Kanaklata Barua was not your regular teenager. She was made of much sterner stuff. So when Mahatma Gandhi gave the call to ‘do or die.’ the motto of the Quit India Movement he launched in 1942, Kanaklata went all in – and made the ultimate sacrifice.

India’s struggle for freedom from colonial rule was in its last phase and women across the country were playing a pivotal part in the movement. Probably inspired by them, this 17-year-old patriot from Assam realized that there could be no half-measures if her country had to be free.

“You can kill our human bodies but not our souls made of iron. O Britishers! Whatever measures you adopt to stop us will fail. We shall continue to proceed. None can stop us from hoisting our national flag at the police post.” — Kanaklata Barua.

Her high-pitched voice echoed all around with these words. It boosted the morale of her fellow freedom fighters in the procession — all members of the ‘Mrityu Vahini’ group or as the name suggests ‘Death Squad’.

‘Do or die’ was their slogan firm. She was Kanaklata Barua, a 17-year-old teenager, who nurtured dreams of freeing Mother India from the clutches of the British. The British officers pointed their guns at Kanaklata Barua who held high the national flag.

The aura of the Tricolor filled the milieu all around. No fear of death! And they marched forward with the Tricolor fluttering high in the Gohpur sky. They reached the police station. She was about to hoist the flag when the British shot at her. She died on the spot.

What happened next?

The brave freedom fighters in the group did not let the national flag fall. Mukunda Kakoti held the flag, but he was shot dead too. One after another more valorous sons of the soil joined. Gunshots injured them. Yet the fear of death or injury did not stop them. They proceeded. Ultimately Rampati Rajkhowa succeeded in hoisting the tricolor at the Gohpur police post! It was 20 September 1942.

This is only one example of a small incident in the Gohpur police station area of Darrang in Assam. Likewise, many such valorous stories of the sons and daughters of Bharat Mata from across her length and breadth are unheard of and unsung in History textbooks. It is their collective efforts, their sacrifice, and their martyrdom year after year, which ultimately forced the British to leave India.

Kanaklata Barua was born on 22 December 1924 to Krishna Kanta and Karneshwari Barua at Borangabari, Gohpur, Darrang district (now in Sonitpur District), Assam. She was also called Birbala, Kanka. She was nicknamed Kali because of her dark complexion. Her ancestors were ministers in the court of the Ahom kings.

Kanaklata Barua lost her mother when she was only five. Her father, a farmer and social worker remarried but he died when she was thirteen. She studied at the local school till Class III but then dropped out to take care of her younger siblings Rajani Kanta Barua and Dibyalata Barua and to do household chores.

Since her childhood, Kanaklata Barua was different from the other girls of her age. She was more patriotic in approach and nurtured hatred against the British. Freedom movements during her time attracted her attention.

Some political events like ‘Chaiduar Ryot Sabha’ under the leadership of Jyoti Prasad Agarwala in 1931 and the persecution of eminent leaders like Cheniram Das, Mahim Chandra, Lakhidhar Sarma, and Mahadev Sarma further deepened her hatred against the British. She wished to follow their path and take an active role in India’s freedom movement.

Meanwhile, with the passage of time, the Quit India Movement was gaining momentum across India. The All-India Congress Committee passed the Quit India Resolution on 8th August 1942 at its Bombay session, demanding complete independence for India.

The arrival of Gandhi in Assam in 1921 had already galvanized the people in the state to participate actively in the freedom movement. And, on 26th January 1930, when the Purna Swaraj (‘complete freedom from the British’) declaration was made by the Congress, it encouraged people to hoist the Indian national flag across Assam. People from across the social spectrum of Assam began participating in the Freedom movement. Assamese social activists like Kiran Bala Bora and Ambika Kakati Aidew, among others, led by example and inspired young Assamese girls to throw themselves into the freedom movement. Kanaklata Barua was thus primed for her heroic journey.

Kanaklata Barua lived in a joint family where her grandfather and five paternal uncles with their family also stayed together. Her efforts to take part in secret meetings of freedom fighters were foiled by her grandfather. He did not allow her to attend such meetings. However, she succeeded in convincing her stepmother Jonaki Barua, who managed to let her go secretly.

After Gandhi’s Quit India call in 1942, a large camp of revolutionaries was set up in Tezpur district in Assam, 8 km from Kanaklata’s home. When she learned of this, Kanaklata was determined to join. She was deeply moved by the speeches of Comrade Bishnu Prasad Rabha and the songs of noted Assamese cultural icon, Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, and this fuelled her patriotic feelings.

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, the Assamese cultural icon, poet, and freedom fighter established a group called the Mrityu Vahini (Death Squad) in Tezpur to give shape to the ‘Quit India’ movement in the region. Kanaklata Barua joined the Mrityu Bahini wing of the Gohpur subdivision.

It was her first tryst with nationalism. She was now more intent than ever on joining the revolutionaries. Following in her footsteps, her younger, step-brother Rajanikanta too became a volunteer with the Quit India Movement.

