Forcing Prison Doors: Socio-cultural Mission of Dr Bhupen Hazarika

Introduction

An outstanding musician from Assam, Dr Bhupen Hazarika (1926–2011) almost singlehandedly brought national and international recognition to Assamese music and culture and emerged as the cultural icon for both the state of Assam and North-east India. Besides the innumerable awards and honorifics, President of Asom Sahitya Sabha (1993), recipient of Padmashree (1977), Padma Bhushan (2001), Padma Vibhushan (posthumously in 2012), Sangeet Natak Academy Award (1988), Dada Saheb Phalke Award for lifetime achievement in cinema (1993), Srimanta Sankardeva Award (1988), Chairman of Sangeet Natak Academy (1998), music direction in over 50 films, best music director award by Bangla Film Award Society (1977), by the Bangladesh Film Industry and Bangladesh Journalists Association (1977), Asia Pacific International Film Festival award (1993), it is his life beyond that marks Dr Hazarika as the core cultural icon of not just the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural community called the Assamese but the entire population residing in the North-eastern part of India. Almost every Assamese sings Bhupen Hazarika’s songs. The presence and prominence of Dr Hazarika in the everyday life of Assam is marked by Mamoni Raisom Goswami (Indira Goswami) in her assertion that she ‘cannot draw a map of her motherland without the voice of Bhupen Hazarika’. In a poem dedicated to Dr Hazarika, Dr Goswami writes:

Without your voice, I cannot draw

A map of my motherland

Your voice pervades

The skies and the winds of my land

The restless bosom of the old Luit

The silken sands of the Dhansiri

The silvery shores of the Burhidihing

The copper-hued currents of the Dikhou

The riha’s end of Lakhimpur’s Ranganadi

The golden waters of the Jogoliya.

(Dr Mamoni Raisom Goswami, 2011: 8–9, translation by Suranjana Baruah, 2011: 8)

(Note: Luit is another name for the mighty Brahmaputra and the other words in italics are its tributaries)

Dr Hazarika is counted as one of the five main architects of Assamese culture and literature, the souls of the Assamese identity. The other four are the fifteenth century social reformer and preacher of the Vaishanavite religion in Assam, Shri Shri Sankaradeva; the nineteenth and twentieth century literary giant who imparted the width and depth of modernity to the Assamese language, Sahityarathee Lakshminath Bezbaruah; the cultural giant who laid down modernity in Assamese music in a unique way by blending it within the diverse Assamese folks Rup Konwer (prince of beauty), Jyotiprasad Agarwala; and another cultural and literary giant, a comrade of Jyotiprasad Agarwala in the cultural mission, Kalaguru (master of art and literature) Bishnu Prasad Rabha. Counting these five does not mean ruling out the contributions of others both in literature and culture such as Padmanath Gohain Baruah (the first President of Asom Sahitya Sabha— the oldest and the biggest literary platform in Assam); Raghunath Choudhury (poet); Anandiram Das (folk maestro); Phani Sarmah (dramatist); Parbati Prasad Baruah (music maestro); and Hemanga Biswas—founder of the Indian Peoples’ Theatre movement in Assam, to cite only a few.

A Short Biographical Sketch

Born on 8 September 1926 in Sadiya, then in North East Frontier Area (NEFA), Bhupen Hazarika’s musical talent was exhibited at the age of five when he sang for the first time in a public meeting in Guwahati and received appreciation from Sahityarathi (emperor of literature) Lakshminath Bezbaruah, one of the pioneers of modern Assamese literature. Dr Hazarika went to school in different parts of the state of Assam as his father Nilakanta Hazarika had a transferable government position. Dr Hazarika completed his matriculation from Tezpur Government High School in 1940. Tezpur, the cultural capital of Assam at that point was a great opportunity for Dr Hazarika where he met three cultural giants of Assam: Jyotiprasad Agarwala, Bishnu Prasad Rabha and Phani Sarmah. It may be mentioned that Jyotiprasad Agarwala produced the first ever Assamese film in 1936 and both Jyotiprasad Agarwala and Bishnu Prasad Rabha gave a distinct identity to Assamese music. When Dr Hazarika turned 10, Jyotiprasad and Bishnu Rabha took Dr Hazarika to Calcutta to record music in his voice. At the age of 11, in 1937, he composed his first song on Sankardeva, the great fifteenth-century Assamese social and religious reformer, considered to be the founder of the soul of the Assamese national identity. Dr Hazarika completed his Intermediate in 1942 from Cotton College and completed his BA (1944) and MA (1946) in political science from Benaras Hindu University (BHU). Benaras introduced Dr Hazarka to the rich and diverse traditions of Indian classical music. He writes in his autobiography:

After I had gone to Baranasi, my thinking on life has entirely changed. At one point I used to consider Marathis and Gujaratis as very near and dear ones to me. Now I have so many classmates. When I saw one from Africa, another from Indonesia and still another from Japan and found one of my Muslim mates studying Sanskrit, then the vision of world humanity gradually became very clear to my mind. Had I studied in Calcutta I would have remained an eastern Indian, but after moving to Baranasi I discovered the great India. (Hazarika, 2008)

After completing his MA, Dr Hazarika taught in a college in Guwahati for a brief period, and left for the US in 1949 for his PhD. In between he joined the Indian Peoples’ Theatre Association (IPTA) in 1948, Assam’s unit of which was established by Hemanga Biswas, whose birth centenary was celebrated in 2011–12 with year-long programme by the progressive and democratic forces in Assam. Hemanga Biswas, a leading figure in the IPTA movement in India steered a movement of ‘peoples’ culture’ (gana sanskriti) in Assam and brought together cultural figures to work for peoples’ emancipation. Hemanga Biswas was both a teacher in music and comrade-in-arms for Dr Hazarika till the early 1960s. Dr Hazarika received his doctorate degree from Columbia University in 1952 for his thesis on ‘Role of Mass Communication in India’s Adult Education’. His stay in Columbia University introduced him to the revolutionary Black American musician Paul Robeson whose music, Dr Hazarika narrates, electrified his conscience and imagination. After he had come back to Assam, he joined Gauhati University as a lecturer in 1954, but continued his musical mission and performed in different places under the banner of IPTA along with composing a number of revolutionary songs. Dr Hazarika also composed the Gauhati University anthem in 1954 which projects a unique vision of the first University in North-east India. He participated in the World Peace Conference held at Helsinki in 1956 as a member of Indian cultural troupe and resigned from Gauhati University on the issue around additional leave warranted by the conference. From then on, he fully dedicated himself to music, journalism and cultural activities. Dr Hazarika’s music took modern Assamese songs to the highest level of articulation. His songs carry the values of modernity, humanism and emancipation from all forms of bondage, history and heritage, folk narratives, unbound romance and communal harmony and integration.

Modernity: The Journey of Hope, Optimism and Light

It has been pointed out that the modern Assamese music finds its highest culmination in Dr Bhupen Hazarika. The process started in the early part of the twentieth century. Jyotiprasad Agarwala (1903–51) was a pioneer in this regard. Dr Bhupen Hazarika followed the footsteps of Jyotiprasad to give modern Assamese music an identity of its own, endowed with universal values of modernity.

Jyotiprasad Agarwala pointed out that the journey of modern Assamese music was in its infancy when he started composing the songs for his first drama Sonit Konwari (Princess of the Sonit kingdom) in the second decade of the twentieth century. The Assamese music at that point was highly influenced both by Bengali and Hindustani music. Assamese music did not have its own identity. Jyotiprasad had to encounter lot of odds in launching modern Assamese music with a new taste which was ‘modern’ but embedded in the rhythms of Assamese folklore.

However, Jyotiprasad challenged that resistance and moved ahead. While in the initial phase, his creations—whether music, poems or drama and even prose—were mostly on pre-historic or ancient and medieval historical themes of Assam, which he exaggerated at many instances to arouse a sense of patriotism and pride in Assam’s past glory, he gradually moved towards contemporary issues. This move was evident in his post—Second World War writings. Jyotiprasad Agarwala’s active involvement in the freedom struggle, particularly his leadership during the Quit India Movement gave him new insights. However, his growing disillusionment with the Congress and affinity with the communist movements in the country added a new dimension in his modernity. The values of liberty, justice and equity and the reality of oppression and subjugation emerged as central themes in Jyotiprasad’s writings during this phase. Jyotiprasad also concentrated on the issue of gender, portraying women as core protagonists in his dramas, without, however attacking the patriarchy directly. Humanity emerged as the central theme in Jyotiprasad’s writings.

