul Gani, while shooting for the Prabin Hazarika directed Sringkhal*, Hussain recounts his experiences.

Q. What does it feel like doing your first ever Assamese film as lead character?

A. It feels like coming home after a long hiatus. I have started my life with Assamese films way back in 1982. The last one was in 1988 — Pita-Putra. I’m returning to the scene after 22 years. I don’t have to act here — all I need to do is be myself. I’m so deeply attached emotionally with the atmosphere here in Assam that characters like these come naturally to me. And of course, playing the lead feels good. When I entered the film industry, I never expected to be in the lead, al- though I wanted to be, because I was just a 19 year old guy then. My understanding of acting was not enough during that period. Now, I think I’m equipped to do a decent job — to bring a three dimensional character into a role. The expectations w ill be high. People have seen m e in films all these years, so t hey will definitely be watching c ritically. I hope to bring a deg ree of reality to the film.

Adil Hussain. Pix: Abdul Gani

Q Why did you choose to do Sringkhal?

A. I THINK I’m lucky to be a part of a film which has such a beautiful and simple storyline. At present, I have not seen many similar movies anywhere. Story telling which comes from your heart is the key. This is the kind of the film in which Prabin da’s heart is urging him to tell a story. I have known Prabin da for a long time. When I read the script I was blown over. It is a script like Artist. It has that kind of simplicity. It has always been very difficult to write a straightforward script. Prabin da has been involved with the story for a long time so he could prepare it so lucidly.

Q. How has the transition from Life Of Pi to Sringkhal been?

A. As an actor my job is to respect and to accommodate different kinds of situations, roles, ideas and people. The inner flexibility of ideas is important. And now I’m Kalidas, an Assamese guy. Every character I play is always more of me. The character is not outside of you. When you are playing different characters, you are merely discovering unexplored sides of your personality. The areas which we do not get to encounter in our day-today life, we do it through our roles in films. That’s the fun part, and that is why I act.

Q. How do you cope with your newly gained celebrity status?

A. I think it is part of my profession. When I used to do theatre, I was known to people who were associated with theatre and the people who watched it. But film being a farreaching medium, the public began recognising me. When I was at the Chandigarh airport before coming to Guwahati, I was giving autographs and photographs for one hour. I have to face my consequences gracefully. But I have faced more such situations in Delhi, Mumbai or in Chandigarh than in Guwahati.

Q. How has working with Ang Lee and Mira Nair been like?

A. The first thing I noticed about them is their meticulous planning and precise execution. Their eyes are so trained that they notice the details in everything. They will go to any extent to get it perfect in every sense of the word. The second and the important part is that they are so humble. Ang Lee is the most humble person I have ever met in my life so far. He does not even consider himself as director. That was indeed a great learning period for me. I think every director in India should attend a workshop to understand what direction means.

Q. What do you think of Assam as a film destination?

A. Let me just say that I will try my best to project it in a positive light. Assam, and the entire Northeast, is a fantastic place to shoot films. There are innumerous locations here. But the government should also take responsibility in this regard. The first thing is to project Assam as a safe place. There are number of bandhs taking place every month. So such an unpredictable situation is not very good for any production company. The professional groups of outside would rather prefer other places where the government takes responsibility to clear permissions and red tape. The government here abdicates this responsibility.

Q. You did an ad for Tanishq right?

A. They called me and I asked them to send me the script. I liked it and did it. But I’m very particular about the product. I’m not going to advertise for drinks like Pespi or Coca Cola because I do not believe in these products. I will endorse products in which I believe.

Q. Tell us about your next projects?

A. Recently, I shot a film based on a 12th century story set in Punjab. I’m not allowed to speak about it. Then, there is Blemish Light, an Indo-American production for which shooting starts from December 11. It has a very strong story. Besides that, I’m also featuring in a Bengali film — Kasher Dewal with Rupa Ganguly. After that there is another film called Feast of Varanashi, a British-Indian production. The shoot of Sunrise starts from March next year.

* Sringkhal is based on the story of Bhabendra Nath Saikia by the same name.

http://sevensisterspost.com/homegrown-stars-homecoming/

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Lethal games of hide and seek

Abdul Gani

Photojournalist Altaf Qadri recounts his tale of survival amidst military strikes of Gaddafi loyalists, defensive rebel gun-showers and unfeeling NATO airstrikes

Altaf Qadri during one of his assignments abroad.

