Author: Samudra Gupta
Kashyap
Publication: The Indian
Express
Date: November 6,2000
Lachit Barphukan, the
greatest general Assam has ever produced, Will get the recognition he deserved
- though it comes over 300 years too late. A bust of the all-time
great Assamese hero is being dispatched to the National Defence Academy
at Khadakvasla near Pune, where it is to be installed.
A medal instituted in
Barphukan's name will be given to the best officer cadet of every batch
passing out of the NDA from now on.
The 26-inch-high bust
of Barphukan has been made by well-known Assamese sculptor Pranabenu Bikash
Dhar, with the words "Lachit Barphukan: The greatest general of Assam,
Victor of the Battle of Saraighat, 1670 AD" to he inscribed on a pedestal
which, will be nine feet, five inches high.
Barphukan was the chief
of the Assamese force which not only inflicted a crushing defeat on the
great Mughal army headed by Raja Ram Singh and dispatched by Emperor Aurangzeb,
but had also put an end to all Mughal ambitions, east of Bengal.
However, while names
of other great generals who opposed Mughal rule, like Chhatrapati Shivaji
and Rana Pratap, have received due recognition by historians and successive
governments after Independence, Barphukan was mostly ignored.
The man behind this latest
move to give the Assamese hero his due position in history is Assam Governor
Lt Gen (Retd) S K Sinha, who is himself a former vice-chief of the Indian
Army.
"Lachit Barphukan was
a military leader in the mould of Rana Pratap and Chhatrapati Shivaji.
All three fought for the freedom of their region against Mughal imperialism.
Whereas Rana Pratap's
forte was burning patriotism and tremendous sacrifice, Shivaji and Lachit
Barphukan demonstrated outstanding military skills.
While one thwarted Mughal
expansion in the south, the other did so in the east," says Sinha, who
has taken keen interest in ensuring that Barphukan's contributions are
duly recognised, ever since he took over as Governor, three years ago.
"The fact that Rana Pratap
and Shivaji are household names throughout our country and Lachit Barphukan
is hardly known outside Assam shows the neglect of Assam by historians,"
the Governor further
explained.
More interestingly, while
Shivaji and Rana Pratap had fought the Mughals on land, Lachit Barphukan's
was an outstanding naval victory at Saraighat on the river Brahmaputra,
a spot that has been now commemorated by the first bridge on the Red River.
The newly-instituted
medal will not only promote awareness about the Assamese general among
the officers of the Army, but will also inspire them to emulate his great
example, Sinha added.
The first medal will
be given away on November 14, when the current batch of officer cadets
pass out, with Sinha and Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta attending
the function to witness Barphukan's bust being placed at the Academy and
being given -the honour he so rightly deserved.