His associate Bishnu Prasad Rabha (1909–69) was already a member of the revolutionary wing of the communist movement, that is, the Revolutionary Communist Party of India (RCPI) and he contributed immensely to the development of modern Assamese music. Fighting feudal atrocities, particularly in the rural agricultural domain, was an important component in Bishnu Prasad Rabha’s writings. The women protagonists—whether as a lover, mother or a revolutionary—were portrayed both emotionally and positively by Jyotiprasad and Bishnu Rabha.

Dr Hazarika was immensely influenced by Jyotiprasad and Bishnu Rabha, calling them his ‘friends, philosophers and guides’. However, living in a different time and having exposure to the wider world, Dr Hazarika’s sense of modernity was more articulate, sophisticated and deeper.

Modernity is not a game of words; rather it is both the values and the mission that it portrays. Liberty, justice, freedom and also fraternity are important attributes of modernity. Modernity is also a continuous striving for transformation that leads humanity towards emancipation from all shackles of un-freedom and injustices. Rationality as opposed to superstition helps the ‘modern’ to be alive, dynamic and change aspirators. Attributes of dynamism and change in modernity take humanity to a higher stage of realising both freedom and justice and thereby bring convergence between the ‘individual’ and the collective entities—whether it is the community or the state. It is in this sense that modernity finds its true culmination in Marxism rather than in liberalism. Modernity is not a monopoly of the liberal Western world. Modernity loses its true emancipating potentialities once it is hijacked by capitalism.

Dr Hazarika was a modern artist in the true sense of the word. His music strived to challenge feudal structures and behaviour; casteist traditions, coercions of capitalism and all other shackles of un-freedom at other domains of social and community life. His romantic songs are also songs of emancipation. He dedicated himself to the mission of ‘forcing prison doors’; to give shape to the century (the twentieth century) with light in contrast to the darkness; to bring colour to everyone and to break the banks of darkness to bring tidal waves of vibrant life. Such a complete sense of modernity flows through most of his creations.

In a song composed in 1953 titled Ruddha Karar Duwar Bhangi—‘Forcing Prison Doors’, Dr Hazarika sings:

Forcing prison doors

I venture out to where light dances

There will I offer oblations

In adorned numbers.

He asserts:

Abundant free air is my due

At the fount where collective life begins

Where hope writes poems

On the tomb of defeat and despair.

(Dr Hazarika, 1953; translation by Pradip Acharya, 2011: 72)

Dr Hazarika also asserted that the modern epoch must centre around human beings and their emancipation and not on the kings and queens. He sings:

The historians of the past

Wrote about kings and emperors

Today’s historians write

Of the emancipation of man.

(Dr Hazarika, 1952; translation by Upendra Nath Sarma, 2011: 68)

He also reminds us the cries of the peasants and other oppressed categories who pledged to uphold the human cause across the world.

Dr Hazarika understands the challenges of modern life. He also realises that peace in the world is at stake. He himself was witness to the destructions of the world wars. However, one has to continue to fight and move ahead, one cannot surrender to defeat. The new life brings the ocean waves; one is forced to swim in the confluence of oceans. Dr Hazarika also swims in the confluence of the oceans, but does not get physically tired. But, to see the devils of destruction, Dr Hazarika’s mind suffers from restlessness. He, however, is not a pessimist. He looks for a better world where ‘the forces of deep Pacific defeats destruction’. This song is considered as one of the best creations of Dr Hazarika.

His optimism is not drowned by destruction. He finds the soldiers of creation who clash against those devil forces and brings new horizon of progress.

His optimism was so intense that he portrays dreams of hope in fresh dewdrops of autumn’s jasmine.

In Samayar Agragatit (In the eternal lead of time), he depicts optimism in the following way:

Carrying radiance on the head

Days come, the lute plays

No tinge of despair

No regret for whatever

I have got or not

The radiant tide rolls ahead.

