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Kiran Bala Bora (Assamese: কিৰণ বালা বড়া ; 1904 - 8 January 1993) was a freedom fighter and social activist from Assam, India. She is known for her participation in the civil disobedience movements of the 1930s and 1940s, which contributed to the independence of India. [1]
Kiran Bala Bora was born in 1904 in the village of North Haiborgaon in the Nagaon district of Assam to Kamal Chandra Pandit and Saroj Aidew. Kamal Chandra Pandit, her father, was a teacher in a school. Kiran studied in school until the 3rd standard despite the opposition to sending women to school prevalent in Indian society at the time. At an early age, she was married to Saki Ram Lashkar of Kampur, Nagaon. He died soon after they married. Kamal Chandra then brought Kiran back home along with Kiran's young daughter. During her teen years, she gained interest in the revolutionary movements of the country.
The summer of 1920 saw the resurgence of the idea that India should gain independence from British rule, especially after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Led by Gandhi, hundreds of people participated in non-violent protests across India. Kiran started involving herself in the activities of the movement and gradually devoted all her time to it. She fundraised to help congress gain momentum in the northeastern part of India. She also worked alongside leaders like Poorna Chandra Sharma, Mahindhar Bora, Haladhar Bhuyan, & D. K. Barooah. During this time, she met Chandraprava Saikiani, a writer, social reformer, and freedom fighter from Assam. Kiran established a close relationship with her and worked for social causes under her direction.
Kiran Bala Bora boycotted the use of foreign goods, one of the objectives of the non-cooperation movement. During one protest, she burnt valuable foreign goods from her own house. Instead of buying clothes manufactured in Europe, she started spinning cotton and making her own cloth. She also protested against the use of narcotic substances such as opium and Bhang.
In 1929, the Lahore Congress resolved to celebrate 26 January 1930, as Purnaswaraaj (or Complete Independence) day. Accordingly, more than 400 women in Koliabor, led in part by Kiran Bala, joined in the celebrations, in defiance of the British-Indian government. Police stopped the women from participating, and many were allegedly beaten up. [2]
Kiran was arrested by the British-Indian government for violation of laws several times. She fell severely ill on 7 February 1931 when she was in jail and was released after 4 months. In 1932, she was transferred to Shillong Jail, where she lived in dire conditions. [3]
During this time, Kiran met Ambika Kakathi Aidew, another freedom fighter from Assam. Ambika's daughter, Jagyashini Kakathi Aidew, had died and Ambika proposed that Kiran marry her son-in-law, Sanat Ram Bora. Kiran's father accepted Ambika's proposal and remarried his daughter while she was still involved in the freedom movement.
Sanat Ram Bora had five young children from his previous wife and lived in a joint family. Also, being the founder secretary of a newly established spiritual/religious Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha ( Sankardev Community). Kiran handled the responsibility of her joint family, including the children from Sanat's first marriage. She also served the devotees. Her husband granted her full independence and supported her in her political life.
In the 1930s, Gandhi had started the Civil Disobedience Movement to end the monopoly by British on salt. Kiran went door-to-door to explain the movement to the villagers of Polaxoni (the place where her spouse Sanat Ram Bora lived), gathering people and continuing her activities of collecting food and other relief items.
She preached about the country's independence to the devotees who came to attend the Sangha at her husband's house. She also spread awareness about the social problems related to women in India, like child marriage, Sati, education.
Kiran became a mother of five more children during this time.
In 1942, the Quit India Movement was announced, and the British were asked to leave the country. "Do or Die" became the slogan of the movement. In response, the British colonial government initiated a crackdown on the movement, arresting tens of thousands of independence activists and keeping most of them imprisoned until 1945.
Kiran Bora protested these events, bearing lathi charges and other actions by the police. She also went into hiding from the police. She fought till India was granted independence. [4]
India gained independence on 15 August 1947. Later in her life, Kiran tended to her children.
She has been honored with a freedom fighters pensions by both the state and central governments of India. [5] [6]
Kiran died on 8 January 1993. She remained an active Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha worker and devotee until her death.
Srimanta Sankardev was a 15th–16th century Assamese polymath; a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, artist social-religious reformer and a figure of importance in the cultural and religious history of Assam, India. He is widely credited with building on past cultural relics and devising new forms of music (Borgeet), theatrical performance, dance (Sattriya), literary language (Brajavali). Besides, he has left an extensive literary oeuvre of trans-created scriptures, poetry and theological works written in Sanskrit, Assamese and Brajavali. The Bhagavatic religious movement he started, Ekasarana Dharma and also called Neo-Vaishnavite movement, influenced two medieval kingdoms – Koch and the Ahom kingdom – and the assembly of devotees he initiated evolved over time into monastic centers called Sattras, which continue to be important socio-religious institutions in Assam and to a lesser extent in North Bengal. Sankardev inspired the Bhakti movement in Assam just as Guru Nanak, Ramananda, Namdev, Kabir, Basava and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu inspired it elsewhere in the Indian subcontinent.
Golaghat district (Pron:ˌgəʊləˈgɑ:t) is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. It attained district status in 1987. The district headquarters are located at Golaghat. The district occupies an 3,502 km2 (1,352 sq mi) and lies 100 metres (330 ft) above sea level.
Nagaon is a town and a municipal board in Nagaon district in the Indian state of Assam. It is situated 122.6 kilometres (76 mi) east of Guwahati.
Ekasarana Dharma is a neo-Vaishnavite monolithic religion propagated by Srimanta Sankardeva in the 15th-16th century in the Indian state of Assam. It reduced focus on Vedic ritualism and focuses on devotion (bhakti) to Krishna in the form of congregational listening (shravan) and singing his name and deeds (kirtan).
