OUR CORRESPONDENT
SIVASAGAR: The patriotism and heroic deeds of Swahid Piyoli Phukan and Jiuram Dulia Baruah and the supreme sacrifice they made to save their motherland from the British, will be recalled at a solemn function to be held on September 24 at Swahid Piyoli Phukan Udyan located on the bank of the historic Borpukhuri in Sivasagar, under the aegis of Rongpur Prachin Kriti Chinha Sangrakhyan Samiti and in collaboration with Aahaharn, an NGO and Bharatiya Gana Natya Sangha, Sivasagar district committee, on the occasion of the 189th anniversary of their hangings.
In the memorial meet to be held at Tai Sangskritik Vikash Kendra, Sivasagar, eminent speakers like Dilip Buragohain, retired Principal of Gargaon College, Jiten Borpatragohain, retired professor and historian, and Pabitra Bora, professor of Swahid Piyoli Phukan College, will seek to enlighten the audience about the contributions of Piyoli Phukan and Jiuram Dulia Baruah and emphasize the need to keep their memory alive by helping the new generation imbibe their positive attributes and selfless patriotic zeal.
Observance of their death anniversary assumes significance as there is a demand to declare Piyoli Phukan as India’s first martyr and Jiuram Dulia Baruah as the second.
Talking to The Sentinel, Anuj Duarah, a relative of Swahid Piyoli Phukan, claimed Piyoli Phukan as India’s first martyr and Jiuram Dulia Baruah as the second. “According to government records, however, it was Mangal Pandey. Various textbooks recommended for schools and colleges also mention Mangal Pandey as the first martyr of India. But the fact is that Piyoli Borphukan, popularly known as Piyoli Phukan, was hanged by the British on September 24 in 1830 and Mangal Pandey on April 8, 1857, i.e. 27 years after Piyoli Phukan,” said Duarah.
He also stated that the Assam District Gazetter mentioned clearly Piyoli Phukan’s fight against the British for freedom in 1830. It stated, “Determined to liberate the country from foreign domination before it was too late, Numali of the Dilihial Buragohain family, in collaboration with another dignitary of the old realm, Peoli Borphukan, son of Badan Chandra Borphukan, made in 1830 a large-scale preparation for a massive armed attack on the British so as to expel them from Assam.”
Duarah said that a great grandfather of his went from Moran (Pathalibam) and reached Piyoli Phukan’s household on the afternoon of September 24, 1830. He returned to Moran after the tilani, the religious ritual performed on the third day of Piyoli Phukan’s death.