(Dr Hazarika, 1968; translation by Nirendra Nath Thakuria, 2011: 178)

In one of his early creations, Agni Jugar Firingati Moi (Of the Fiery age I am a Spark), Dr Hazarika while taking a pledge to ‘convert human bones to arms to eliminate the exploiters’ and to ‘bring back to have-nots everything that they had lost’, he himself dedicates a new era where people will transcend the parochial loyalty to religiosity and the caste divides. It is to be noted that Dr Hazarika was only 13 years old when he composed the song. Many would argue that it was too romantic. However, one finds him re-echoing these pledges in many of his later songs, particularly in early 1950s.

Optimism in Dr Hazarika is embedded both in the enduring cultural heritage and modern scientific temperament. Science brings hope and is capable of rebuilding the society. However, emancipating potentialities of science are durable provided it gets assimilated into the cultural pillars of a society. The Gauhati University anthem composed by Dr Hazarika in 1954 depicts such a judicious blend of science, modernity and heritage. It is worth reproducing the complete anthem.

Such optimism is reflected in another song ‘The Warmth of Our Love Brings’, which was composed by Dr Hazarika in 1954 while serving at the University for the occasion of welcoming freshers. Youth was depicted as symbols of desire, colour and brevity. In this song Dr Hazarika depicts that the warmth of youth brings ‘the deluge of countless rainy seasons’ where ‘surging flood overflows’ and fulfils youthful desire.

It further says:

Breaking the banks of darkness still desolate

Brings the tidal waves of life vibrant

The wavelets of the lovely rainy seasons

Dance with the song of new creations

The surging flood overflows

The bare shore of youthful desire.

(Dr Hazarika, 1954; translated by Nirendra Nath Thakuria, 2011: 81)

Human life has to confront all odds, but not embrace defeat. One has to move ahead casting aside fear and hesitation. ‘Keep rowing the boat of life, o friend’ is of such a song of optimism:

Keep rowing the boat of life, o friend

If the clouds rumble and roar

If the storm howls in

Keep rowing the boat of life

Keep rowing the boat of life, o friend.

In ‘A new, a new courage’ the optimism is further reinforced:

With our own hands

We will ward off the darkness

Of a thousand ages

We go ahead, united, in the paths of light.

The sun gambols in the reddened courtyard

The New dances with elan

On the body of the old.

(Dr Hazarika, 1959; translation by Upendra Nath Sarma, 2011: 105)

Exposing Feudal Atrocities

Dr Bhupen Hazarika’s sense of optimism and modernity are politically profound. He had a deep understanding of the various domains through which exploitation operates. He could internalise the multiple forms of domination and subjugation. In this sense, he was a true successor of the new consciousness of people that Jyotiprasad Agarwala was depicting in his poem ‘Public Consciousness’ (Jana Chetana).

Both the political and cultural movements led respectively by the communist parties and IPTA in Assam from the 1940s onward created a new political consciousness among the progressive and democratic sections of artists. Some, for example Bishnu Prasad Rabha, were involved in both the fronts. But Jyotiprasad Agarwala primarily operated on the cultural front. But the one complemented the other. There were, of course, debates about whether the political lines drawn by the various communist parties should interfere in the cultural front or whether the cultural front should be allowed to flourish independently. But this debate was not settled and this failure damaged both the political and cultural wings of the progressive movement in Assam from the 1960s onwards. The division of the Communist Party of India (CPI) after the India–China conflict accentuated the crisis. But, in the 1940s and 1950s, the movement witnessed cultural politics complementing the revolutionary peoples’ struggle. Dr Hazarika was among the cultural giants involved in this endeavour. Dr Hazarika composed the best of his revolutionary and politically profound songs during this period, although a few more were composed in later period too. One of the most important contributions of Dr Hazarika during this period was to expose the feudal exploitation and feudal practices in the social and cultural domains.

In his famous song Dola, ho dola, dola, composed in 1953, Dr Hazarika says: ‘Nowadays the dola (palanquin) has gone out of use. It has remained the symbol of oppression of the feudal age. But the oppression perpetrated by the oppressors has not lessened, has it? The need to remind them has gone too?’

