Quit India Movement in Assam

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Quit India Movement in Assam is the outcome of my research work done on the part played by the people of Assam to overthrow the shackles of bondage from the British Raj and to establish her own rule with the rest of India. It is found that since the days of the Treaty of Yandaboo and more particularly since 1857 the banner of revolt against the British Raj was raised by Maniram Dewan and his associates. The visit of Mahatma Gandhi to Assam on the eve of Non-Cooperation Movement in 1921 roused the Assamese masses from their slumber as elsewhere. Assam soon found herself in the forefront of the struggle and the same patriotic trend continued till the attainment of Independence. The book tries to throw light on the successive movements more particularly the 1942 movement and the heroic role of the people of this easternmost province. An attempt has been made to bring to the limelight the role of Gopinath Bordoloi in saving Assam from the clutches of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The euphoria of attainment of Independence is also reflected in the book.

ANIL KUMAR SHARMA, Son of late Trilochan Sharma and Srimoti Soroj Bala Devi, was born at Dadhara, Dergaon under Golaghat district of Assam. After completion of his schooling at Dergaon he took his graduation with Honours in History from Cotton College, Guwahati and post- graduation in History from Gauhati University. Initially serving as teacher in Dergaon Higher Secondary School and Naharkatiya College for a short period, he permanently joined DKD College, Dergaon, a premier institution of higher education in Upper Assam, in 1972. He obtained his Ph. D. degree for his thesis on freedom movement from Dibrugarh University. He has taught and contributed various research papers some of which were published in the journal of Historical Research, Department of History, Dibrugarh University and Proceedings of North East India History Association. As a socio- cultural activist, he attended the Delhi session of international Conference of Indo-Soviet Cultural Society being held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi in 1980. Dr. Sharma is the life member of the Asom Sahitya Sabha, the greatest literary organization of Assam and the North-East India History Association (NEIHA). Some of his recent contributions were found place in the Assamese Encyclopedia on History published by the Asom Sahitya Sabha. A major contribution of Dr. Sharma is that he has brought to the limelight the contributions made by the prominent personalities and freedom fighters of the Dergaon area in a series of articles published in the Raijor Darpan. A writer of Assam Higher Secondary Education Council textbook in History, some of his university prescribed text books are on the road to publication. Dr. Sharma is presently the Head of the Department of History. DKD College, Dergaon, Assam. His forthcoming book is in Assamese: 'Swadhinota Sangramot Golaghat.

This book Quit India Movement in Assam is a published form of my thesis entitled "Quit India Movement to Independence: A Study on the Role of Golaghat District in India's Freedom Movement" is a study on the role of the present district of Golaghat in India's struggle for freedom during its most critical years, 1942 to 1947. Although the district had played a major role in the freedom struggle and the people of the district gave ample proof of their love for the nation by contributing remarkably for the success of the struggle, yet no authentic book or account has been written on the subject so far. Amalendu Guha's Planter-Raj to Swaraj. Freedom Struggle and Electoral Politics in Assam, 1826-1947, though a highly useful work on the freedom movement in Assam, is of very little use for a comprehensive understanding of the subject under review. The same is also the case with K.N. Dutta's Landmarks of the Freedom Struggle in Assam and Anuradha Dutta's Assam in the Freedom Movement. A more detailed account of the role of Golaghat district in the freedom movement is found in the Political History of Assam, volumes II and III, edited by Arun Chandra Bhuyan and Sibopada De. Swadhinota Sangramot Jorhat (in Assamese) edited by Debeswar Doloi and Tileswar Bordoloi and published by the Jorhat Zila Mukti Jujaru Sanmilan generally deals with the freedom movement in the present Jorhat and Golaghat districts from 1928 to 1942 in the backdrop of the movement in Assam. Sonali Smriti, a book written in Assamese on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee Celebration of India's Independence and edited by Sankar Kakoti Bora and Ajit Barua, presents only a bird's eye view on the subject. Autobiographies and memoirs of freedom fighters of Golaghat are few and far between.

