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LOKPRIYA GOPINATH
THE SAVIOR OF ASSAM
By DN Singh
In the year 1946, the Labor Party government in Britain sent a Cabinet Mission to India to explore the possibility of drafting a future constitution for the country in consultation with the Viceroy and Indian political leaders. The Mission reached India on March 23rd 1946 and started discussions with the Indian leaders.According to its plan the Union of India would consist of both British India and the Indian states. While six Hindu majority states (erstwhile provinces) of Madras, Bombay, Bihar, Orissa, Central Province and United Province of Agra and Awadh formed Group A, Muslim majority Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and Northwest Frontier Province were put under Group B. Assam and Bengal were clubbed together in Group C.
Had the Cabinet Mission succeeded in its plan, the history of Assam would have been a different one. Gopinath Bordoloi, the then Chief Minister of Assam had an interview with the Mission on April 1st, 1946 and strongly opposed the inclusion of Assam into Group C. He argued that Assam was already a state formed on linguistic and cultural basis, enjoying provincial autonomy. It should be allowed to continue in future set-up also as a full-fledged unit. He even favored separation of Sylhet district from Assam and rejected Mohammed Ali Jinna’s demand for Pakistan as absolutely preposterous.
The Cabinet Mission stuck to its plan of forming Groups. The Mission’s proposal to group Assam with Bengal for creating a predominantly Muslim zone in eastern India, like one proposed to be set up in western India was strongly resented by the people of Assam. According to the plan, the Assam representatives to the Constituent Assembly would have to sit in a session with the Bengal representatives to determine the provincial constitution and also a constitution for Group C by a simple majority of votes. Except the Muslim League all quarters in Assam Provincial Congress Committee, then in session at Guwahati, lodged an emphatic protest with the Congress Working Committee against it. The Asom Jatiya Mahasabha did likewise and it collected some secret papers showing the designs of the Muslim League in Assam. There began a feverish agitation in Assam to quash the grouping scheme.
On July 16th, 1946 the Assam Legislative Assembly adopted a resolution moved by the Chief Minister, Gopinath Bordoloi himself, expressing strong disapproval of the plan and directing ten representatives of Assam to the Constituent Assembly, elected by the Provincial Assembly not to sit in session with any other province for devising the Constitution with such other province for settlement of any question relating to Assam. It was clear that, once Assam was grouped with Muslim majority of Bengal to serve the interests of the majority Muslim community, her fate would be sealed. She would lose her identity and individuality in the political whirlpool of Muslim India, although she was not and had never been a Muslim majority province.
On behalf of Gopinath Bardoloi, Bijoy Chandra Bhagawati and Mahendra Mohan Choudhury called on Gandhiji at Srirampur and placed Assam’s case before him seeking his guidance at the critical juncture. Strengthened with the blessings of Gandhiji, Gopinath Bordoloi succeeded at last in convincing the Indian leaders about Assam’s just case and getting this part of the Cabinet Missions plan scrapped.
Had Assam not opposed the grouping scheme, the formal establishment of Pakistan might have been delayed for a time but there would have been no Assam left. Gopinath Bordoloi with his farsightedness and sagacity rescued Assam and her people from the mischievous conspiracy of foreign rulers. Gopinath Bordoloi steered Assam through a very crucial phase of its history. His dedication to the cause of Assam of his time earned him the title ‘Lokapriya’.
Gopinath Bordoloi, who became the Chief Minister of Assam for the second time in February 1946 and continued to lead his ministry through independence until his death passed away on August 5th, 1950. His strategy saved Assam from becoming an Islamic state.