The infighting in Libya between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government has seen several journalists being kidnapped and killed since 2011.

One of the luckiest survivors was award-winning Associated Press photo journalist Altaf Qadri of Jammu & Kashmir who was reported missing on April 9 in 2011 while covering the civil war leaving all his fellow journalists and others in shock.

Qadri was always interested in such assignments since the day he took photography as a profession in 2001 despite being a computer engineer.

He was thrilled to cross to the Libyan border on March 29, 2011 through the Egyptian land port of Salloum, the main border point between Egypt and Libya. He headed towards Benghazi through Tubruk, one of the best routes for foreign journalists to reach the city as it was under the control of journalist-friendly rebels.

The Battle of Brega-Ajdabiya Road was one of the many battles during the Libyan revolution between forces loyal to Gaddafi and the rebels, for control of the towns of Brega and Ajdabiya, respectively.

“It was a Saturday morning on April 9 when I, along with other AP staffers, finished our breakfast and were about to leave for the volatile frontline between Brega and Ajdabiya. Our routine was to head to the frontline in the morning, file from Ajdabiya and then head back to Benghazi by evening. It is a pretty long drive from Benghazi and at even 150 kmph it would take an hour-and-a-half to reach the frontline. We drove along the desert which was dotted with the remains of tanks and other military vehicles. I started thinking about the four New York Times journalists who were captured by Gaddafi’s forces the previous month. They were brutalised for four days before being freed. However, things looked normal that morning,” Qadri said.

At the time when Qadri boarded the rebels' vehicle.

They reached Ajdabiya, the last Libyan town held by the rebels in the east, crossing one of the many checkpoints manned by the rebels on the way to the frontline.

Qadri soon noticed some rebels loading grad missile into a red pickup truck with a launcher mounted on the back. “I thought I would take some photographs while they launch them towards the Gaddafi’s forces’ positions. The rebels looked familiar so I went ahead and asked them, mostly by sign language, if I could accompany them, and they agreed reluctantly,” he said.

When he climbed on the back of the truck, nobody actually saw him leaving with the rebel truck. He was lucky to pass that check point in the disguise of a rebel as no journalists were allowed beyond that point.

He was thrilled. “I was about to see live action at the frontline. I am sure given a chance any journalist would have done the same,” he quipped.

At Ground Zero

The action had already started at ground zero as the truck advanced for about a kilometre, then went off the road into the desert and behind a sand dune. The rebels fired four grad missiles and then drove back toward the main road to reload. Out of nowhere, their truck came under heavy return fire. Shells fired by brigades loyal to Gaddafi started falling all around them.

“There was heavy machine-gun fire, so a rebel and I jumped on the back of the truck. I was sitting right beneath the grad missile launcher. The rebels fired a third missile as they were speeding away and the blast knocked me off. I fell on the sand with a thud,” he said.

He tried chasing it but it sped away. “One of the rebels looked at me and tried to tell the driver to stop, but they were too scared to stop, even for two seconds, because Gaddafi forces were closer to us than I had thought and they were closing in. I found myself deserted amid a rain of bullets and bombs,” he said.

Bullets continue whizzing through the air and hitting the sand nearby while Qadri ran for his life. “I was wondering why none of these bullets hit me. I rolled down the sand dune and ran back to the gas station, which was still about 500 metre away. By the time I got there, all the rebels and journalists had already fled, including the AP team I was with,” he said. He was now alone amidst the sand and bullets.

After reaching the gas station, he started to search for a place to hide. “I ran behind and found three storerooms, a toilet and a small dark room with a shattered glass door. My only option was that dark small room. The door was locked so I crawled into the room from under the shattered-tinted glass. It was a very small room, but dark to my advantage. It had been used as a kitchen before. There was a portable gas stove. I lifted the lid of the stove and placed it just near the shattered part of the door so that no one could see me inside. All this while, gun shots and grenade blasts were drawing closer,” he said.

Gaddafi’s forces were now rushing towards the back of the gas station. They were going along the storerooms behind the gas station and kicking the doors, then firing their guns inside. They finished three rooms already, now it was the turn of the small room Qadri was hiding in.