A humble attempt has been made in this work to present a critical but objective analysis of the part played by the people of this district in the freedom movement of Assam, especially during the period 1942-47. It is expected that the work will not only throw ample light on the history of the freedom movement in Golaghat, but would also provide the necessary background for similar grass root study in future. The territorial limit of this work is restricted to the present Golaghat district (consisting of the three sub-divisions of Golaghat, Bokakhat, and Dhansini), which was during 1942-47 a sub-division of the district of Sibsagar (Sivasagar).

The work is based mainly on primary sources, both published and unpublished, collected from the National Archives of India, New Delhi; National Library, Kolkata; Records Office, Assam Secretariat, Dispur, Office of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, Guwahati, Department of Historical and Antiquarian Studies, Guwahati, Assam Archives, Dispur and Office of the Additional Director General of Police (Special Branch), Guwahati. In addition to these, relevant secondary works have been consulted in Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University Library, New Delhi; Central Library, Guwahati; District Library, Jorhat; Asom Sahitya Sabha Library, Jorhat; Library of the Kamarupa Anusandhana Samiti, Guwahati; Krishnakanta Handique Granthagar, Gauhati University, Guwahati; Lakshminath Bezbarua Granthagar, Dibrugarh University. Dibrugarh and Naren Sarma Library, D.K.D. College, Dergaon to supplement the original sources. Moreover, newspapers, journals and magazines, contemporary accounts, reports and memoirs of some freedom fighters have been consulted and used wherever necessary. Written and oral information have also been collected from prominent persons and freedom fighters of the 1942 movement for this purpose.

The book has been arranged and divided into six chapters excluding the Introduction but including the Conclusion. The Introductory Chapter is divided into two parts, in Part One entitled "Golaghat District: A Profile' a brief account of the geographical area of the present Golaghat district and its population complex has been discussed whereas Part Two is devoted to reviewing the major political developments of the post-Revolt period upto the beginning of the Second World War.

Chapter One, The Second World War and Emergence of a Mass Movement' deals with the impact of the World War II on Assam in general and Golaghat in particular. The role of the Golaghat District Congress Committee with its mauza and village committees during the early years of the war has also been discussed in this Chapter.

After the non-cooperation and civil disobedience movements, the Quit India Movement has usually been regarded as the third great mass struggle of the people of India for freedom from the independence of British rule. Indeed, the Quit India Movement was a mass upsurge of unprecedented dimensions. This was admitted as much by the alien rulers. Governor- General Linlithgow's telegram to Prime Minister Churchill (31 August 1942) conveyed the frightful message that he was engaged in meeting by far the most serious rebellion since that of 1857, the gravity and extent of which we have so far concealed from the world for reasons of military security. Small wonder, then, that the Quit India struggle beginning on 9 August 1942 expedited the liberation of the country. albeit through negotiations after the post-Second World War upsurge in India.

The AICC meeting in Bombay passed the famous Quit India resolution on the evening of 8 August 1942 'by an overwhelming majority. Besides being a reiteration of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) resolution of 14 July 1942, something more was added to it. The AICC's Quit India Resolution stated that after the CWC resolution made it clear, with 'further justification', 'that the immediate ending of British rule in India is an emergent necessity, both for the sake of India and for the success of the United Nations'; the AICC viewed 'with dismay the deterioration of the situation on the Russian and Chinese fronts' and conveyed to the Russian and Chinese peoples its high appreciation of their heroism in defence of their freedom. Only 'the glow of freedom now can release that energy and enthusiasm of millions of people which will immediately transform the nature of the war (emphasis added). It was freedom alone which would enable India to resist aggression effectively with the people's united will and strength behind it'. Therefore, the AICC repeated 'with all emphasis the demand for the withdrawal of British power from India'.

**Contents and Sample Pages**