Lakshminath Bezbarua’s advocacy for Hindu-Muslim unity

✒️:. Muhammad Talha Amin Baruah

Lakshminath Bezbarua was a leading figure in modern Assamese literature and a strong advocate for Hindu-Muslim unity in Assam. Through his writings, he promoted harmony and shared values among Assamese Hindus and Assamese Muslims, regardless of religion. His work helped strengthen the cultural identity of Assam and inspired generations to embrace unity and inclusivity.
Lakshminath Bezbarua (1868–1938) is widely regarded as the father of modern Assamese literature and a towering figure in the cultural history of Assam. Known as “Sahityarathi”, Bezbarua played a pivotal role in reviving and modernizing Assamese language and literature during a time when it was marginalized in schools and courts. He was a poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, and satirist, whose works breathed new life into Assamese literary traditions.¹
After visiting the Sahitya Sabha session at Sibsagar, he found himself profoundly moved by the remarkable harmony between Hindus and Muslims in Assam. Bezbarua states : “Three or four eminent Assamese Muslim gentlemen delivered lectures. The liberal ideas of their speech and the simplicity of their manners had pleased me a lot.”
Lakshminath Bezbarua wrote a prose in the Usha magazine titled ‘Hindu-Mussalmaan’ in which he advocated for a Hindu-Muslim unity among the Assamese people through his story. The story also criticizes British Historians for corrupting the characterization of Muhammadan Kings.²
Bezbarua’s critique towards British historians is also written in one of his essays, which is titled ‘Buranjir Dauratma’ (an atrocity of History). He writes : “Viewing from the angle of foreign writers of Indian History, some Hindus have acquired very mischievous idea about some Muslim Nawab or Badshah and I am saddened by this. For example, Siraj-Ud-Daula, the Nawab of Bengal and Aurangzeb, the emperor of Delhi. However many of them have opened their eyes towards the actual truth nowadays, but a lot is left to be done.”³
This evidently presents that Lakshminath Bezbarua viewed the Britishers as distorters of Indian history, who framed Muhammadan rulers as violent against the Hindus. What Bezbarua is actually trying to say is that the Englishmen do not wish for an united Indian society, hence they compose wraped history to provoke fights between Hindus and Muslims.
Lakshminath Bezbarua’s advocacy for Hindu-Muslim unity stands as a significant and enduring aspect of his legacy in assamese and Indian intellectual history. His efforts were rooted in a vision of a pluralistic society where cultural and religious differences were celebrated rather than exploited for division.
References :

1. Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: A-Devo, Volume 1 (Reprint 2003) edited by Amaresh Datta. Sahitya Akademi. Pg. 416-418
2. Lakshminath Bezbaroa : The Man and The Mission (2014) edited by Das & Ahmed. B.H College Prakashan Samiti. Pg. 163-164
3. Asomiya Uchchatar Sahitya Sankalan (Reprint 2023) edited by AHSEC. Jyoti Prakashan/AHSEC. Pg. 105

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