Due to geographical seclusion and limited colonial interference in Northeast India, people’s participation was very limited, however, noticeable. People of Northeast India fought the British colonial power intending to gain independence and protect local cultural interests. Some important personalities included:
Kanaklata Barua
- Belonging to Assam, Kanaklata Barua made a name for herself during the Quit India Movement, when she joined Mrityu Bahini, a suicide squad, when she was only 17.
- On 20 September 1942, the revolutionary camp of the Gohpur division of the undivided Darrang district decided to hoist and unfurl the national flag at a local police station, and it was Barua who led a procession of unarmed villagers for the task.
- Consequently, the police opened fire and Barua was shot dead holding the flag, which was subsequently picked up by her compatriot Mukunda Kakoti, who was also killed.
Rani Gaidinliu
- Belonged to the Rongmei Naga tribe of Nagaland and joined the Heraka religious reform movement begun by her cousin Haipou Jadonang, which sought to standardise traditional Naga belief systems against the growing influence of Christianity & Vaishnavism.
- Under her guidance, the movement later turned into a political movement seeking to kick the British out of the region.
- She urged the people not to pay taxes, not work for the British and even went underground to lead many attacks on the colonial administration.
- She was arrested in 1932 at the age of 16 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Jawaharlal Nehru met her at Shillong Jail in 1937 and gave her the title of Rani.
U Tirot Sing Syiemlieh
- Born in 1802, U Tirot Sing Syiemlieh was a native chief of Nongkhlaw, a territory in the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, who led the Khasis in their fight against the British during the 1829-1833 Anglo-Khasi War.
- After securing the Brahmaputra Valley and Surma Valley (in Assam and partly in Bangladesh), the British sought permission from Tirot to construct a road cutting through the hills inhabited by the Khasis.
Gopinath Bordoloi
- Born in 1890, Gopinath Bordoloi not only challenged the British, but also ensured after Independence, Assam remained part of India, and eventually became the first Chief Minister of undivided Assam.
- A Gandhian, he joined Congress in 1922 and began his political activism during Non-Cooperation Movement. Despite his immense contribution to the freedom struggle, particularly in the 1930s and Quit India Movement, it was in 1947 that he truly came to the fore.
