By Nava Thakuria*
Guwahati: Born to the family of Krishna Kanta Barua and Korneshwari Barua of Barangabari village in central Assam, Kanaklata Barua faced the bullets of British police forces while leading a march with the Indian national flag in her hands. She sacrificed her life on 20 September 1942, while defending the glory of Tri-colour during the Quit India Movement. Kanaklata was a member of Mrityu Bahini, who tried to hoist the Tri-colour atop the Gohpur police station and thus she ended her life at age of only 16 years.
A wrong photograph of Kanaklata Barua, the teenage martyr of India’s freedom struggle from Gohpur in Assam, was circulated recently, inviting the displeasure of the intelligentsia from Assam under the umbrella of Patriotic People’s Front Assam (PPFA).
“We have found that in some digital media inputs the photograph of another martyr Preetilata Waddedar is used as that of Kanaklata Barua (may be mistaken because of similar names). Agnikanya Preetilata died while fighting with British forces inside Chittagong European Club in 1932. Preetilata sacrificed her life in gunfighting against the club authority in the night hours at the age of 21. The error should not be repeated,” said a PPFA statement.
PPFA today urged the government to “take the pain” to paint a proper portrait of Birbala Kanaklata with the help of her close relatives. The forum of nationalist citizens also opines that the commonly displayed portrait of martyr Kanaklata should be scrutinized and corrected with the actual age.
*Senior Journalist