Movements against the British were quite peaceful in Assam but, as a precautionary measure, the Assam Provincial Congress Committee established the ‘Shanti Bahini’ (Peace force) and tasked it with guarding villages at night and keeping the peace during protests. There were as many as 20,000 members associated with the Shanti Bahini.

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala was one of the main organizers of the political protests in Assam. He instructed Congress volunteers of the ‘Shant Bahini’ to peacefully make their way to police stations in the Tezpur district, to hoist the Indian tricolor while raising the ‘Quit India’ slogan. He therefore formed, what was then termed the Mrityu Bahini (‘Death Army’) for this mission, in line with Gandhi’s ‘Do or Die’ call.

Kanaklata was a part of this brigade, which was aware that death could be imminent and inevitable. They were aware of the martyrdom of Kushal Konwar, a local Congress leader who had been hanged for allegedly derailing a train carrying British soldiers in Assam, and incidents like that only made them more zealous. The ‘Mrityu Bahini’ was indeed a force to reckon with.

It was decided that Kanaklata Barua would hoist the tricolor at the Gohpur police station on 20th September 1942. In the early morning of 20th September, like the other days, she completed her domestic work and took a meal with her younger brother and sisters, telling them mournfully that she might not be able to come back alive and then she went out and joined the picketers at Barangabari Chariali.

She stood at the head of the women volunteers line with the national flag in her hand. On receipt of the signal from the leaders, the volunteers, two in line, male and female proceeded towards the Gohpur Police Station about 12 KM from the spot. All the unarmed young men and women, boys and girls, were marching towards the police station, with Kanaklata in the lead. 

Gohpur Police Station is situated at a distance of about 11/2 KM from the gate of the New Purubbari tea garden owned by a native entrepreneur. The volunteers took a rest at the place for a while and they were made aware by the respective team leaders of the dangers likely to be faced by them in front of the Thana gate.

The leaders asked the female volunteers to be behind the line, but Kanaklata strongly opposed the suggestion, by saying that they would not be at the back of the line, if necessary, the women volunteers would sacrifice their lives for the cause of the nation. This immortal speech of Kanaklata on the verge of her imminent death inspired the minds of thousands of male and female volunteers of the day and made them forget the dangers likely to be faced by them in front of the Thana.

They reached the Thana and made a queue before its western gate. At the same time, volunteers from the eastern part of Gohpur like Kalabari, Kamdewal, Dubia, etc. led by local leaders like Golok Pujari, Nirod Boran Das, Chandra Bardoloi, Mineswar Kakaty, Uma Bardoloi, Bhubaneswar Kakaty, Thaneswar Bora and others reached the Thana and made queue in front of the eastern gate.

As they approached, the police officer in charge, the police force led by Rebati Mahan Sunia surrounded the western gate and did not allow the picketers to enter the compound to hoist the flag in spite of a repeated request from their side. He warned of deadly consequences if they did not turn back.

In the meantime, Kanaklata with the national flag in her hand took her position at the head of the line of female volunteers and tried to convince the policemen by saying that they came to achieve their noble object of hoisting the national flag at the Thana for the cause of the nation, following Gandhiji's teachings on non-violence and that they would go back after discharging their noble duty. This argument of Kanaklata could not stop the Britishers from preventing the picketers from entering the Thana compound. But the police force prevented the volunteers by pointing their guns toward them.

Kanaklata held the flag high, shouting slogans of ‘Do or Die.’ The police warned the procession of dire consequences if they proceeded further. Undeterred, the procession continued marching ahead. Kanaklata did not pay any heed and kept on marching. Ultimately Kanaklata entered the compound by pushing aside a gun in her hand, it was then that the teenage Kanaklata said aloud these inspiring words, “You can kill our human bodies but not our souls made of iron. O Britishers! Whatever measures you adopt to stop us will fail. We shall continue to proceed. None can stop us from hoisting our national flag at the police post.”

Suddenly, the police opened fire on the procession and Kanaklata Barua, tricolor in her hands, was shot. She died on the spot. A local villager named Mukund Kakoti took the flag from her and he too was shot dead.

Kanaklata was only 17 years of age at the time of her martyrdom.

The tragic martyrdom of Kanaklata Barua at the tender age of 17, made her a household name in Assam. She has posthumously been given the titles ‘Shaheed’ and ‘Birbala’, meaning ‘martyr’ and ‘brave woman’, the first of many accolades.

An Indian Coast Guard Fast Patrol Vessel was named after her in 1997, and a monumental statue of her was unveiled in 2011, in a rock garden called ‘Kanaklata Udyan’, in Gauripur (formerly Gohpur), Tezpur.

The teenage patriot’s unusual courage has also been immortalized in the Assamese film Epaah Phulil Epaah Xoril, directed by Chandra Mudoi, and released in Hindi as Purab ki Aawaz. She remains even to this day one of Assam’s icons.

References:

Saffron Swords: Centuries of Indic Resistance to Invaders - Manoshi Sinha Rawal, Yogaditya Singh Rawal