Two Years in Parliament (1952-54)

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It is fairly well known, both inside and outside Assam, that Dr. Surya Kumar Bhuyan was a pre-eminent historian, scholar and educationist of his time. What is not widely known however, even to the people of Assam, is that Dr. Bhuyan was also an outstanding Parliamentarian. This lesser known facet of his multifaceted career and achievements has now been brought to public domain with the publication of the book titled "Two Years in Parliament: 1952-54" by Dr. S.K. Bhuyan.

The book containing his speeches and questions along with a snapshot of the human side of Parliament in 1952, presents a verbatim, authentic and unedited reproduction of the official records of proceedings of the Council of States, now popularly known as Raiya Sabha. Barring the appendices the main book includes, among others, over a dozen speeches and a number of starred and unstarred questions with replies by concerned ministers. Dr. Bhuyan would have had hardly four to five sessions during his tenure of two years. Duration of the sessions at that time used to be much shorter compared to the present. As a former Member of Parliament I can visualise how ferociously Dr. Bhuyan had to compete with his colleagues, which included eminent national leaders and celebrated intellectuals, for speaking slots within the limited time allotted for the debates. It is remarkable that he could pack a dozen speeches in a very short span of session time in such a competitive environ- ment. This along with the high quality and intellectual depth of his speeches is demonstrative of Dr. Bhyuan's spectacular performance as a competent and distinguished Parliamentarian.

To appreciate fully Dr. S.K. Bhuyan's role and performance as an M.P. in the Council of States one must be familiar with the historical and political scenario of the time. Following the freedom at midnight of 14-15 August 1947 the Constitution of India adopted in 1950 constituting India into a sovereign socialist, demo- cratic republic. Independent India's first general elections were held during 1951-52. The first ever House of the People (Lok Sabha) and State Legislative Assemblies (Vidhan Sabha) were elected and thereafter the Assemblies had elected the members from their respective states to the newly constituted Council of States (Rajya Sabha) in March/April 1952.

The task before free India's first Parliament was colossal indeed. The agenda included repeal, amendment and adaptation of draconian laws to remove the last vestiges of the repressive colonial regime, and enactment of new legislation and formulation of r policies and programmes in consonance with the status of a sovereign nation and in adherence to the principles and parameters enshrined in the Constitution.

In early 1952 Dr. Surya Kumar Bhuyan was engaged in a post- retirement assignment as Director of Historical and Antiquarian Studies, a new department created in 1928 at his own initiative. Prior to this he had a long and resplendent academic career culminating in his elevation to successive top positions of Princi pal, Cotton College, Director of Public instruction and finally Vice Chancellor of Gauhati University. He devoted most of his career to historical research and other academic and literary pursuits, results of which have been published in several volumes authored by him. The London University, in recognition of his considerable achieve ments, conferred on Dr. Bhuyan the highest degree of Doctor of Literature (D.Litt.), a rare honour bestowed on very few from India at the time. But Dr. Bhuyan was not one to remain content to rest on his past laurels. His intrepid soul constantly urged him to exit the esoteric world of study and research and enter the wider world in which he could dedicate his knowledge, skills and ability to the service of humanity at large.

**Contents and Sample Pages**