Heritage and monument lovers are quite happy that three colonial police stations associated with freedom struggle were restored back to original look more than a century after they were built.
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| Chatia police stationlegraphindia.com |
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| Gohpur police station. Kanaklata martyrdom site,Assam telegraphindia.com |
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| Historical Gohpur police station, Assam, youtube.com |
A band of dedicated freedom fighters sacrificed their lives by trying to hoist the Tricolour in three police stations in the state, now well-known colonial heritage structures in Assam.
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| Quit India movement, August 09, 1942 life24into7.com/ |
India was in the grip of Quit India protest across the country and in the wake of the failure of the Cripps Mission to secure Indian support for the British war effort in WWII, Gandhi made a clarion call to ''Do or Die'' in his ''Quit India'' speech delivered in Bombay on 8 August 1942 at the Gowalia Tank Maidan. India had nothing to do with the world war II and the British was particular about India's support in the European war theater. The British were quite adamant and refused to grant immediate independence, saying it could happen only after the war had ended. This resulted in sporadic violence across India, including Assam and till 1945, the British had a grip on the people and the freedom protests.
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| restored colonial police stations, Assam,indianexpress.com |
Above images: Before and after restoration: The Chatia police station was one of the three to be chosen as a heritage site (along with Gohpur and Dhekiajuli) for restoration by the Assam government. (Photo Courtesy: Directorate of Archaeology, Assam)......................................
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| location of colonial police stations in Assam,India. mapsofindia.com |
It was on September 20, 1942 the freedom fighters of Assam vented their anger and frustrations under the British that led to the death of eight persons including three women in police firing at Dhekiajuli Police Station; one being a brave teenage girl who led a procession to a police station undeterred by the hail of bullets fired at her. She died on the spot. Even today the legacy of Kanaklata Barua, the 17-year-old martyr of Assam’s Gohpur, has lived on - ever to inspire women in that part of the state. Along with her, freedom fighter Mukunda Kakoty became a victim of police firing. On the same day, a sad event took place, a freedom fighter carrying the flag - ‘Mrityu Bahini’ was shot dead along with another one at Gohpur Police Station. In the midst of hell broken out loose on this day, unmindful of the consequences, patriots hoisted the National Flag at all the three police stations – Chatia, Gohpur and Dhekiaju. The people in the other parts of India were quite furious about indiscriminate killing of young girls in Assam on one hand and on the other, they were happy the National Flag had been hoisted on the police stations, in spite of the odds.
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| Restored window, Chatia police station, Assam indianexpress.com |
Above image: A window pane during restoration at the Chatia police station. (Photo Courtesy: Directorate of Archaelogy, Assam).................................
During India' freedom struggle, this NE Indian state, far removed from the main center of activities in central and western India became a hub of freedom struggle. No doubt, oldest polices stations are in Naharkatia and Dibrugarh, established in the 1850s - during the East India Company's rule. The government's choice of restoration of old police stations was in favor of three in Gohpur, Chatia and Dhekhiajuli because of their jurisdictions that had a close link with an important event in Indian history - Quit India Movement. Many Indian leaders in Assam held secret meetings underground to get the struggle going. During this tumultuous period, India's greatest freedom fighter Subbash Chandra Bose was in exile. The British purposely framed false cases on him and declared him a sort of anti-national. Very little is known that it was in this station - in Dhekiajuli a 12 year old girl Tileshwari Barua, was martyred on the same day as Kanaklata Barua. Till date, the Dhekiajuli town in Sonitput District observes September 20 as Martyrs’ Day.
The good news is recently, the conservation team led by officer ''Kangkon Jyoti Saikia completed the assigned work successfully. The team with meticulous stuck to the original layouts and never compromised on the erosion of heritage value of these sites. As the project is a special one, the restoration work was overseen by the district administration. According to the Archaeology department: “This is the first time we have undertaken such a massive colonial-era restoration project.''
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