Agartala: From wielding a gun to singing melodious peace tunes to preserve and promote Tripura's dying folk music, life for former tribal separatist leader Hemanta Jamatia has turned a full cycle.
At the tender age of 14, Jamatia was an accomplished folk musician but he decided to take up the gun when he was 28 and went to the jungles as a leader of the All Tripura People's Liberation Organisation. "I was forced to take up arms following the ethnic clashes in the '80s when hundreds were killed," 54-year-old Jamatia said.
He wandered through hills and dales singing revolutionary songs to woo tribal youths to join an armed rebellion.
But life in the jungles was not what interested him and so he bade farewell to arms in 1983.
Today he sings a different tune and talks about persuading tribal guerrillas whom he once inspired to go underground to fight for an independent state.
Once back in the mainstream, he devoted full time to music and it paid rich dividends.
He was conferred the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 1996 for his untiring efforts in preserving and popularising a dying tradition the erstwhile princely state's folk music.
Today he is considered one of the leading cultural ambassadors of the state. "During my three-and-a-half-year stint underground, I was given the responsibility to train new recruits and inspire them through my revolutionary songs to wage an armed rebellion," Jamatia said.
But the language of guns and violence did not suit his temperament.
"I realised the futility of an armed struggle. Nothing can be achieved by killing innocent people and destroying assets," he said. "We have to settle our genuine grievance through talks and democratic means."
Recalling his jungle days, he says life underground was tortuous.
"There was no bed to sleep, wild animals threatened every single day, and the cadres had to go without food for days together," said the folk music exponent who has penned about 250 songs.
"My only aspiration is to be remembered in Tripura as a singer and not as a militant leader," he added.