Caste practices are a part and parcel of the feudal system. Contrary to the popular perception that the North-eastern parts, by virtue of being inhabited by tribes, are free from feudal practices, the exact opposite is true. The Brahminical caste order is prevalent in the region, particularly in Assam. Communist parties, particularly the Revolutionary Communist Party of India, were engaged in exposing and challenging those feudal structures. At the cultural front, IPTA was deeply involved in the struggle. Dr Hazarika, who belonged to a Scheduled Caste, enriched the movement with his life experiences, especially in challenging the Brahminical caste order. Dr Hazarika’s Dug dug dug dug dambaru (Tom tom tom tom damabaru) is a case in point of politics influencing culture where the artist has documented social intolerance towards inter-caste marriage and contrasted it with the values of accommodation in the nature and animal kingdom. It is to be noted that Dr Hazarika extensively uses symbols of nature to expose structures of domination and subjugation in the society.

Sarukan and Sarudoi—two people of different castes desire to be united in marriage. The social order, of course, does not permit this union. They reject the society and take recourse to the blessings of nature and complete the rituals. On their marriage, Dr Hazarika sings:

The forest lit the ritualistic fire

The lighting provided the canopy

The cricket serenaded the wedding song

While the storm played the gagana (a small stringed musical instrument)

Spreading the news of courage.

Humanism

Humanism was part of Dr Hazarika’s project of modernity—an endeavour to emancipate his people and free them from oppression and subjugation. However, he laments, people turn against each other at critical junctures. Language, ethnicity, religion and caste divide the people. Dr Hazarika composed a number of songs targeting these divisions. Most important among them was Manuhe Manuhar Babe (If humans do not care for their fellow beings). These were simple lyrics but they reach out to people with a previously non-experienced sensibility. The Bengali version of this song was judged as the best song of twentieth century by BBC (Bengali section) in 2002. This song has been translated into different languages—Hindi, Bengali, Manipuri, Naga, Karbi, Nepali, etc.

In another song, Prachandda Dhumuhai Mok Karile Prashna—‘The Fiery Strom Raised a Query’, Dr Hazarika asks for power from the fiery Storm, for a ‘mighty and rich voice’ from the rumbling Thunder, and the whole Sky to ‘sing the songs of humanity’.

Shitare Semeka Raati, the song composed during an extremely cold winter is another song that underlines the humanity in Dr Hazarika’s work, particularly his concern for the marginalised. In his autobiography, he narrates the context in which this song was composed. It was on 16 December 1969. Khan Abdul Ghffar Khan, known as the Frontier Gandhi was visiting India. He was narrating how both India and Pakistan had failed to come out of the cycle of poverty and how millions in both the countries continued to suffer from deprivations. On the other hand, how a few had accumulated more and more wealth. ‘The 22 years of “revolutionary” independence got deteriorated into beggars’ independence.’ Harmony had disappeared, humanity had vanished. Dr Hazarika was listening to these utterances over the radio, which touched him so intensely that he could not sleep till late at night. And during the cold night, Dr Hazarika composed the following song.

Hijacking Dr Hazarika’s Mission by Bourgeois Nationalists

Dr Hazarika was also a columnist and editor. He edited two magazines, that is Gati (The Move) and Aamar Pratinidhi (Our Representative). Both were published from Calcutta after Dr Hazarika had shifted his centre of activities to Calcutta in 1955–56. Dr Hazarika brought together artists and intellectuals to reflect on political, cultural and social issues. He himself wrote on different issues in his own columns. Important writings on cultural and literary issues written both by foreign and national authors were translated and published in these magazines. Debates were initiated on burning issues faced by Assam. Many poets and lyricists used these magazines to publish their new creations and compositions. The important writings on contemporary issues published in these magazines represent the political orientation and depth of Dr Hazarika. He was progressive and secular in his approach, critical both of the state and obsessive nationalism. He had love for his motherland; he was a patriot, but neither a chauvinist nor a statist. For example, in a column titled Artahshasastrir Chora, published in Ammar Pratinidhi in its November 1972 issue, Dr Hazarika reflected very critically on the issue of medium of education at the university level, the issue which had provoked a mass movement in the state. He reminded that there could not be one-way imposition of the Assamese language as the medium of instruction in a multilingual society where Bengalis were in a majority in the Barak valley. He termed such attempts as ‘aggressive nationalism’ which is parochial in nature and serves the interests only of the narrow-minded bourgeoisie.

