Gopinath Bardoloi- Builders of Modern India (An Old and Rare Book)

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Gopinath Bardoloi was Assam’s most well-known leader in the country during the thirties and forties of this century. He is rightly regarded as one of the makers of modern India. During the crucial days of transfer of power, it was he who mobilised public opinion against grouping Assam and:Bengal under the Cabinet Mission Scheme and thus foiled the subtle attempt of the Muslim League to include Assam in East Pakistan. Happily, in this, Bardoloi received unstinted support of his ideological mentor, Gandhiji.

He was a self-made leader with many qualities of head and heart. His deep interests in sports, constructive work, theatre, history, tribal life and Indian spiritual tradition made him catholic in his outlook and taste. His untimely death was mourned universally. Dr Harekrishna Mehtab, the maker of modern Orissa, told me in 1980, ‘"‘Assam was fortunate to have Bardoloi as her leader. Had he lived longer, Assam would have been spared of the present agonies.’"’ Dr Mehtab said this while the Assam movement on foreigners was at its height.

This short biography is an attempt at reconstructing his life in its most significant aspects. It cannot be called a complete biography. What I have tried here is to give a neat picture of this remarkable man as judiciously as I am capable of.

Gopinath Bardoloi was Assam’s most well-known leader in the country during the thirties and forties of this century. He is rightly regarded as one of the makers of modern India. During the crucial days of transfer of power, it was he who mobilised public opinion against grouping Assam and:Bengal under the Cabinet Mission Scheme and thus foiled the subtle attempt of the Muslim League to include Assam in East Pakistan. Happily, in this, Bardoloi received unstinted support of his ideological mentor, Gandhiji.

He was a self-made leader with many qualities of head and heart. His deep interests in sports, constructive work, theatre, history, tribal life and Indian spiritual tradition made him catholic in his outlook and taste. His untimely death was mourned universally. Dr Harekrishna Mehtab, the maker of modern Orissa, told me in 1980, ‘"‘Assam was fortunate to have Bardoloi as her leader. Had he lived longer, Assam would have been spared of the present agonies.’"’ Dr Mehtab said this while the Assam movement on foreigners was at its height.

This short biography is an attempt at reconstructing his life in its most significant aspects. It cannot be called a complete biography. What I have tried here is to give a neat picture of this remarkable man as judiciously as I am capable of.