GUWAHATI: Assam will send 1,000 youth to the Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands so that they can imbibe the spirit of nationalism, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
“We have decided to send 1,000 youth from Assam to Cellular Jail as part of #AzadiKaAmritMahotsov and to imbibe the spirit of nationalism by drawing inspiration from the sacrifices of our brave freedom fighters,” Sarma tweeted on Thursday.
He said the Cellular Jail holds a special place in India’s independence movement as scores of freedom fighters were jailed there for revolting against the British Raj.
At a special session of the state Assembly on Wednesday, convened in synchronisation with Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Sarma recalled the sacrifices made by the Assamese in the freedom movement.
He lamented that not many people in the country know about the January 28, 1894 Patharughat uprising in Assam where over 100 unarmed peasants were massacred by the British. They were protesting against the increase in land taxes when the colonial forces fired indiscriminately. Just two years ahead of the carnage, the British had annexed Assam.
Sarma said he had written to all CMs in the country to include a chapter on Lachit Borphukan in their academic curriculum. He said the country must know the bravery of the 17th-century Ahom general.
Under Borphukan’s leadership, the Ahoms defeated the Mughals in the famous 1671 Battle of Saraighat.