SHILLONG, Jan 29 – Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s North East sojourn in his endeavour to install the first Congress Government of undivided Assam in 1938 may be little known to many.
But for this 89-year-old close aide of Netaji, the memory of Bose’s visit to the city still remains fresh.
“Subhash Babu, who was then the president of the Indian National Congress had come to Shillong, the capital of composite Assam to install a Congress Government,” JN Bawri, a close aide of Netaji in Shillong, recalls.
“We arranged for Subhas Babu a private house near the Ward’s Lake during the visit. Along with some tribal friends we guarded him throughout the night,” the octogenarian Bawri, now a business tycoon, told reporters here.
Netaji, after addressing his first meeting at the Polo Market, which was hugely attended despite the threat from the British, addressed another meeting at Mawkhar calling on the people to gear up for India’s freedom, says Bawri.
“Netaji met the then British Governor of Assam in Shillong and put forth the claim to form a Congress Government,” he recalls. “Understanding that the Governor was not inclined, he threatened that if he was not allowed to form a government here then Congress Governments all over India would resign,” Bawri says.
“This worked well and finally the Governor agreed to swear-in a Congress Government under the premiership of Gopinath Bordoloi on November 18, 1938,” he adds.
Bawri can also recollect how he drove Bose through the streets of Shillong. “I took out our family’s car to cater to him for three memorable days,” he adds.
“Getting fuel and a driver in those days were big problems. I had a tough time arranging for a gallon equivalent to 4.56 litres of petrol at the cost of 3 annas because my elder brothers did not approve of it. But I managed the money from here and there,” Bawri chuckles.
“I was transfixed and at once elated at this life-time experience as I drove with Subhash Babu sitting right next to me; but he was exceptionally humorous despite his serious countenance,” he recalls. “I also took Subhas Babu on a sight-seeing trip in Shillong. He was particularly interested in seeing the house where Rabindranath Tagore stayed and so I took him to Rilbong, where the poet laureate composed some of his greatest literary pieces.”
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