The Gorkhas are very brave and courageous. They have shown and delivered their full efforts for the welfare of the country. But nowadays, they are facing ridiculous circumstances, as if they are not the original inhabitants or indigenous people of Assam – and this has left them grappling with identity problems.
Gorkhas are Indians, and they fought for the country’s freedom movement as much as, and alongside, the other communities. Even then, there always seems to be a question mark hanging over their identities. In this article, I want to highlight the contribution of the Gorkhas of Assam in the Indian freedom movement.
The Indian freedom movement started from the Revolt of 1857 and ended with the dawn of freedom (1947) from the British rule. The Non-Cooperation Movement had a tremendous impact on Assam, and the involvement of the Gorkhas in this freedom movement started with Gandhi’s first visit to the state in 1921.
The freedom movement took a new turn in Assam after the visit of Mahatma Gandhi, as the Assam Association led by Chabilal Upadhyaya had ceased to function. Chabilal Upadhyaya (a prominent leader in India’s freedom struggle from Assam, and also the first president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee) took leadership of the Gorkha community during the Non-Cooperation Movement. And from here on, the involvement of the Gorkhas started.
Gandhi visited several parts of Assam and appealed to the people to start weaving cloth at home with the help of the ‘charkha’ to become self-reliant. In Behali, Mazgaon (a historical place in the Biswanath district), a number of Gorkha freedom fighters like Ramlal Upadhyaya, Hariprasad Upadhyaya, Tikaram Upadhyaya and Brihaspati Upadhyaya appealed to the people to boycott foreign goods and start wearing handmade garments.
In Behali, there was a function to protest against the use of foreign garments and cloths. Most of the people from these areas brought their clothes from home and put them into the fire. During the movement, Chabilal Upadhyaya and his brother were imprisoned in the Tezpur jail. Chabilal Upadhyaya collected donations for the Tilak-Swaraj Fund, which also made him a great contributor to the movement.
Deucharan Upadhyaya was another prominent freedom fighter who actively participated in the movement. He was also imprisoned for his activities in the Guwahati jail, and later on, shifted to the Jorhat jail. He died in that jail because he was fasting until death against the British rule in India.
Dalbir Singh Lohar is another important leader of the Gorkhas of Assam. He participated in a procession with a Congress flag in his hand during Gandhi’s visit to Dibrugarh in 1921.
The impact of the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930 in Assam was not as popular as that of the Non-Cooperation Movement. But in Dibrugarh (Assam), Dalbir Singh Lohar participated in the movement, and for that, he was imprisoned for more than a year. Bir Bahadur Chetry from Barpeta also got arrested by the Britishers during the movement.
During the Quit India Movement, the Gorkhas of Assam took a significant role to make India free from the Britishers. Many important Gorkhas leaders and participants like Chabilal Upadhyaya, Bhakt Bahadur Pradhan, Dalbir Singh Lohar, Hari Prasad Upadhyaya, Bishnulal Upadhyaya, Kumud Chandra Sarma, and many others were taken to the jail.
Many Gorkhas were recruited in Shanti Sena and Mrityu Bahini from different places in the Brahmaputra Valley. The Shanti Sena’s training camp was opened in the remote and backward areas of Teligaon (Assam) in 1936. It helped the people be trained and in getting ready for the movement. Shanti Sena and Mrityu Bahini were the two major organisations where the people of Assam trained themselves and prepared for the Quit India Movement.
Prasad Singh Subba (one of the most prominent Gorkha figures who contributed wholeheartedly to Quit India Movement) took the leadership of a branch of the Congress which was established in Burachapari of Tezpur. Due to his efforts, many Gorkha volunteers from Burachapari came to Tezpur to perform the flag-hoisting ceremony.
In Behali, Gangmouthan, some main leaders from the Gorkha community were Hari Prasad Upadhyaya, Bishnulal Upadhyaya, Ramlal Upadhyaya, Chabilal Upadhyaya etc. who were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment in Tezpur jail in 1942. The active female participants of Mazgaon who were not put in jails were Bhogamaya Devi, Monmaya Devi, Harkamaya Devi and others. In some other places of the Biswanath district like Batiamari, Gomeri, Gahpur, many Gorkha people participated both directly and indirectly in the movement.
During the Quit India Movement, a prominent Nepali figure from a place called Samar Dalani village (now in Biswanath district), Hari Prasad Mishra (born in 22nd October 1925), contributed to the Quit India Movement. He went underground and worked for the movement for more than six months. He absconded from October 1942 to April 1943. Previously, he had worked for the Gorkha League. During the time of the movement, he and his friends fought against the Britishers using guerilla tactics. His name is included in the list of freedom fighters of Assam. In his whole life, he never visited Nepal. He considers Assam as his homeland. Today, he is getting the freedom fighter’s pension from government and does social work for the Gorkhas.
We can conclude that the Gorkhas participated actively in India’s freedom struggle. The Gorkhas were always ready to grab the opportunity to fight for their motherland and gave important contributions to the freedom movement.
But the Gorkhas were always overshadowed by most writers in their writings. Some researchers, however, have tried to shed some light on the rightful contributions of the Gorkhas in the national freedom movement.
Last but not the least, the echoes of the past – the contribution of Gorkhas in the Indian freedom movement – have made the present-day Gorkhas of India hold their head high.
References:
Bhandari, Purushottam, Freedom Movement and Role of Indian Nepalese 1800-1950, Rama Bhandari Publication, Jagiroad, 1996.
Upadhyaya, Bishnulal, SwadhinataJugorNayakChabilalUpadhyaya, Lawyers Books Stall Publication, Guwahati, 1986
History and Culture of Assamese-Nepali; Department of Historical and Antiquarian studies Publication, Government of Assam, Guwahati, 2009.
About The Author: The writer pursued MA in History from Sikkim University, Sikkim, and hails from Biswanath, Assam.