Nurul Hussain had intended to display his father’s most prized possession — a khadi Tricolour of 1947 vintage — to mark India’s 75th Independence Day.
But friends and neighbours in Sivasagar district’s Demow town, about 380 km east of Guwahati, advised him not to wait that long. He agreed to unfurl the National Flag on Thursday.
“They have a point. I am 78 and the only survivor among Mohammed Hussain’s five sons,” he said.
Mohammed Hussain spent the later part of his life as a cleric. Locals, however, knew him more as Commander Sahib than a maulvi. “He had sown the seeds of revolt against the British in this part. People gradually began to call him Commander Sahib. The British were so angry with his rebellion that they confiscated 47 ‘bighas’ of land he owned,” Mr. Hussain told The Hindu from Demow.
After Commander Sahib died in 1971, his youngest son took over the responsibility of preserving what his father referred to as his treasure box.
More than a flag
“The box contains much more than the spotless khadi flag. There are records pertaining to his joining the freedom movement under Mahatma Gandhi, his joining the Indian National Congress and assorted items associated with many a great leader,” said Mr. Hussain, who was the founder-teacher of the Demow Town High School in 1970.