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Apratim Nag
As one treads through the busy Central Road locality of Silchar, a dilapidated building which presently houses the office of the Silchar Wholesale Co-operative Society Limited hardly attracts any attention. Very few among the present generation are aware of the fact that this very building, widely known as the ‘Chanda Bhavan’, had the privilege of offering guesthood to many illustrious sons of our country including the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. The underlying reason behind this is that it was the residence of eminent lawyer and political leader of importance at the national level of his time Kamini Kumar Chanda and his equally famous son Arun Kumar Chanda, who was a versatile genius. The Chanda family of Silchar has left an indelible imprint in every sphere of public life.
It was the month of August in the year 1921 when Gandhiji visited Assam to drive home his message of disobedience movement. After visiting Guwahati, Tezpur, Nagaon, Jorhat and Dibrugarh, he came to Silchar by train through the Lumding-Badarpur hill section. It is worth mentioning here that his visit to Silchar was to a large extent due to the fact that it was the home town of Kamini Kumar Chanda who had an excellent rapport with the then top brass of the Congress. We are able to get a detailed description of Gandhiji’s Assam tour from the memoirs Seven Months with Mahatma of his tour companion Krishna Das.
Gandhiji reached Silchar at 10 o’clock in the night of August 27, 1921. A large number of people were present in the railway station to accord him a grand welcome. He was taken straight to ‘Chanda Bhavan’ where he spent the night. Unfazed by the strains of the journey, he looked cheerful in the company of children. In the absence of his father Kamini Kumar Chanda who was in Calcutta during that period, the responsibility of looking after Gandhiji fell upon his son Arun Kumar Chanda, who left no stone unturned to ensure proper care for Gandhiji. Mahatma was deeply moved by the endearing and gentle demeanours of young Arun Kumar. With the onset of dawn, hordes of people from in and around Silchar started flocking to Chanda Bhavan to have a glimpse of the Mahatma and volunteers had to be engaged for controlling the huge crowd. After addressing a public meeting, he left for Sylhet.
Even in the subsequent years, many eminent personalities accepted the invitation of Arun Kumar Chanda and visited Chanda Bhavan. But it is an irony that the descendants of Arun Kumar Chanda, in the early eighties of the last century, sold the building to Silchar Wholesale Cooperative Society Limited. The historic building, presently under their maintenance, is in a woeful condition. The conscious citizens of Silchar, over the last several years, have been raising their voice of protest for the preservation of the historic building.
The local chapter of the Institute of Engineers, after conducting a study of the structure, put forward a number of suggestions which are to be implemented on a war footing. It recommended uprooting of trees and plants from the walls, terraces and roofs and plugging of holes in the roof through which water seeps in. Moreover, some of the windows and ventilators, which have become non-functional with the passage of time, have to be repaired without further delay to ensure proper ventilation. The sanitation and drainage system of the building also needs a proper revamp.
In the recent past, a letter from the Gandhi Heritage Mission has ushered in a ray of hope for the people of Barak Valley. In 2006, the Central Government decided to preserve and maintain those places with which Gandhiji’s legacy is linked. For this purpose, Gandhi Heritage Mission was constituted with the Father of the Nation’s grandson and present West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi as chairman. Gandhi wrote to the Secretary, Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Assam enquiring about the present status of those places in Assam linked with Gandhiji’s memory. In his letter, Chanda Bhavan found special mention. The Secretary, in turn, wrote to the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar, Gautam Ganguly asking him to apprise him about the present condition of Chanda Bhavan. In reply, Ganguly sent a detailed report on the present condition of the house. source: assam tribune
Apratim Nag
As one treads through the busy Central Road locality of Silchar, a dilapidated building which presently houses the office of the Silchar Wholesale Co-operative Society Limited hardly attracts any attention. Very few among the present generation are aware of the fact that this very building, widely known as the ‘Chanda Bhavan’, had the privilege of offering guesthood to many illustrious sons of our country including the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. The underlying reason behind this is that it was the residence of eminent lawyer and political leader of importance at the national level of his time Kamini Kumar Chanda and his equally famous son Arun Kumar Chanda, who was a versatile genius. The Chanda family of Silchar has left an indelible imprint in every sphere of public life.
It was the month of August in the year 1921 when Gandhiji visited Assam to drive home his message of disobedience movement. After visiting Guwahati, Tezpur, Nagaon, Jorhat and Dibrugarh, he came to Silchar by train through the Lumding-Badarpur hill section. It is worth mentioning here that his visit to Silchar was to a large extent due to the fact that it was the home town of Kamini Kumar Chanda who had an excellent rapport with the then top brass of the Congress. We are able to get a detailed description of Gandhiji’s Assam tour from the memoirs Seven Months with Mahatma of his tour companion Krishna Das.
Gandhiji reached Silchar at 10 o’clock in the night of August 27, 1921. A large number of people were present in the railway station to accord him a grand welcome. He was taken straight to ‘Chanda Bhavan’ where he spent the night. Unfazed by the strains of the journey, he looked cheerful in the company of children. In the absence of his father Kamini Kumar Chanda who was in Calcutta during that period, the responsibility of looking after Gandhiji fell upon his son Arun Kumar Chanda, who left no stone unturned to ensure proper care for Gandhiji. Mahatma was deeply moved by the endearing and gentle demeanours of young Arun Kumar. With the onset of dawn, hordes of people from in and around Silchar started flocking to Chanda Bhavan to have a glimpse of the Mahatma and volunteers had to be engaged for controlling the huge crowd. After addressing a public meeting, he left for Sylhet.
Even in the subsequent years, many eminent personalities accepted the invitation of Arun Kumar Chanda and visited Chanda Bhavan. But it is an irony that the descendants of Arun Kumar Chanda, in the early eighties of the last century, sold the building to Silchar Wholesale Cooperative Society Limited. The historic building, presently under their maintenance, is in a woeful condition. The conscious citizens of Silchar, over the last several years, have been raising their voice of protest for the preservation of the historic building.
The local chapter of the Institute of Engineers, after conducting a study of the structure, put forward a number of suggestions which are to be implemented on a war footing. It recommended uprooting of trees and plants from the walls, terraces and roofs and plugging of holes in the roof through which water seeps in. Moreover, some of the windows and ventilators, which have become non-functional with the passage of time, have to be repaired without further delay to ensure proper ventilation. The sanitation and drainage system of the building also needs a proper revamp.
In the recent past, a letter from the Gandhi Heritage Mission has ushered in a ray of hope for the people of Barak Valley. In 2006, the Central Government decided to preserve and maintain those places with which Gandhiji’s legacy is linked. For this purpose, Gandhi Heritage Mission was constituted with the Father of the Nation’s grandson and present West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi as chairman. Gandhi wrote to the Secretary, Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Assam enquiring about the present status of those places in Assam linked with Gandhiji’s memory. In his letter, Chanda Bhavan found special mention. The Secretary, in turn, wrote to the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar, Gautam Ganguly asking him to apprise him about the present condition of Chanda Bhavan. In reply, Ganguly sent a detailed report on the present condition of the house. source: assam tribune
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