Netaji's Statue In Assam's Silchar Reminds Nation Of Bose's 'Dilli Chalo' Call From Northeast | OPINION
When the Silchar Netaji Murti Nabanirman o Sthapana Committee announced that the new statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at Rangirkhari would be unveiled on August 31, with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma as the chief guest, it was clear this was no routine civic event. For Silchar, long tied to Netaji's memory and the INA's whispers, the reinstallation is both homage and reclamation.
The statue, crafted by Mysuru-based artist Arun Yogiraj, is more than an ornament at a traffic junction. It stands as testimony to a time when Silchar was seen not as a bystander but as a possible gateway to India's freedom.
The state government and Barak Valley residents have treated the event with equal gravity, reshaping Rangirkhari with tiled pavements, modern railings, lighting, and landscaped surroundings to create a landmark where aesthetics meet history.
Today, Bronze Statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose inaugurated at silchar (Assam)by the Hon’ble Chief Minister Sri #himantabiswa . The huge gathering of people reflected the deep love and respect for Netaji. I feel truly fortunate for this opportunity. Thank you, Assam, pic.twitter.com/QRH8XPVTMU
— Arun Yogiraj (@yogiraj_arun) August 31, 2025
Silchar's connection with Netaji predates Independence. In 1938, he visited as Congress president, and in 1939, as a Forward Bloc leader, was welcomed with arches and processions.
He stayed at the home of municipal chairman and freedom fighter Rukini Das. At Gandhibag, his speeches inspired many youths, including Mata Das Roy, Maulana Golam Sabir Khan, Debendra Purkayasha, and others, to join the Forward Bloc. Local journals Surma and Saptak published special editions, while leaders like Sushil Ranjan Chakraborty carried his message forward. His words, “Work for the present, but prepare for the future,” became a mantra for Cachar's youth.
In 1943-44, as the INA advanced through Manipur and Burma, pamphlets dropped from aircraft over Silchar bore Netaji's "Delhi Chalo" call in Bengali, Urdu, and Hindi, alongside faces of INA soldiers. Alarmed, the British launched raids, arrests, and surveillance, aware that Cachar could become Netaji's corridor to Bengal.
The INA saw Silchar as a strategic hinge, and had the Japanese raid on Silchar Railway Station in 1944 succeeded, history might have shifted. Even Japanese pilots who mistakenly bombed Derby Tea Estate later dropped apology leaflets — a reminder of Silchar's importance in that theatre of war.
Rangirkhari is therefore more than a junction. It is the symbolic heart of a town that stood on the cusp of Netaji's unfinished revolution. The statue reinstalled there is a memory made visible, a tribute to what might have been, and a refusal to let Silchar's role be erased.
Yet, it was erased. After Netaji's disappearance, both the British and later Nehru's establishment in Delhi worked to suppress his legacy. To the British, Bose was a greater threat than Gandhi, raising an army, shaking loyalties within the forces, and aligning with the Axis powers.
For Nehru, he was an inconvenient rival who rejected compromise and embodied militant nationalism.
Post-1947, Congress governments reduced him to a footnote. Schoolbooks gave cursory mentions, the INA trials were sidelined, and classified files were locked away. Even Bose's family was under surveillance into the 1960s. In Silchar, where his name still carried fire, this erasure stung deeply. When Nehru visited in 1946, protesters heckled him over Sylhet, and a stone wrapped in an Azad Hind currency note was hurled at his car — a sign that Netaji's shadow loomed larger than Nehru's promises.
This is why the reinstallation of the statue matters. Sarma's presence at the inauguration signalled Assam's alignment with a corrective movement that began with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's declassification of Netaji files, the celebration of the INA, and the installation of Bose's statue at India Gate.
Critics may argue that statues do not solve unemployment or hunger. But civilisations rest not on bread alone, but also on memory and meaning. By reimagining Rangirkhari as a site of honour, the government gives Silchar the space to tell its own story without waiting for Delhi's approval.
Netaji's call to "work for the present, but prepare for the future" echoes in Assam today. Welfare schemes like expanded ration coverage and Arunodoi 3.0 address immediate needs, while restoring historical pride prepares the ground for continuity. Silchar is reminded that it is not a periphery but a frontier in India's freedom story.
When INA pamphlets fluttered over Cachar in 1943, Netaji's face, urging "Dilli Chalo", was more than a slogan; it was a call for distant corners of India to recognise themselves in the national destiny. Today, the bronze figure at Rangirkhari carries that same spirit, telling Silchar's youth that their story matters and Delhi is not far.
On August 31, as Sarma unveiled the statue, Silchar witnessed more than civic beautification. It will witness the revival of memory, recognition of its historic role, and justice to history. In bringing Netaji back to Rangirkhari, Silchar also restored its own dignity.
(The writer is a technocrat, political analyst, and author)
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