1958: A milestone year for Gauhati

Guwahati with River Brahmaputra, a range of hills, the iconic and very revered Kamakhya Temple and a host of scenic attractions truly mesmerized me. The exhibition happening alongside the Congress Session was a treat in itself with a surfeit of items at stalls that were never seen by me before. I was particularly attracted with the temporary Zoo that the organizers had put up at the exhibition site. It is worth mentioning that the makeshift Zoo at the Jalukbari session was actually a replica of the Assam State Zoo that came into existence later. 

The 66th Session of the Indian National Congress held in February 1958 at Jalukbari, Gauhati is crystal clear in my memory. This 'grand affair' had indeed taken the population of the entire region by storm. Replete with pomp and grandeur, it was a very prestigious session which was attended by the then Prime Minister of the country along with members of the Central Cabinet and the leading political party.

The nation's stalwarts like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant and other political luminaries could be seen from close proximity. This was largely because of the absence of stringent security arrangements that are characteristic of contemporary times.

Well I particularly and vividly remember this event because it coincided with my first ever trip to Guwahati. The journey that we undertook to reach Gauhati from Silchar too was memorable as my father had driven the car through a route that was meant for defense vehicles only. I call it a route because the road running from Silchar to the Dawki border was very different from a conventional road.

It had been an adventurous driving experience for my father Ishan Phukan, an Indian Revenue Service official posted at Silchar during that period. Anyway fond of driving, he had a treat driving his Austin A 40 car through a road that was barely suitable for civilian vehicles.

Our neighbour in Silchar, Kamala Kakoti, a district transport officer had helped my father to secure the permission to travel through this road. Infact Kakoti himself (in his Hillman Car) had accompanied us till a certain length of the journey. However, he returned to Silchar as he found it difficult to condition himself to the rough road conditions. I was a boy of only about 8 years of age then. However, the car ride through treacherous terrain spanning steep hills, forests and river beds (of the dried winter rivers) still sends shivers through my spine.

At the end of the rough and tough journey (driving through a part of East Pakistan) we finally entered Assam through the Dawki check post and reached Gauhati after spending a night in Shillong.

Guwahati with River Brahmaputra, a range of hills, the iconic and very revered Kamakhya Temple and a host of scenic attractions truly mesmerized me. The exhibition happening alongside the Congress Session was a treat in itself with a surfeit of items at stalls that were never seen by me before. I was particularly attracted with the temporary Zoo that the organizers had put up at the exhibition site. It is worth mentioning that the makeshift Zoo at the Jalukbari session was actually a replica of the Assam State Zoo that came into existence later.

There is more to the story of Congress Session of 1958. The now motorable road to Kamakhya Temple has a close association to this event. It was during the session that the road was declared open and this declaration was made by Prime Minister Nehru.

It is a common practice for celebrities, national leaders or anyone important or famous from outside Assam to offer prayers to Goddess Kamakhya if they come to Guwahati. The traditional old path that leads to Kamakhya temple is not easy to negotiate through .

At certain points it's too steep and slippery. Incidentally Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant, who was among the visiting dignitaries, was suffering from partial paralysis. Consequently, the work for the motorable road to Kamakhya had been expedited to facilitate the ease of the top Indian leaders who presided over the 66th session of INC.

During the late fifties, the concept of flyovers was alien to the people of the region. However, at the onset of the Congress Session something new and unprecedented was seen by the people of the region. The authorities and the organisers of the session had felt that inorder to ensure smooth traffic flow and avoid traffic obstructions by the closed level crossing gate (at the railway tracks) between Maligaon and Jalukbari an over bridge was an absolute necessity.

As a result an over bridge came into existence at the area and it was opened for traffic just a few days before the Congress Session. All in all the then sleepy town of Gauhati benefited greatly by the Congress Session held at Jalukbari.

A motorable road to Kamakhya Temple, a permanent Zoo and an over bridge- were the outcomes.

By Bhaskar Phukan

The writer can be reached at bhaskarphukan67@gmail.com

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