“I could hear them walking towards the room. I could hear the shattered pieces of glass door being crushed under their boots as they walked towards my room. I was sure they’d fire at me and then ask for identification. I said my prayers, remembered my family and asked Allah for forgiveness. All of a sudden they stopped just near the door, discussed something in Arabic for a few seconds and retreated to the front of the gas station without firing a single shot into the room. What a relief as they walked away. I took a deep breath and thanked Allah, the Almighty,” he added.

This was the place he had to be for the next couple of days till he found a safe way out. It was a 4×6 sq ft with a steel kitchen sink and a small window opening towards the storerooms and a huge wall. The room was stinking of rotten onion and human excrement in one corner, an empty plastic bottle and two steel plates.

“I found a piece of cloth which I put over the window to make the room even darker. I took my compact camera and started filming the room, briefly. I disabled all the alarms and reminders from my mobile phone to ensure there was no noise. I replaced my used camera flash cards with blank ones and hid the used ones in my boots,” he said.

By that time, his legs were numb as he had been crouching down on the floor for a pretty long time. Many scary thoughts crossed his mind — he was more worried about his family and started looking at the photos of his family and friends stored on his mobile phone which encouraged him not to give up.

For five hours, he continued to be in the same state. He even urinated in a plastic bottle. At dusk when all was quiet he crawled out of the room and explored the storerooms. He also saw a group of newly built houses, through a steel mesh window of one of the storerooms, at a distance.

“I thought it would be a good idea to stay in one of them, after dark. When it was dark enough, I ran away from the room towards this group of newly built houses which was a few hundred metres away from the gas station. I decided to stay in the middle one to be safer,” he said.

In a room he found two mattresses, two pillows and a blanket. It appeared that fighters from one of the sides had squatted in the house. There were empty bottles, empty cigarette packets and food wrappers scattered about. By then he was tired and thirsty. He found potable water in a plastic bottle lying in a corner and an unfinished mango juice packet.

“I started contemplating my next course of action. I thought of making my way back to Benghazi, which was more than 150 km from this place, in the cover of darkness, but that seemed foolhardy. I could hear heavy military vehicles and tanks moving towards Ajdabiya. So I decided to stay put unless there was a real opportunity,” he said.

The award winning photojournalist later said that it was perhaps the loneliest night of his life. “I was probably the only unarmed man in an area of 150 square kilometre. I fell asleep at about 1 am, but often woke to the sound of NATO aircraft on reconnaissance mission, for a half-hour period about every two hours. A loud bang woke me up at around 5 am,” he said.

NATO aircraft had finally started bombing the Gaddafi’s forces’ positions from Brega through Ajdabiya. As the airstrikes ceased just before noon, he decided to take a look outside. He sensed of getting his lost hope back when he noticed a herd of camels outside.

“At this point, I thought of disguising as a camel herder but that sounded stupid. I decided against venturing out as the road was very close to the house and there was continuous movement of military vehicles. So I went back to the house. I remained in the house all day, watching from the windows as Gaddafi’s forces drove up and down the road,” he added.

At around 2 pm, he saw a group of soldiers, who stopped by at the gas station, eating and resting. And then some soldiers rode a pickup truck and started patrolling near these houses. But there was little he could do. Fortunately, they drove past this house without stopping and headed back to the gas station.

The Final Hours

At 5 pm, he saw normal pickup trucks arriving from Ajdabiya at the gas station, some of them with the rebel flag. It seemed to him that they were rebel trucks captured by the Gaddafi forces.

In the meantime, one of the trucks drove near the house and sent his pulse rate high. He heard men talking outside and then heard someone opening the front door. “I stood in front of the closed door holding my cameras up so the man would see them before reaching for his gun,” he said.

As soon as the man opened the door he yelled ‘sahafi, sahafi’ – ‘journalist’ in Arabic. “He was dumbstruck. Before he could say anything I started to communicate with him through sign language so that he could be sure that I was a foreign journalist and hence no threat to him,” he said. He led Qadri to the pick-up parked just outside the gate as other armed men in the pick-up truck pointed their guns on him. He gave Qadri a cheese sandwich and an orange juice bottle while making him sit in the pickup van when he gestured that he was thirsty. He thought the forces were not as barbaric as they were being portrayed. “I couldn’t eat the sandwich due to my dry throat and may be because I was nervous. I was holding my passport so that I could show it before their commander asks for it,” he said.

