Rajen Sharma, commonly known as Uddipta Hazarika,[lower-alpha 1] was the first publicity secretary of the militant organisation United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).[1][2] Popular for his poem Mor Rakta Borna Protigya (Assamese: মোৰ ৰক্তবৰ্ণ প্ৰতিজ্ঞা), Sharma was killed on 8 October 1989.[3][4]

Sharma was the first martyr of the ULFA,[5] as the organisation was banned by the government of India[6] a year after his death.[7] In memory of Sharma, journalist Parag Kumar Das dedicated his book Changlot Fenla, citing Uddipta alias Rajen Sharma as a martyr[8][9] and a National Hero.[10]

Early life

Sharma was born to a family of teachers and had a good academic background. After passing HSLC examination, he studied at Cotton College in Guwahati.[11][12] He didn't complete his studies and joined the militant outfit ULFA.

Militancy Life and Death

Sharma joined the ULFA in the early 1980s and became the first publicity secretary of the organisation. Sharma adopted the organisational name Uddipta Hazarika. As the ULFA's ideologue, several motivated youths joined the organisation under the leadership of Uddipta Hazarika.[13] As the publicity secretary of the ULFA, he was very vocal with his writings in newspapers and pamphlets. Sharma published all pamphlets and the outfit's mouthpiece "Swadhinata" on behalf of the organisation.[14] He also published ULFA's propaganda magazine Bixex Prachar Patrika Doi-Kaun-Rang, which is still a resource for writers.[15][16]

On 8 October 1989, Sharma was lynched by a mob. It happened when he and Hitesh Kalita alias Raju Baruah entered the house of Nemi Chand Jain, in front of the Nalbari Hari Mandir.[17] There was a gunfight and after the incident, Sampat Jain, Mulchand Jain, Satish Tamuli, Rajkumar Sharmah were killed in that incident. Following that, a mob attacked Rajen and Hitesh, which led to Rajen's death.[18]

On Sharma's death, the ULFA held a public condolence meeting in his native village, where he was offered organisational condolences with flag hoisting and blank firing.[19] The district unit of All Assam Students' Union (AASU) called a "bandh" (closure for 24 hours) on the very next day in protest of the killing of Sharma.[20]

Notes

  1. ↑ The name is spelled in several books and journals as Udipta Hazarika, Rajen Sarma, Rajen Sarmah etc.

References

  1. ↑ Economic and political weekly. 1989. p. 2534.
  2. ↑ Deka, Dixita (2 October 2019). "'Between underground and over ground: narratives on the identity of women insurgents in Assam'". Asian Ethnicity. 20 (4): 469–485. doi:10.1080/14631369.2019.1596737. ISSN 1463-1369. S2CID 151281562.
  3. ↑ "Voice of Ulfa caught in Bhutan net - Shroud of secrecy over evacuation of injured Bhutanese soldiers to army base in Guwahati". The Telegraph (India). 17 December 2003. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  4. ↑ "India today". India Today. 15: 66. ISSN 0971-4537.
  5. ↑ Kashyap, Samudra Gupta (18 April 2014). "In ULFA's former bastion rises new opportunity". The Indian Express. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  6. ↑ "Before Being Banned, ULFA Leaders Had Sought UK Support, Reveal Declassified Papers". The Wire. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  7. ↑ Moral, Rakhee Kalita. "Rumour, Rhetoric, Rebellion: Negotiating the archive and the witness in Assam". NMML Occasional Paper History and Society. New Series. Nehru Memorial Museum & Library. 82: 8, 26. ISBN 978-93-83650-92-7.
  8. ↑ Baruah, Sanjib (2009). Beyond Counter-insurgency: Breaking the Impasse in Northeast India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-19-569876-3.
  9. ↑ Baishya, Amit Rahul (2010). Rewriting nation-state: Borderland literatures of India and the question of state sovereignty. Vol. 72-12A. University of Iowa. English. p. 346. ISBN 978-1-124-87786-0.
  10. ↑ "Sanglat Fenla Controversy: নতুন সংস্কৰণত সাল-সলনিৰ অভিযোগ". ETV Bharat News. ETV Bharat. 8 January 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  11. ↑ "Restless Frontier: Army, Assam and Its People" (PDF). Restless Frontier: Army, Assam and Its People. People's Union for Democratic Rights. May 1991: 16. May 1991. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 May 2022.
  12. ↑ "ULFA leader Rashmita Asom alias Jahnabi Mahanta Rajkonwar passes away". Times of Assam. 8 February 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  13. ↑ Gokhale, Nitin Anant (1998). The Hot Brew: The Assam Tea Industry's Most Turbulent Decade, 1987-1997. Spectrum Publications. p. 19. ISBN 9788185319827.
  14. ↑ Misra, Udayon (2000). The Periphery Strikes Back: Challenges to the Nation-state in Assam and Nagaland. Indian Institute of Advanced Study. p. 141. ISBN 9788185952741.
  15. ↑ Gogoi, Dilip (2016). Unheeded Hinterland: Identity and Sovereignty in Northeast India. Taylor & Francis. p. 69. ISBN 9781317329213.
  16. ↑ Das, Samir Kumar (1994). United Liberation Front of Assam: a Political Analysis. Ajanta Publications. p. 95. ISBN 9788120204072.
  17. ↑ Kamarupee (1989). "AGP Facing Multiple Challenges". Economic and Political Weekly. 24 (46): 2533–2534. ISSN 0012-9976. JSTOR 4395582 – via JSTOR.
  18. ↑ "In the Court of Judge: Designated Court, Assam" (PDF). 31 August 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  19. ↑ Ahmed, Farzand (31 March 1980). "Extremist guerrilla organisation ULFA runs parallel govt in Assam with ominous implications". India Today. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  20. ↑ Shah, O.P. (1989). Parlance: Volume 13. University of Virginia. p. 24.
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