A teacher with a passport, the shadow of the blue rebellion behind him: Moin Kaderi

Reporter: Moin Kaderi (London):

On a rainy day in 1930, a Bengali school teacher stood in front of the British India Office in Calcutta. His name was Rahmat Ali. He was handed a black-bound British passport, on which ‘British Subject’ was clearly written. But he was not looking forward to any foreign journey. This passport was a moral right handed to him, the right to speak the truth on behalf of thousands of oppressed farmers. His journey was not geographical, but a symbolic advance on the path of justice.

Rahmat Ali’s roots are in a peasant community in Pabna district. That community has long since made its place in history through the “Pabna Tenant Revolt” (1873–76). The farmers then peacefully protested against the injustices of the landlords. This led to the passing of the Bengal Tenancy Act in 1885, which to some extent guaranteed the rights of tenants.

In 1930, the oppression of indigo cultivation was no longer suppressed. The British used to force the farmers to cultivate indigo plants, which encroached on the land of food crops. As a result, the farmers became poor, indebted and hungry. It was against this exploitation that Rahmat Ali fought.

Before his journey, he met a senior lawyer, Maulvi Azhar Ali Miah.

He was a prominent Muslim leader born in Shatbila village in Pabna. Azhar Ali Miah, well known as an experienced pleader in the Calcutta High Court, was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly from the Pabna East (Rural) Muslim constituency in 1937.

Maulvi Azhar Ali Miah is included in the official Bengal Legislative Assembly Report of 1937.

• Source: Bengal Legislative Assembly Proceedings, 1937, archive.org

• Source: List of West Bengal Legislative Assembly Members, lalib.wb.gov.in

He told Rahmat Ali:

“You are a son of the land who seeks truth. Speak clearly. The truth you have in your hands is important.”

Eliza Martin, a young British journalist from The Statesman, stood by Rahmat in this fight.

The Statesman was an influential English daily newspaper in British India, which sometimes boldly portrayed the plight of rural Indians.

Although the editor asked her to remain neutral, she could no longer remain silent after reading Rahmat’s statement and the letters from hundreds of villagers.

Eliza went to Pabna with Rahmat and saw with her own eyes the horrors of indigo farming.

She met Amina Begum, a widow whose husband had died as a result of abuse in indigo farming on a contract basis.

He saw the blue marks on children’s hands, the empty granaries, the hungry eyes of farmers.

A Hindu priest confessed:

“I never thought indigo would become so poisonous.”

From this experience, Eliza Martin wrote a report in The Statesman—

The headline was: “Blood of the Indigo Fields” (Bengali: নীল খেটের রক্ত).

The report reached beyond Calcutta and reached the desks of the British high authorities in London.

The report caused a great stir. The British government wanted to keep the matter quiet,

but Eliza and Rahmat’s struggle brought the truth to light.

As a result, indigo cultivation was gradually and forcibly stopped in the early 1940s.

Finally, in 1947, India and Pakistan separated and gained independence.

Against this backdrop, Rahmat Ali’s passport was never used for foreign travel.

Yet every page of it was a silent bearer of the history of Bengali suffering and resistance.

This small step of his has left an eternal message for the future.

The memory of the lost history is still alive—local residents are telling the story

A reader from Pabna said:

“I have heard many stories from my father. In our neighborhood, there was a big palace of the owner of the indigo house. The street next to the house was called ‘Hauz Para’. There was a huge house there, where indigo plants were kept. I myself have seen some parts of that palace and house.

The government did not protect them. The house was probably occupied and demolished around 1987/88.

In many houses in Hauz Para, some parts of the then large brick houses are still used as walls in the courtyards of the houses.”

This comment proves that history is not just in books—it is still alive in people’s memories.

References and relevant background:

• Indigo cultivation: The cultivation of the commercial dye plant imposed on farmers was used against food production.

• Pabna Tenant Rebellion (1873–76): A peaceful peasant movement against landlord exploitation.

• Bengal Tenancy Act 1885: A law enacted to protect the interests of the peasants.

• Maulvi Azhar Ali Miah (1880–1961): A prominent Muslim lawyer and political figure from Shatbila village, Pabna, member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1937.

• The Statesman: An influential English daily newspaper in British India, which sometimes boldly portrayed rural deprivation.

• Sources:

• Bengal Legislative Assembly Proceedings, 1937, archive.org

• List of West Bengal Legislative Assembly Members, lalib.wb.gov.in