Freedom Fighter of assam (Gopinath Bordoloi)

Gopinath Bordoloi

Gopinath Bordoloi was the first Chief Minister of Assam. He was an eminent freedom fighter of Assam. He was the first and the only person from the Northeastern region to be the awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of the country. He is known as “Lokpriya” which means to be loved by all.

        Gopinath Bordoloi was born on June 6, 1890 at Raha in Assam. His fathers name was Buddheswar Bordoloi and mothers name was Praneswari Bordoloi. At the early age of 12 he lost his mother. His father was a medical practitioner. Since his childhood Bordoloi tried to understand the needs of people. He took his father’s profession to understand the social needs of patients. He married Surabala Devi in 1910. He took his last breath on August 5, 1950. Bordoloi passed matriculation in 1907. He got admission in Cotton College. He did his graduation from Scottish Church College in Calcutta in 1911. He passed MA from Calcutta University in 1914. Returning from Calcutta he worked as a headmaster of Sonaram High school. After passing the law examination he practiced in Guwahati.

           Gopinath Bordoloi was a follower of the Gandhian principle of non violence. Due to Bordoloi’s unselfish dedication towards Assam the then Governor of Assam Jayram Das Doulatram conferred him with the title “Lokpriya” which means to be loved by all. He did not rise much as a freedom fighter, but his dedication to the national freedom movement was showed during the time period between 1946-1947. This was the time when a majority of the muslim political leaders from Bengal most of them under the mislim league, wanted to include the Hindu dominated Assam into East Pakistan. Bordoloi’s freedom struggle was influenced by Rabindranath Tagore, JC Bose, Surendranath Banerjee and a few others. He was an architect of the Indian national congress in Assam. His understanding of the deep rooted problems of Assam earned him the respect of the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi- his political and spiritual mentor. Gandhi always stood by him and supported him.

           Gopinath Bordoloi was the first person from the Northeastern region to be the awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of the country. He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna.The Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport at Guwahati is named after him.