Gopinath Bordoloi

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Gopinath Bordoloi
Bishnu Ram Medhi
Chairman of North-East Frontier Tribal Areas and Assam Excluded & Partially Excluded Areas Sub-Committee
LeaderVallabhbhai Patel
Preceded byOffice Established
Personal details
Born(1890-06-06)6 June 1890
British India
Died5 August 1950(1950-08-05) (aged 60)
Guwahati, Assam, India
Political partyIndian National Congress
SpouseSurawala Bordoloi
Alma materCotton University
University of Calcutta
OccupationPolitician, writer
AwardsBharat Ratna (1999)

Gopinath Bordoloi (6 June 1890 – 5 August 1950) was a politician and

Gandhian principle of non-violence as a political tool. Due to his unselfish dedication towards Assam and its people, the then Governor of Assam
Jayram Das Doulatram conferred him with the title "Lokpriya" (loved by all).

Early life and education

Gopinath Bordoloi was born on 6 June 1890 at Raha.

Cotton College (then an affiliated college of the University of Calcutta, now a separate autonomous university) after passing matriculation in 1907. He passed I.A. in 1st Div. In 1909 and took admission in the renowned Scottish Church College (also affiliated to the University of Calcutta) and graduated in 1911. He then passed M.A. from the University of Calcutta in 1914. He studied Law for three years but came back to Guwahati without sitting in the final examination. Then on request of Tarun Ram Phukan, he took up the temporary job as Headmaster of Sonaram High School.[3] During that period, he sat and passed in the Law examination and started practicing in 1917 in Guwahati.[3]

Political life

The Assam Association was the only political organisation of Assam in that period.

Municipal Board
and Local Board. In addition, he was constantly demanding a separate University and High Court for Assam.

In 1935

British India. Congress decided to participate in the Regional Assembly election in 1936. They won 38 seats and became the party with majority in Assembly, but due to a dubious law meant to reduce the power of Ministers and the Cabinet, they decided to remain as opposition party instead of forming the government. Gopinath Bordoloi was elected as the leader of the opposition party. With the support of other parties apart from Congress, Md. Sadulla formed the Cabinet of Ministers. The Congress party was gaining people's support as the government remained unaware of the basic problems of Assam. The Md. Sadulla Cabinet Ministers resigned in September 1938. The Governor then invited Gopinath Bordoloi to form the government and accordingly they took oath on 21 September.[4]

The reasons of Gopinath Bordoloi becoming

Land Tax, stop giving lands to migrant Muslims
to secure the right of indigenous people etc.

The new government did not last long as

Quit India movement
was launched in August 1942, the Congress party was declared outlawed and all leaders were arrested.

In the meantime, Md. Sadulla formed the government with the promise to help British in World War II and indulged again in communal activities. Gopinath Bordoloi was released from jail in 1944 and he straightaway started opposing the government with the help of other leaders. Md. Sadullah then offered to discuss the matters. An agreement was reached which included immediate release of all political prisoners, removing the ban on procession or meeting, correcting the process of rehabilitation of migrant Muslims, etc.

In July 1945, the British announced their decision to form a new

Chief Minister
unanimously.

Cabinet commission and Bordoloi's role

Bordoloi on a 1991 stamp of India

The

British Government formed the Cabinet Mission of 1946 to discuss the demands for Indian Independence. The members held meetings with the Congress and the Muslim League in Shimla and Delhi. Their plan included grouping of states into 3 categories for selecting the candidates to form the constitutional body with Assam and Bengal
in third group. Gopinath Bordoloi sensed the ominous sign for Assam in the plan as the inclusion would mean the local representatives will become minority in comparison to Bengal. That would be devastating for rights of people of Assam.

The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee decided to go against the grouping plan. Gopinath Bordoloi told the

Assam Congress
Committee, decided to start mass agitation in Assam. Only after this, the Indian National Congress working committee advised them to pass a unanimous decision in Assembly. Later, the members of the Assembly suggested a working formula in which ten representatives from Assam would form their own constitution without joining any group and would merge with national committee to form the Indian constitution.

In 1947, Lord Mountbatten took over as new Viceroy. He held separate meetings with the Muslim League, Congress and Mahatma Gandhi. They decided to go for Partition as a permanent solution instead of grouping. India and Pakistan became separate independent countries.

Thus, Gopinath Bordoloi played a major role in securing the future of Assam which would have been included in East Pakistan otherwise.[4]

Contribution as Chief Minister

After

Chief Minister
. He died on 5 August 1950.

Awards and recognition

Former Prime Minister

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ "Lokpriya's 129th birth anniversary celebrated at Raha". The Assam Tribune.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Yash, Mishra (23 February 2020). "Gopinath Bordoloi: Saving Assam, a Fight to the Finish". www.livehistoryindia.com. www.livehistoryindia.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b Yash, Mishra (23 February 2020). "Gopinath Bordoloi: Saving Assam, a Fight to the Finish". www.livehistoryindia.com. Live History India. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  4. ^ a b Kuri Shatikar Kurijan Bishista Asamiya, Editors-Sharma, Dr. Pranati and Sharma, Anil. Journal Emporium, 1999
  5. ^ Assam absorbed 3,000 E Pakistani employees. The Assam Tribune Online (21 September 2013). Retrieved on 6 December 2018.
  6. ^ "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2007)" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  7. ^ "President unveils statues of eminent leaders". The Hindu. 1 October 2002. Archived from the original on 13 January 2016.
  8. ^ "PARLIAMENT HOUSE ESTATE". parliamentofindia.nic.in. Archived from the original on 8 September 2007.

Bibliography

External links

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