“I have faced all this adversary and I came out victorious. All these motivates me to keep fighting for some reasons which will enable the people in my neighborhood and my state to see better days.”
By Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net
Guwahati: He is a true fighter – in many ways. If he fought for the country with guns in hand decades ago, now he fights for the people he lives with. He even won the biggest battle of his life when he defeated cancer to be alive today.
Meet the iron man – Benedict Areng – a hero in his own terms. The 70-year-old former Army man is on a mission to bring a change in the society so that everybody can live happily and peacefully.
Areng is a native of Kinangaon, a village mostly populated by Garo tribe in Assam’s Kamrup district, some 70km from the state headquarters Guwahati bordering Meghalaya.
First, if he successfully managed to put a ban on foreign liquor in the neighbourhood, he also united the villagers against the militants. “It’s a difficult task to mobilize the people of the village on any noble cause.
It is because due to lack of education in our neighbourhood. What I did was visited the villages and the interacted with the village heads along with other prominent people of that respective villages. I realized that the problems being faced by the villagers are same. We can sort it out only when we stand united. This is how I tried to convince the people,” Areng, who had served the Kumaon Regiment for a decade till his retirement in 1978, said. He has also fought the 1971 war against Pakistan for the liberation of Bangladesh.
His tireless efforts have brought down the problems of extortions and other problems from the militants present in that locality. The militants of Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) and Rabha Viper Army (RVA) have a heavy presence in the area situated in the western part of Assam.
There were times when these militant outfits tried to recruit youths taking the advantage of poverty and others but it is a history now. “It feels good that at least that problem has lessened to a great extent. Now we have no worries for militancy related troubles but we have miles to go to achieve the desired results as far as development is concerned,” Arneg told TCN.
And to bring all these changes, the 75-year-old man works hard even today. He keeps on roaming around in the nearby villages on his bicycle.
Besides, he was also instrumental in putting a ban on liquor in around 80 villages in that locality. “The people are poor and they earn their livelihood by farming in the family land, and sometimes by working as daily labourers in Guwahati and adjoining areas. There are hardly a few people in the villages who have a government or a private job. But the influence of liquor is hampering the villagers in a terrible way,” said Areng, who is also the president of the Garo National Council, an umbrella organisation of Garos living in Assam.
Finally, he along with others enforced the panchayat to put a ban on the liquor and a fine of Rs 500 was imposed on anybody found to be violating it.
“The situation has improved as the panchayat has also informally appointed some people to monitor the situation. If someone is found drinking alcohol of any sort, it is immediately conveyed to the panchayat and the individual or the family is fined. A fine of Rs 500 is a big amount for the villagers and no one dares to violate the law,” said Areng.
But why this old man takes so much pain to bring changes in the society? For Areng, he is a born fighter and his desire for wellbeing of his neighbours, he continues to fight.
After serving the Indian Army for around a decade, Areng was detected with cancer, prompting his premature retirement. He was admitted at the Army hospital in Jammu and Kashmir after doctors found him with multiple myeloma which is a cancer of plasma cells in the bone marrow. Later he was shifted to the Guwahati Medical College Hospital and to the B Barooah Cancer Institute in Guwahati.
“I have faced all this adversary and I came out victorious. All these motivates me to keep fighting for some reasons which will enable the people in my neighborhood and my state to see better days,” he said.
The efforts of Areng for which the people of the locality can enjoy a wind of change, he is highly respected in the entire area. “He is a Godly figure for many in the area. He has dedicated his life for the uplift of the people. Everybody respects him and obey his words,” said Kulendu Kalita, a local journalist who knows Arneg for a long time.
Another area where the former Army man fights is education. The area mostly habitation of Garo tribe, lacks quality education. The area which covers around 80 villages have just two high schools and five Middle English schools besides a few more Lower Primary schools.
“But there is serious lack of quality education. A good number of posts of teachers have been vacant for a long time and nobody is bothered. I tried to raise the issue but the government does not do anything for us,” said Arneg.
For example, Kinangaon ME School which was government recognised in 1978, has never seen a science teacher. “This is how education system runs here in our area. If we cannot educate the children what can we expect for tomorrow? Without education, we cannot hope for change and development,” he added.
Besides, Areng also thrives for the language. He tried to introduce the Garo languages as a modern Indian language in a few colleges in the state but due to non-availability of teachers it couldn’t be implemented.
The Garos are indigenous people living in some parts of eastern Indian and in neighboring areas of Bangladesh. The Garo language has been given the status of an associate official language (the main official being English) in five Garo Hills districts of Meghalaya under the Meghalaya State Language Act, 2005.
Besides, the language is also used as the medium of instruction at the elementary stage in government-run schools in the Garo Hills in Meghalaya and in some parts of Assam in Kamrup and Goalpara districts.
But that is not all. His mission continues as Areng now plans to carry out plantation in his nearby areas. “I don’t know to what extent I will be successful. These days, people are more eager to cut trees than to plant new ones. As I said for such issues to make the people understand the reality, we need education. I’m worried to think of our future generation. If today we don’t plant more trees, everything will be desert,” he said.
Photo credits: Surajit Sharma
Related: