Noted historian Prof. Amena M. Passah said that “one of the lapses of colonial Indian historiography is the utter neglect of the North-East India’s rich preserved of valiant women and men who resisted British imperialism in their region and whose names and exploits do not feature in the history books”.
She said this while presenting a talk on “The freedom struggle of Tirot Sing Syiem” at the programme organised by the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) today to observe the 188th death anniversary of Khasi freedom fighter Tirot Sing Syiem.
While speaking about the life and struggle of Tirot Sing, Prof. Passah who is from NEHU’s Department of History, mentioned that Meghalaya is indebted to Prof. David Syiemlieh, who in the course of his research, found out that Tirot Sing died on 17th of July under house arrest and not as an ordinary prisoner in a jail as initially believed.
Answering to the queries of the participants, Prof. Passah mentioned that a lot of research has to be conducted to learn more about the lives of the freedom fighters of the State as the records in the history books do not do justice to the works of these unsung heroes.
She urged the scholars and students of history to explore the possibilities of conducting research about the life of Tirot Sing in Dacca while he was under house arrest.
She also applauded the Government of India in putting efforts and spotlight on lesser known heroes of India under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav programme.
Attended by teachers, scholars, students and non-teaching staff of the university, the programme was chaired by NEHU vice chancellor Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla.
Prof. Shukla while presenting the chairman’s remark applauded Prof. Passah for enlightening the participants about the life and struggles of Tirot Sing Syiem.
He exhorted on the fact that it is high time now that the young generation knew about our unsung heroes.
“It is also necessary to conduct more research work on these freedom fighters about whom is not much covered in the history books”, Prof. Shukla said.
He also highlighted the fact that NEHU is now in a phase where the lives of unsung heroes and heroines of the State are celebrated and involving students in celebrating their lives is important.
Urging the NEHU Students’ Union to take the lead role in organising programmes and creating awareness about the freedom fighters of the society, Prof. Shukla said that the university will be providing full support in organising such events.
He urged the students of history, archaeology and anthropology to conduct more research on the freedom fighters of the state and come with the answers to questions raised during the talk session presented by Prof. Passah.
