Tonko Rebellion leader Kumudini Hajong dies at 94

Kumudini Hajong, who had made a remarkable contribution to the historic "Tonko Rebellion" by the Hajong community to secure their rights in the 1940s against the British Raj, passed away due to old age complications yesterday.

She was 94.

She breathed her last at around 1:40pm at her home at Baheratoli, a bordering village in Netrokona's Durgapur upazila, Mati Lal Hajong, president of Hajong Mata Rashmoni Kalyan Parishad, told The Daily Star.

Kumudini was one of the last ones to be involved in the Tonko Rebellion, Emdadul Haque Millat, president of the Communist Party of Bangladesh's Mymensingh unit said.

She has left behind four children and a host of relatives and well-wishers to mourn her death.

She will be cremated today at the local cremation ground, Mati said.

Prominent communist leader Moni Singh led the Tonko Rebellion in 1930-40s against the British Raj and Kumudini's husband Lonkshwer Hajong and his brothers also got involved with the movement.

In 1946, British police, as they did not find Lonkshwer, detained the newly-married Kumudini and were about to take her to the Durgapur army barrack, Mati Lal Hajong said citing historical documents and locals with knowledge about the incident.

At that time, Rashmoni Hajong of the same Baheratoli village, along with over a hundred men and women, intercepted the police force with local weapons. At one stage, Rashmoni, who hacked a policeman to death, was shot dead by the police, Matilal said.

Policemen killed 22 other Hajong people on the day but were forced to leave the village, he added. Kumudini and her husband survived.

In her later life, Kumudini was involved in different movements for indigenous rights and secular movements.

Although different organisations, on different occasions, honoured her with crests and awards, she lived a life of financial crisis, Mati said.

Various organisations and individuals expressed deep shock at her death.