He narrated the story and showed his passport. The commander put it in his pocket and said, “Don’t worry we’ll take you back to your hotel but you have to say in front of the camera that we saved you”.

He thought they would shoot him after this. But at the same time he felt they could not kill him if they recorded his interview or maybe they would arrest him and send this video clip to the media saying that they are not as barbaric as people are portraying.

“At this point I was still sure that Gaddafi forces have got me. After the interview, he said, ‘Do you have any idea what you have survived?’ As he was talking, I saw a man climbed up on the mosque and flew a rebel flag from its minaret. I was like, Oh My God! They are rebels and I am actually saved,” he said.

He saw two rebels walking towards him whom he had seen many a times before on the frontline. They hugged him and apparently recognised him. “I felt completely different now, I was a free man again,” he sighed.

The commander he was talking to was a Libyan banker, who had joined the fight like other civilians. “He said they had heard about four missing journalists and assumed I was one of them. He said whole world was looking for you and every newspaper had your photograph and news. This made me so nervous and anxious because I knew if my family knew about this, they would be devastated,” he said.

Finally, five of them — rebel commander, his three men and Qadri left in the pickup for Benghazi. They reached hotel Uzu, where the AP crew was waiting for him in the compound. All hugged each other and Ben handed him Thuriya satellite phone to speak to his family.

“As I called, my wife answered the phone and started crying when she heard my voice. By then, she had already been informed about my safe return. I felt so bad to make my family go through all the agony and pain,” he said.

“I appreciate the way Associated Press handled the whole thing. They made sure that my family was taken care of during those long terrible hours of agony. My long-time friend and colleague Rafiq Maqbool, who is based in Mumbai, flew to Amritsar to be with my family. My eldest sister and her husband were also advised to fly to Amritsar from New Delhi. May be they were expecting something worse. I had to cut short my assignment to be back with my family. If it was not for my family I would have stayed back and covered it as scheduled,” he said.

(Qadri, 35, had won a World Press Photo award for his poignant photograph of relatives mourning over the body of a man killed in a shooting by police in Kashmir)

http://sevensisterspost.com/lethal-games-of-hide-and-seek/

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Saraighat completes 50 glorious years

Abdul Gani

Guwahati: It was an emotional yet proud evening for these gentlemen who cherished the hard labour they put into creating a milestone in the history of the country. Meet Swarn Singh and his colleagues as they stood on the banks of the mighty Brahmaputra with the gorgeous Saraighat bridge in front of them which completed 50 glorious years of its service to the people of India, on Tuesday.

Assam Chief minister deliver lecture near the bridge. Pic: Subhamoy Bhattacharjee

“It is a lifetime achievement. We are proud of what we have done. We can confidently say that it will serve another 100 and more years without any trouble,” an emotional Singh told Seven Sisters Post as he participated in a programme Indian Railway had organized to mark the 50th year of one of India’s longest doubledecker bridge on Tuesday.

The construction of Saraighat bridge was started in January 1959 by Hindustan Construction Company and was completed in September 1962. A diesel engine ran on the bridge on September 23, 1962.

However, specific traffic was allowed over the 1298 metre long bridge on October 27 in the same year bringing an end to an era of infinite transportation woes for the region. The 10.6 crore bridge was formally inaugurated on June 7, 1963 by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Saraighat Bridge at evening. Pic: Biju Boro

“We just cannot express the feeling we experienced at that time. We sang the inauguration song in front of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru,” Singh said as his colleagues Satyabarta Bhattacharjee, Shiben Bannerjee and Dilip Kumar Mitra looked on with a sense of pride.

Later in the evening these witnesses of history were felicitated. They also recounted how they were engaged to build the bridge. “The important thing was that the entire work was done by Indians. All the people including the railway and other technical officials involved in the process were brilliant. We still remember how we had to struggle against the sharp underwater current. We doubt if there is any other bridge of such quality,” Shiben Bannerjee who is also a classical music exponent told this correspondent at Pandu ghat.

