Kanaklata Barua
Kanaklata Barua was born on 22 December 1924 to Krishna Kanta and Karneshwari Barua at Borangabari, Gohpur, Darrang district (now in Sonitpur District), Assam. She was also called Birbala, Kanka. She was nicknamed Kali because of her dark complexion. Her ancestors were ministers in the court of the Ahom kings.
Kanaklata Barua lost her mother when she was only five. Her father, a farmer and social worker, remarried but he died when she was thirteen. She studied at the local school till Class III but then dropped out to take care of her younger siblings Rajani Kanta Barua and Dibyalata Barua and to do household chores.
Freedom fighter Jyoti Prasad Agarwala established a group called the Mrityu Vahini (Death Squad) in Tezpur. Kanaklata Barua joined the Mrityu Bahini wing of the Gohpur sub division.
On 20 September 1942, the Mrityu Bahini decided to hoist the national flag at the Gohpur police station. A procession of unarmed villagers led by Kanaklata Barua started their march towards the police station. Kanaklata held the flag high, shouting slogans of freedom. The British police warned the procession of dire consequences if they proceeded further. Undeterred, the procession continued marching ahead.
It was then that the teenage Kanaklata said aloud these inspiring words, “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒓𝒐𝒏. 𝑶 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔! 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒑𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍. 𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅. 𝑵𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕.”
Kanaklata was about to hoist the flag when the British shot at her. She died on the spot and attained Veergati. She was then only 17 years old.
