Silchar Knowledge Guide

History

Cachar district records

In the 1850s, British tea planters re-discovered the game polo in Manipur on the Burmese border with India. The first polo club in the world was formed at Silchar.The first competitive modern form of polo was played in Silchar, and the plaque for this feat still stands behind the District Library, Silchar.

Language Movement in Barak Valley

Silchar saw one of the uprisings in favour of the Bengali language. When the Assam government, under Chief Minister Bimala Prasad Chaliha, passed a circular to make Assamese mandatory, Bengalis of Barak Valley protested. On 19 May 1961, Assam police opened fire on unarmed protesters at Silchar railway station. Eleven people(listed below) were killed. Kanailal Niyogi Chandicharan Sutradhar Hitesh Biswas Satyendra Deb Kumud Ranjan Das Sunil Sarkar Tarani Debnath Sachindra Chandra Pal Birendra Sutradhar Sukamal Purakayastha Kamala BhattacharyaAfter the popular revolt, the Assam government had to withdraw the circular and Bengali was ultimately given official status in the three districts of Barak Valley. Section 5 of Assam Act XVIII, 1961, safeguards the use of Bengali in the Cachar district. It says, “Without prejudice to the provisions contained in Section 3, the Bengali language shall be used for administrative and other official purposes up to and including district level.”