Altogether 14,000 tonne of steel, 4.2 milion cubic ft concrete and 40,000 tonne of cement were used to build the first ever bridge on Brahmaputra. At present Rs25 lakh per year is spent by the Railways in maintenance of the bridge. Assam governor Janaki Ballav Patnaik, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and other railway officials including Railways general manager S Virdi were present on the occasion.

Assam governor JB Patnaik suggested that the name of the bridge should be Lachit Borphukan. “There should also be a statue of the great warrior in a commanding position along with a short description of the war written on a marble plaque,” Patnaik said.

While, the Chief Minister said that he felt privileged as he was present on the occasion of the inauguration of the bridge in his youth. (Seven Sisters Post)

http://sevensisterspost.com/saraighat-completes-50-glorious-years/

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Bard has bigger fan-following in Bengal: Lyricist

Abdul Gani

Guwahati: Legendary singer-composer Bhupen Hazarika never had a dearth of listeners but his image surpassed popular imagination in neighbouring West Bengal, claimed noted Bengali lyricist Mintu Mukherjee.

The veteran musician, who is credited with translating the bard’s songs in Bengali, was in Guwahati to pay tribute to Bhupenda on his first death anniversary on Monday.

“Jekhane phul phute/ seikhane baroder gondhoke ghrina kora ek mon/ sei bidrohi mon take jatio smoron/dite hobe tar dam/ shardha bhalobasai dilam pronam,” the lines came out spontaneously, as Mukherjee sat on the courtyard of the balladeer’s residence in Nizarapar on Monday.

Mintu Mukherjee at Bhupenda's residence.

In an exclusive chat with Seven Sisters Post, Mukherjee said his visit to Assam will not be the same anymore, in the absence of the legendary singer-composer.

“I was surprised to see Bhupenda’s popularity in Bengal. His image in Bengal is far bigger than in Assam. People there are still crazy for his songs,” he said after paying tribute to the bard.

Mukherjee, who had been associated with Bhupenda since 1957, worked in several films together.

Some of them went on to become colossal hits in Bengal and other places like Jeevan Trishna, Jonakir Aalo, Doi Beshra, Chameli Memsaab, Ekhano Pinjar and Gajmukta, apart from movies Rudali, Ek Pal, Darmiyaan: In Between, Aarop and Gaja Gamini.

Mukherjee recounted the days he spent with Bhupenda in Kolkata and other parts of Bengal.

“Not only Bhupenda, people who used to accompany him during concerts also used to get tremendous attention. During the Yuva Utsav in 1957, I was surprised to see the attendance of the crowd. Even though all the big names like Salil Choudhury and Hemanta Mukherjee had already performed, there were still 40,000-odd people cheering for Bhupenda when he came onto the stage. This was the kind of popularity that he enjoyed,” he said.

Bhupenda performed in Kolkata for the last time in 1999.

Mukherjee, who is a frequent visitor to Assam, is also familiar with other Assamese cultural icons like Bishnu Prasad Rabha.

“I used to call him Bishnuda. Though I had not had the opportunity of working with him, I was well versed with his works. I was also aware that he deeply influenced Bhupenda and brought a sense of revolution in him,” he added.

The noted lyricist, who hails from Tollygunge in West Bengal, also said that he would be happy to do more translations of Bhupenda’s songs into Bengali. (Seven Sisters Post)

http://sevensisterspost.com/bard-has-bigger-fan-following-in-bengal-lyricist/

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Dekas of Sonapur grow money on trees, encourage others to follow suit

Abdul Gani

Sonapur : If somebody had said that money doesn’t grow on trees, you will say he must be lying – after you meet Hareswar Deka of Upper Tepesia village in Sonapur area, some 35 km from Guwahati, in Kamrup district.

A retired state government official, Deka has proved by dint of his intelligence and hard work that money indeed grows on trees. And his money now grows on his rubber trees.

Hareswar Deka at his plantation. Pic: Abdul Gani

Deka has set an example how economic progress can be achieved in rural areas of the state through rubber plantations in a systematic way.

“I’m quite satisfied now with the money I’m getting from my trees and would urge people to do the same, if they really want a handsome return. It’s definitely one of the best ways for economic progress,” an elated Deka told Seven Sisters Post at his residence.

