Kushal Konwar was a “Satyagrahi” and a supporter of Mahatma Gandhi. He took Shrimad Bhagawad Gita as his sole companion and vowed to continue being a vegetarian. During the last stages of the Quit India Movement in 1942–1943, he was the only martyr in India’s war for Independence to be hanged.
Kushal Konwar was born on March 21, 1905, in the Assamese district of Golaghat, in Balijan, close to Sarupathar. His family used the surname “Konwar,” which was eventually dropped, and descended from the royal dynasty of the Ahom Kingdom. His middle-class parents lived in the village of Chowdang Chariali in Ghiladhari Mouza’s Golaghat district (formerly under Sivasagar district). He lived a calm family life, similar to other young people of the day. But starting in 1925, he began to be influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, which drastically altered the trajectory of his life. Kushal Konwar made a commitment to stay a vegetarian after that and embraced Shrimad Bhagawad Gita as his exclusive company. Konwar even ceased using salt after Gandhiji launched the famous Salt Satyagraha in 1931. He upheld these promises to the very end of his life. As a child, Kushal Konwar was reserved and truth-seeking, qualities he received from his parents, Sonaram and Kanakeswari Konwar. Kushal Konwar, the fifth child of his parents, finished primary school in 1918 and enrolled at the Bezbarua Middle English School in Golaghat. When he was still young, Kushal Konwar wed Prabhawati.
The hanging of Kushal Konwar turned out to be another desperate attempt by the colonial administration to impose its already dwindling power and influence among the indigenous, despite the fact that he was never directly involved in the train sabotage episode
Gandhiji’s demand for Non-Cooperation Movement in 1921 motivated him while he was still in school, and he actively participated in it. Gandhiji’s principles of Swaraj, Truth, and Ahimsa served as inspiration for Konwar when he established a primary school in Bengmai and taught there as an honorary teacher. Later, he took up a job of a clerk at the Balijan Tea Estate, where he spent some time. He resigned from his position as a clerk on a tea estate so that he could devote all of his time to the fight for India’s Independence. Similar to other regions of India, Assam saw widespread opposition to the British Government’s policies during the Quit India Movement. At that time, Kushal Konwar held a senior position in Sarupathar district of Congress unit. Along with Mrityu Bahinis (Suicide Squads), who committed some severe acts of sabotage to disrupt the British authorities’ communications network, Santi Senas (Peace Forces) were also established throughout the State. While this was going on, the British Government used force to put an end to the movement.
The district congress unit devised a plan to derail a military train in cooperation with the Sarupathar Mrityu Bahini. Despite Kushal’s best efforts, he was unable to persuade the district Congress members to abstain from such an activity. The entire Sarupathar region was quickly surrounded by a British military cordon. Numerous people were arbitrarily detained by the police and subjected to physical abuse. Kushal Konwar was detained by the British authorities on October 13, 1942, after they accused him of being the main organiser of the Sarupathar train sabotage event. Many people recommended Kushal Konwar to hide out, but he flatly refused. Ultimately, despite the lack of proof linking him to the crime, Kushal admitted full moral culpability for the train sabotage event in front of the Court.
Kushal was the ideal scapegoat for CA Humphrey, the district’s then-Deputy Commissioner, thanks to his honesty in taking responsibility for the crime on behalf of his fellow citizens. Along with Kushal Konwar, execution by hanging was also imposed on Kanakeswar Konwar, Dharmakanta Deka, and Ghanshyam Saikia. They were accused of conspiring to overthrow the colonial government. However, with the exception of Kushal, the other three had their sentences reduced through a petition for compassion to 10 years of hard imprisonment.
Despite being innocent, Kushal Konwar accepted the unfair judgement without protest. Kushal Konwar, who was thought to be innocent, was nevertheless found guilty of sabotage and given the death penalty by the court that tried him, according to the Gazetteer of India, Assam State Vol. 1. Despite the absence of any evidence against him, Kushal Konwar was found guilty in the Court of CM Humphrey. Kushal received a death sentence. He graciously accepted the judgement. When his wife Prabhavati paid him a visit at the Jorhat prison, he told her that he is happy that God chose him to be the lone prisoner out of thousands to make the ultimate sacrifice for the nation. Kushal read the Gita and prayed throughout his final days in the death row cell of the Jorhat jail. Kushal Konwar was hanged in Jorhat Jail at 4:30 am on June 15, 1943, just before daybreak. In accordance with what Mahatma said, “He alone may be a true satyagrahi who knows the art of living and dying,” he gave his life as a sacrifice. Konwar chanted the name of Hari and spoke a few poems from the Bhagavad Gita before being executed. The hanging of Kushal Konwar turned out to be another desperate attempt by the colonial administration to impose its already dwindling power and influence among the indigenous, despite the fact that he was never directly involved in the train sabotage episode. The Golaghat Police Station’s lock-up room, where Kushal Konwar spent some time following his imprisonment by the British, has been rebuilt and preserved in honour of him by the Assam State Government.