Unfortunately, Dr Hazarika is now projected more and more as a nationalist, particularly an Assamese nationalist and his critical penetration into the structural issues of inequality, deprivation and marginalisation are undermined. He is hyped even as a representative of chauvinist nationalism which he himself had critiqued both objectively and boldly through his columns and music. But it can be argued that Dr Hazarika himself had left some scope for such mis-judgements through some of his compositions. At critical junctures, for example, in 1962 after the India–China border conflict that erupted into a war, Dr Hazarika visited the Kameng frontier and composed his famous song Koto Jowanar Mrityu Hol (So many soldiers met their ends) through which he talked about the brutality of the enemy, that is, China. In his autobiographical writings, Dr Hazarika used words like ‘Chinese demons’ or ‘war-mongering Chinese demons’ to condemn the brutality of Chinese army against Indian soldiers in Kameng in Arunachal Pradesh. Such compositions were projected as his unquestionable love for the country and the state. Hazarika sings:

So many soldiers met their ends

Lost their lives and youth

Their deaths are invincible

Among them had I been one!

……………………

However, the Chinese revolution inspired Dr Hazarika immensely and the inspiration was reflected in his famous song Pratiddhani Shonu Moi, Pratidhani Shonu (I hear the echo, hear the echo) composed in 1953. It was written for his brother-in-law, artist Dilip Sarmah and the IPTA leader Hemanga Biswas who were visiting China. It may be noted that Hemanga Biswas was greatly inspired by the Chinese revolution and he composed many songs in appreciation both of the revolution and its leader Mao Tse Tung. The IPTA used those songs in Assam for their cause of revolutionary transformation. The following song of Hemanga Biswas reflects his appreciation. It was composed after the death of Mao Tse Tung.

Dr Hazarika’s appreciation for the Chinese revolution abruptly ended after the border conflict between India and China which he perceived as Chinese aggression on India. But in the 1953 composition he directly mentioned China, Hoang he and its achievements. He said that with Chinese revolution the tragic exploitation of farmers came to an end, thousands of hills fell apart with the echo of the emerging China and in the sea of humanity the revolution created a new uproar. However, after the conflict he re-composed the song and deleted each and every word related to the Chinese revolution. The song became abstract, the ideological appeal disappeared. This disappointed to his fellow comrades in IPTA.

The Assam agitation (1975–85) over the foreign influx became very chauvinist with the passage of time. The left-democratic forces protested against its chauvinist tendencies and invited torture and humiliation from the agitators. Dr Hiren Gohain, a renowned public intellectual, was beaten up on the streets for his critique of the chauvinist tendencies of the movement. Dr Hazarika himself fought against these tendencies in 1960 with Hemanga Biswas during the language movement in Assam. He was also critical about imposing Assamese as the only medium of instruction at the University level in multilingual state of Assam. During the Assam agitation too, he remained critical about these tendencies. However, when the Indian state imposed the 1983 election in the state against the will of the people, Dr Hazarika composed a few songs in appreciation of those who had sacrificed their lives. One among them is ‘Salute to you, o Martyr’:

O martyr, my salute to you

O martyr, my salute to you.

You’re the youth of the bank of the Luit

It’s you who bared his breast

It’s you who spoused death

To save the youngest daughter of mother India.

My salute to you, o martyr

My salute to you.

………………….

Ironically, this very popular song contributed towards intensification of the movement and brought legitimacy to it. A retrospective analysis of the movement reveals that it was led by the very narrow-minded bourgeois nationalists that Dr Hazarika had been extremely critical of in the past.

Equally perplexing was the decision of Dr Hazarika to contest the 2004 general elections from the Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency as a BJP candidate. A strong campaign against Dr Hazarika’s blatant compromise with his life-long mission was launched and Dr Hazarika lost the election. He, however, regretted the decision later and gradually distanced himself from the BJP. Despite this, Dr Hazarika is posthumously claimed more as a nationalist than a progressive cultural entity. This is indeed unfortunate. On the contrary, the cultural recognition of Jyotiprasad Agarwala was entirely different. Jyotiprasad was a nationalist in the early phase of his writings, gradually distanced himself from it and moved towards the ideology of communism and is recognised as such.

But the twist in Dr Hazarika’s cultural legacy because of his ideological shift to the Hindu right very late in his political life does not undermine the true humanism in his work. His immortal creations are all about fighting injustices and upholding humane values. Dr Hazarika will remain a source of inspiration and a reference point for preserving and promoting cultural diversity in North-east India as he is the only artist in the region who could win the hearts of all diverse ethnic communities in the region.