The Buxa fort will soon be converted into a tourism spot. Picture by Biplab Basak

Jalpaiguri, Oct. 20: It is the sole witness to the armed revolution that swept Bengal. It holds the secrets of a chequered history behind the grand walls, bearing testimony to the pain and suffering of many a freedom fighter and the daring escape staged by a handful.

Perched atop the craggy Sinchula hills, the heritage in stone, Buxa Fort lies in shambles, a victim of decades of neglect and assault of weather and vandalism.

The gory past and the pathetic present of the fort-turned-prison “for dangerous revolutionaries”, however, is set for a pleasant change in future, thanks to the district administration’s decision to develop the place into a tourist destination.

“We had sent a proposal to the Archaeological Survey of India for renovation of the fort. We expect work to begin soon,” said Subrata Gupta, district magistrate of Jalpaiguri.

“The fort, located in the terrain of Buxadooar, is enlisted in the books of the Archaeological Survey of India,” said Basudev Ghosh, district cultural and information officer of Jalpaiguri.

“We had sent proposals to the Central tourism department for revamping the fort as a museum and repair the road to the fort from Santalabari,” Ghosh said. “For this, a project of Rs 2.20 crore has been sent to the Central tourism department.

For many like Changlo Drukpa, a resident of the Buxa area, however, it the overriding fear of help coming too late that overshadows their joy.

“This year, too, we observed Independence Day. Myself and a handful of the area residents. We have asked the government repeatedly initiate the renovation of the fort, to no avail. A minister of the state, who hails from Jalpaiguri, had observed Independence Day at Buxa Fort a few years ago. Moved by the decadence, he had promised help, none of which materialised,” rued Swapan Kundu, the BDO of Kalchini.

Buxa Fort was later occupied by the British who converted it into a jail to house revolutionaries. The process started in 1930 and continued till 1936. During the 1942 Quit India movement, the place was put to good use all over again.

“The British preferred the place for its location, which had lofty guard walls and moats and trenches to deter even the bravest of prisoners from escaping,” Kundu said.

But all that was not enough to draw the administration’s attention to restoring and preserving it for all this time.

“I am pleased that at least the thought of generating employment by converting the run-down fort into a tourist attraction will help conserving whatever is left of it,” he added.

Yet they do not raise hopes too high because “you can never tell when plans actually fructify”.

Until then, the rusty altar saluting the martyrs and the literary outpouring of Rabindranath Tagore, inspired by their sacrifices, inscribed on a marble slab, tucked away in the recesses of the fort, will be the only proof of the triumphs and travails of unsung heroes.