Did you know that in the summer of 1960, Assam witnessed a ‘language riot’?

The riot erupted after Assam passed a piece of legislation recognising Assamese as the only official language of the state, which had a significant Bengali-speaking population.

What ensued was vandalisation, loot and destruction of lives and communities on a mass scale, with the Bengali-speaking population bearing the brunt of the violence.

While the politicians couldn’t heal the wounds, artists, musicians, dramatists, singers and writers could.

And leading the troupe was Bengali folk singer-songwriter Hemango Biswas and Assam’s very own bard, Bhupen Hazarika.

Their efforts were chronicled by Biswas’ daughter Rongili Biswas, a Kolkata-based economist and folk singer. According to the writings collected by Rongili, when the riots broke out in Assam, Biswas reached out to Hazarika, who was in Kolkata at the time, via telegram.

Both artists made their way to the hills of Shillong (the modern-day capital of Meghalaya) and wrote a song titled ‘Haradhan-Rongmon Katha'.

The song narrated the story of two peasants — one Assamese and the other Bengali — who had lost their respective homes and heath during the riots.

Both artists performed it together at the Shillong Club on August 27, 1960. The song managed to strike a chord with the audience.

As Biswas writes, “We tried to establish harmony during the Assamese-Bengali conflict. We sang for peace and harmony.” “Bimalla Chaliha (then Chief Minister of Assam) had cried and said ‘…I am defeated, you do whatever you like.’ The violence had gradually increased. Fakhruddin also said shedding tears ‘we will provide everything to you’.”

Biswas requested some vehicles, accommodation, a microphone for spreading the message, and an officer to accompany them.

The troupe began their journey in Guwahati city, the commercial centre of Assam. From there, they made their way to the town of Nagaon, one of the worst riot-affected areas.

But among their most memorable performances was the one at Dhing Bazaar. Here, the troupe went on to perform at a famous Bengali theatre hall in Jorhat, where the audience comprised Bengalis and Assamese sitting side by side.

This was surprising to everyone who hadn’t thought they would see members of these communities sitting alongside one another, let alone watching a musical performance.

Biswas and Hazarika’s endeavours cemented the ideology that while art cannot solve political problems, artists can sometimes succeed in bridging the divide.