Bishnu Rabha: The Man and the Legend

Dr. Arunav Kumar Nayak (MO, MBBS, & professional ethnic folk artist)

Bishnu Prasad Rabha was an armed revolutionary, artist, anthropologist, orator, poet, lyricist, and dancer all rolled into one.

He passed away in 1969, but it is important that we reflect on who he was, what he stood for, and what his creations conveyed.

He was born on January 31, 1909, to a Bodo-Kachari family in Dhaka. Due to his mother’s demise at an early age, his father, Gopal Chandra Mosahary (Kachari), who was an officer in the British police, sent him to a teacher from a Rabha family who taught him basically everything. He later accepted the Rabha surname. He attended Tezpur Government . High School and later went to Calcutta for higher education.

From an early age, he was an outright revolutionary who first fought for independence from the British Colonial Government and subsequently against the capitalist Indian Government for the rights of the indigenous people and the marginalised sections of society. He was influenced by socialist principles from a young age and remained a communist and socialist his whole life. He left the Communist Party of India when it decided to work with the British during World War II, and he joined the Revolutionary Communist Party in 1945.

On August 15, 1947, when India gained independence, Rabha led a black flag demonstration at Digheli, proclaiming, “This independence is fake. It is only a change of skin colour from ‘white to black’ government.” He was arrested by the government over his stand. He firmly believed that the poor would continue to suffer and only the privileged would prosper under an independent Indian regime.

Soon after his release from prison, he started an armed revolution in the North-Eastern Region (then Greater Axom). He was joined by many other like-minded comrades. Once, the government declared a bounty on his head and called him a traitor. But to no avail, because of the goodwill he enjoyed among the local populace. He would often escape from under the noses of the police and Army due to his prowess in acting, disguise, and stealth. He escaped and hid in isolated towns, villages, and forests. He met many of his comrades while in disguise, including a young Bhupen Hazarika, inside a hut on Nilachal Hill, Kamakhya.

He believed those who plough the land and those who are aboriginal inhabitants should own the land rather than the Zamindars. He himself gave up 2500 bighas of ancestral land received from the British Government in favour of the indigenous peasants. The present-day Tezpur University sits on his donated land. He never had a permanent home and kept on moving like a nomad from one place to another, urging people to join the revolution for a “free and sovereign Assam.” The revolution that Rabha started is still going on.

Rabha was actually forced to leave Ripon College and transfer to Victoria College due to his active role in the freedom struggle. But alas, he was unable to finish his formal studies due to frequent raids and thus gave up his educational career.

Bishnu Rabha, as a cultural icon, has so many aspects that one can’t possibly count them. His entire life was characterized by restlessness, as he was a brilliant mass mobilizer, leader, and orator, and his speeches touched the hearts of the people. He always tried to display the rich and original form of the indigenous Assamese culture, even when underground, for which he was bestowed with the title of Xoinik Xilpi (a revolutionary artist), apart from the more popular sobriquet Kalaguru (master of arts) due to his prowess in all art forms.

He even sang Borgeets that he learned at Barpeta Satra, along with his own genre of songs now called “Bishnu Rabha Geet” that he composed. These songs were a tribute to Mother Nature and highlighted the exploitation of the poor by capitalist society and the Revolution for Independence, among others.
Songs like ‘Xurore Deulore’ and ‘Beelote Halise’ are popular even among children. He advocated for a hatred-free world that respects one’s culture and religion. His evergreen compositions include ‘Poro Jonomor Xubho Logonor, ‘Logon Ukoli Jai’ etc. He used to perform and host dramas at the Baan Theatre in Tezpur. He translated the revolutionary song ‘Internationale’ to Assamese. The paintings of ‘Srimanta Sankardeva’ that we see today were originally painted by him.

He was an exceptional film director, music composer (Siraj), and actor (Era Bator Xur). In spite of being an excellent actor, he never left Assam to achieve commercial success. He assisted in the making of the first Assamese film, “Joymoti,” by Jyoti Prasad Agarwala. He always tried to display the Assamese way of life in his films, songs, paintings, and write-ups.

Rabha always stressed that the Assamese language has a tribal origin (Austric/Dravidian and Tibeto-Burman), which is contrary to the theory of Banikanta Kakati, who argued that the language has Indo-Aryan characters while recognizing the non-Aryan elements. His views were accepted later.

As a litterateur and cultural activist, his works include ‘Bano Kobang’, which portrays the traditional original forms of life and is the first anthropological study on the Indigenous Assamese ethnicities. He also wrote about the other hill tribes like Aka, Dafla, Abor, Naga, Lushai, Tipperah, etc. in his books. His other works include ‘Mising Koneng’, ‘Xonpahi’, ‘Kristir Homuh Abakh’, ‘Otit Axom’, etc. He was the one who brought forth the ‘Japi dance’ in Bihu in the movie ‘Joymoti’ from various tribal dances like ‘Khofri Sibnai Mwsanai’.

He urged the Assamese to preserve their original lifestyle, food, culture, traditions, language, customs, dress, etc. for time immemorial. He always said the ‘Assamese’ is an indigenous ethnicity formed by the unity of various ethnic groups, castes, tribes, etc. He wanted the common Assamese people to remember that and continue the struggle for independence from his perceived capitalism and colonial India. The youth of today must follow the words and road shown to us by Rabha, who said ‘Haal Jar Mati Tar’ and also dedicated his entire life to his people. We must remember him and carry forward his legacy, or else we will also vanish like various other indigenous communities around the world.