Bhabendra Nath Saikia was a novelist, short-story writer, editor and film director from Assam, India. Dr. Saikia received his doctorate in physics from the University of London. He began his career as a reader in the Department of Physics, University of Guwahati. He later played an important role in the publication of college level textbooks in the Assamese language during his tenure as the Secretary of the Co-ordination Committee for production of textbooks in regional languages.
Jatin Bora is an Indian actor and director who has appeared in Assamese language films since 1989. He is also an actor and director in some mobile theatre groups of Assam, include Aabahan, Hengool, Ashirbaad, Bhagyadevi, Kohinoor, Itihas and Surjya.
Prof Bhabananda Deka was a pioneer Assam economist and author who conducted novel research on the economy of the far eastern part of India. He was also a leading Indian-Assamese litterateur of the famed 'Awahon-Ramdhenu Era' of Assamese literature during the mid-20th century. He was the author of a total of 115 English and Assamese books including textbooks on a range of fifteen subjects including economics, ancient Assamese literature, philosophy, education, religion, mythology, archaeology, tribal study, poetry, drama, memoirs, civics, political science, biographies; he also edited books and journals. He also authored a variety of research papers and articles about the state of Assam, a state in the north-eastern part of India. He pioneered the writing of books on Economics in Assamese. His Assamese book Axomor Arthaneeti was the first ever research-based comprehensive book on Assam Economics, which was published for the first time in 1963. He was conferred with the honorary title of 'Asom Ratna' -- 'Jewel of Assam' by the intellectuals of Assam on 19 August 2007 at a public meet held under the presidency of Prof. (Dr) Satyendra Narayan Goswami.
Puranigudam is in the Nagaon district of Assam, India. There are several villages in Puranigudam. The main commercial center of Puranigudam, also known as Keyan Patti is located closest to Garamur. Rupahihat are to the north, Barhampur and Nagaon in the west, Chalchali in the south and Rongagorah and Samaguri in the east. The river Kolong flowes through the upper half of the area and National Highway 37 runs parallel to the river. The area is almost in the middle of the Nagaon district and situated in higher elevation than the district headquarters.
Mahim Bora was an Indian writer and educationist from Assam. He was elected as a president of the Assam Sahitya Sabha held in 1989 at Doomdooma. He was awarded most notably the Padma Shri in 2011, the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2001 and the Assam Valley Literary Award in 1998. Assam Sahitya Sabha conferred its highest honorary title Sahityacharyya on him in 2007.
Mahendra Mohan Choudhury was a freedom fighter and politician from Nagaon, Undivided Kamrup district of Western Assam. He was Chief Minister of Assam from 1970 to 1972. He also served as governor of Punjab.
Professor Maheswar Neog was an Indian academic who specialised in the cultural history of the North East India especially Assam, besides being an Assamese-language scholar and poet. He was a top Indologist, and his work covers all disciplines of Indian studies, folk-lore, language, dance, history, music, religion, drama, fine arts, paintings, historiography and hagiography, lexicography and orthography, epigraphy and ethnography. His research includes multi-dimensional features of Vaishnava renaissance in Assam through Srimanta Sankardev, Madhabdev, Damodardev, Haridev, Bhattadev and other Vaishnava saints of Assam.
Sonaram Chutia was a Vaishnav scholar, freedom fighter and educationist from Assam, India. Born in Bamkukurachowa village in the Jorhat district of Assam during the British Raj, Chutia was educated in Jorhat and completed his B.Sc from Cotton College. Throughout his education, Chutia witnessed insulting comments from upper-caste boys and instances of disrespectful mistreatment from religious establishments towards certain communities. It is said that these experiences prompted Chutia to take up his cause against casteism and racism.
The Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha, established in 1930, is the largest socio-religious organization in Assam.
Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankaradeva Viswavidyalaya is a university established through The Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankaradeva Viswavidyalaya Act, 2013 in the State of Assam, India in 2013. The university is located in Nagaon and is named after him.
Pushpalata Das (1915–2003) was an Indian independence activist, social worker, Gandhian and legislator from the north-east Indian state of Assam. She was a member of Rajya Sabha from 1951 to 1961, a member of the Assam Legislative Assembly and a member of the working committee of the Indian National Congress. She served as the chairperson of the Assam chapters of the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust and Khadi and Village Industries Commission. The Government of India awarded her the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1999, for her contributions to society.
Shaheed (martyr) Bhogeshwari Phukanani was an Indian independence movement activist during the British Raj and played a part in the Indian independence struggle.
The Brittial Bania/Bania is an ethnic community in Assam, India. The group traces its roots to a merchant community who reached Assam in ancient times. Some historians claim that after the Austric group migrated to ancient Assam, the next group of people who arrived was the Dravidian group, who are represented by the Bania and Kaibbartas today. Unlike the mainland Baniya community, this community of Assam is recognized as Schedule Caste by the government of India.
Surjya Kanta Hazarika is an Assamese litterateur, an eminent scholar, author, publisher, playwright, lyricist, composer, cultural activist, feature film and documentary maker, social worker and philanthropist. Hazarika is a recipient of the Padma Shri Award in 2008 for his contribution to Literature & Education. He is the current president of Asam Sahitya Sabha.
Mayur Bora is an Indian writer, critic and public speaker from Assam. Bora has 18 books to his credit, 16 in Assamese language, 1 in English and 1 book of translation in which noted litterateur Dilip Bora's short stories were rendered into English.