Barak Valley ( Bengali : বরাক উপত্যকা) is situated in the southern part of the Indian state of Assam .It's another name is East Bengal ( Bengali : পূর্ববঙ্গ) or Northeast Bengal ( Bengali : ঈশাণবঙ্গ) The main city of the valley is Silchar . The place is named after the Barak river . Barak valley mainly consists of three districts namely Cachar , Karimganj , and Hailakandi . Karimganj, the district headquarters of Karimgnaj district, is the second largest town in valley. It is considered as the cultural center of Barak valley.
The official language of Barak valley is Bengali . Majority of the people speak a dialect of Bengali , which is known as Sylheti . Religious composition of the valley population is Hindu:50%,Muslim:46%,and others 4%. Hindus are majority in Cachar district (60)% while Muslims are majority in Karimganj district (53%) and Hailakandi district (57%). [1]
Apart from the Bengali nation ( Bengali : বাঙালি জাতি), Barak Valley is the home land of Kacharis, Hmar, Manipuris (Both Bishnupriya and Meitei, Rongmei Nagas,and tea garden labourers. [2]
Of the three districts, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts have a Muslim majority while Cachar district has 40% Muslim population. The valley has a long history of Islam and Muslim life; half of the valley came under the rule of the Turk - Afghan dynasties of Bengal from the early 14th century and continued with the establishment of the Mughal Empire . However, the dominance of Muslim culture finally ended with the introduction of British rule in Bengal . In 1947 when plebiscite held in Sylhet , the district got divided into two, the eastern part of Sylhet which is known as Karimganj remained with India whereas the other part fell under Bangladesh . Geographically the region is surrounded by hills from all the three sides except its western plain boundary with Bangladesh. Nihar Ranjan Roy, author of Bangalir Itihash says, "South Assam or Barak Valley is the extension of greater Meghna Valley of Bengal ' in all the way from culture to geography.
The vegetation in the valley is mostly Tropical evergreen and there are large tracts of Rainforests in the northern and southern-eastern parts of the valley, which are home to Tiger , Malayan sun bear, Capped langur, hoolock gibbon , etc. The forests of Barak valley were once rich in wildlife but now vanishing due to human onslaught. Rare species found are Hoolock gibbon, Phayre's leaf monkey, Pig-tailed macaque, Stump-tailed macaque, Masked Finfoot, White-winged Wood Duck, etc., have been recorded. The Asian elephant has already vanished from most of the valley. [3] [4] The southern part was also recommended as 'Dhaleswari' wildlife sanctuary. [5] Barail is the only wildlife sanctuary of the Barak valley region. It was initiated by noted naturalist Dr Anwaruddin Choudhury, who originally hailed from this region in early 1980s. [6] This sanctuary was ultimately notified in 2004. [7] In the undivided Surma Valley of which Barak valley was sort of an extension had leaders such as Basanta Kumar Das and Abdul Matin Choudhury, who actually represented Sylhet. In the Barak Valley region, it was Kamini Kumar Chanda, Arun Kumar Chanda and Abdul Matlib Mazumdar . Kamini Kumar Chanda died well before the eve of independence, but his son Arun Chanda and Abdul Matlib Mazumdar continued to fight for the cause. While Chanda was instrumental in garnering support of the Bengali Hindua, Mazumdar was one of the prominent Muslim leaders of eastern India to oppose the partition of India on communal lines. Mazumdar along with Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (who later became the 5th President of India) became the most prominent Muslim opponents of the demand for a separate Muslim state of Pakistan , especially in the eastern part of the country. To counter the rising popularity of Muslim League, he successfully organised the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind movement in Assam. Jamiat was an ally of the Congress having a mass following among the nationalist Muslims. In the very crucial 1946 General Elections just on the eve of India’s independence , he wrested the Muslim majority Hailakandi seat from the hold of Muslim League. That victory virtually sealed the hopes and aspirations of the Muslim League to include southern Assam including Cachar in Pakistan. It may be mentioned here that in that election, the bulk of the Muslim nominees of the Indian National Congress including Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (5th President of India in later years) had lost to their Muslim League rivals miserably.
Assam's Surma Valley (now partly in Bangladesh ) had Muslim-majority population. On the eve of partition, hectic activities intensified by the Muslim League as well Congress with the former having an edge. A referendum had been proposed for Sylhet District (now in Bangladesh). Mazumdar along with Basanta Kumar Das (then Home Minister of Assam) travelled throughout the valley organising the Congress and addressing meetings educating the masses about the outcome of partition on the basis of religion. On 20 February 1947, Moulvi Mazumdar inaugurated a convention – Assam Nationalist Muslim's Convention at Silchar . There after another big meeting was held at Silchar on 8 June 1947. [8] Both the meetings, which were attended by a large section of Muslims paid dividend. He was also among the few who were instrumental in retaining the Barak Valley region of Assam, especially Karimganj with India. [9] [10] Mazumdar was the leader of the delegation that pleaded before the Radcliffe Commission that ensured that a part of Sylhet (now in Bangladesh) remains with India despite being Muslim-majority (present Karimganj district ). [11] [11]. Arun Kumar Chanda did not join Bordoloi cabinet in 1946 but preferred to do social work as a legislator and also to uplift the premier educational institution, G.C. College. Unfortunately soon he died leaving a huge vacuum of an able Bengali Hindu leader with a secular bent of mind.
The entire eastern India was swept by violence just after India's partition and independence on 15 August 1947, scores of Hindus fled the newly created East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) for India, and Muslims fled Assam for East Pakistan. A large number of people lost their lives owing to violence, which resurfaced with more ferocity in 1950. Mazumdar, the only member from the present Barak Valley in the cabinet, along with his cabinet and party colleagues took up responsibility for the safety of both Hindus and Muslims in the valley, touring affected areas and arranging camps and rehabilitation for the refugees , organizing supplies and security.
In 1960s, a prominent figure in Barak valley politics came in the form of Moinul Hoque Choudhury , who was a cabinet minister in Assam from 1957 to 1966. In 1971, he became the Industry minister of India under the Prime Ministership of late Indira Gandhi.
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