Bishnu Prasad Rabha was born in
Dacca,
Bengal Presidency,
British India on 31 January 1909 to Gethi Mech and
Rai Bahadur Gopal Chandra Muchahary, who was a police employee in the
British regime. He was born to a
Bodo family, but since he was raised by a
Rabha family, he adopted 'Rabha' as his surname. Bishnu Rabha attended Tezpur Government High School and later went to
Calcutta for higher education. He completed his BSC exam from
St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College and joined the Ripon College (now
Surendranath College) at the
University of Calcutta for a
BSc degree. From an early stage, he played an active role in the struggle for Indian Independence. He came to be influenced by left wing ideas and came closer to the
Communist Party of India. However, when
Germany attacked
Soviet Union during second world war and the Indian communists decided to work with the British government, a section of the party favoured a different approach – to oppose British imperialism and European fascism simultaneously. So, a split happened in the communist party and in 1945 he finally joined the
Revolutionary Communist Party of India (RCPI). In 1951, after the death of
Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, he became the president of the Assam branch of
Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). His work ''Bane' Ke'bang
portrays the life worlds of various indigenous Assamese communities of Assam. His other works include Mising Koneng
, Sonpahi
, Axomiya Kristir Hamuh Abhakh
, and Atit Axom''. His interest for the upliftment and liberation of the weaker sections of society is visible in his works. Rabha was an eminent freedom fighter. His meaning of freedom however is not simply freedom from British rule. But it meant freedom from capitalism, freedom from
wage-slavery, freedom from poverty and all social evils. In his own words, "I am fighting for a revolution from the realm of necessity to the realm of freedom". He dedicated his entire life for this freedom movement. He donated an ancestral estate of 2500 bigha land received from the British government in favour of the peasants. His slogan was "Haal Jaar Maati Taar" means "those who cultivate should own the land". The present day
Tezpur University stands upon the land donated by him. His entire life was characterised by a restlessness to work for the people, and he kept on moving around like a nomad. He was also an excellent mass mobiliser. His speeches and lectures could touch the heart of the masses. However, his political struggle was never ended with individual power and seeking motive. It was only to give power at the hands of the masses. He even said that the
independence achieved in 1947 was simply a farce. It is because in spite of the freedom the poor and weaker sections of the society that remained the same and Assam did not get independence from colonial India as sovereign Assam was not established. According to him, the real struggle begins after 1947. Apart from being a revolutionary, he was also worked as an academic and researcher. This was despite the fact that due to participation in freedom struggle he was forced by the British colonial regime to leave Ripon College at Calcutta and he transferred to
Victoria College (now
Acharya Brojendra Nath Seal College) at Cooch Bihar. He was not able to continue with his formal studies even there, due to frequent raids conducted by the
police against his hostel and was compelled to give up his formal educational career forever. His son
Prithiraj Rava is a politician. ==Cultural influence==