And not without reason – with a mere return of Rs45,000 in 1996, his earning from rubber soared to Rs14,77,000 last year. His experimentation with rubber started in 1986 when he planted 450 saplings on a plot of land measuring one hectare.

The rubbers being sun-dried. Pic: Rajiv Konwar

“I had a horticulture garden with various species of fruits, but as I was away most of the time due to my official engagements, some people used to destroy them. Hence I decided not to plant any fruit there. During that time, I came across a newspaper article which narrated the benefits of rubber plantation, and I immediately went to the Rubber Board office in Guwahati,” he said.

And there was no turning back. Now, along with his son Debajyoti, Deka’s rubber plantation covers an area of almost 14 hectares.

At present, the father son duo is selling raw rubber around Rs180 per kg either to the Rubber Board or any private party, depending on the international market. The Dekas said that in 2010 the price had jumped to Rs215 per kg.

Hareswar Deka's son Debajyoti at work. Pic: Abdul Gani

A full-grown tree gives up to 250 gram of rubber liquid per day. And, depending on the weather, they thus collect around two tonnes of liquid per month from one hectare of land. And this continues for almost nine months of the year. Around four litres of liquids can give 1 kg of rubber after processing – sun drying and smoke drying.

“But one has to be very careful while tapping the tree. We have to keep in mind that the tree does not get hurt. We collect the liquids every alternate day or after two days so that there is no pressure on the tree,” added the senior Deka, who even went to Kerala to study rubber plantation in 1997 with the help of the Rubber Board.

The Dekas have employed seven unemployed youths. Now, seeing their prosperity and hoping to repeat their success story, other villagers too have evinced keen interest in rubber plantation, and some of them have already started the cash crop cultivation.

Among them is Debeswar Pradhan, son of a farmer, who has started rubber plantation on his own with the help of World Vision India, an NGO that offered him 300 saplings. He has planted these on one hectare plot of land and nurturing another 350 saplings.

“We have realised that rubber can eradicate poverty after seeing Hareswar Deka and his family. We believe that if we work hard we too can prosper. We also thank World Vision for their support in this regard,” Pradhan said. (Seven Sisters Post)

http://sevensisterspost.com/dekas-of-sonapur-growmoney-on-trees-encourage-others-to-follow-suit/

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Pothorughat saga now brought before the world

Abdul Gani

Guwahati: The only book in English on the historic peasants’ rebellion at Pothorughat in Darrang district in which as many as 140 peasants belonging to Hindu and Muslim community laid their lives for the sake of their country has finally found its place in the Library of Congress in America.

“It’s great news for all of us. It really meant a lot for us because the sacrifice made by our forefathers never got recognition the way it should have. Now the people in the world will come to know about it in detail,” said Bhargab Kumar Das, a member of Organising Committee for the National Level Seminar on the Pothorughat uprising by Agricultural Peasants, who published the book.

The author of the book – Pothorughat – is eminent writer Arup Kumar Dutta and it was released on September 28, 2010 by senior journalist Dhirendra Nath Bezbarua and Asam Sahitya Sabha president Rong Bong Terang.

The link for the Library of Congress catalogue record for the book is: http://lccn.loc.gov/2012493997.

“In this regard we would like to thank Hiranya Kumar Nath who is presently working as an Associate Professor of Economics at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) in Huntsville, Texas, USA for taking the initiative with the authority who after going through the book, readily agreed to catalogue it at the Library of Congress. We were trying hard to organise a national seminar in New Delhi on the Pothorughat issue but this development would help us to make the sacrifices of the peasants known at the national and international level. We are also thankful to Arup Kumar Dutta for writing the book,” Das further added.

Locals rued that though as many as 140 peasants belonging to Hindu and Muslim community had sacrificed their lives at the hands of British on January 28 of 1894 at a sleepy village of Pothorughat or Patharighat – some 16 km to the west from the district headquarters Mangaldai while raising their voice in a peaceful manner against the hiked land revenue, yet this chapter of the history of the Indian freedom struggle is little known in other parts of the country.

“The entire nation is well aware of the Jalliwanwala Bagh killing, but people outside the state of Assam are not aware of the Pothorughat rebellion which 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 prominent leader,” said another member. (Seven Sisters Post)

http://sevensisterspost.com/pothorughat-saga-now-brought-before-the-world/

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