Biswas became involved in a movement to ensure the rights of tea garden laborers, farmers, and the underprivileged throughout the region.

A fierce debate once ensued between Salil Choudhury and him on the method of translating the ideal of people's art:[4] He sang a duet with Bhupen Hazarika, Debabrata Biswas and Pete Seeger.

His beliefs in equal rights for all led him to repeatedly try to request and urge the then Congress Government headed by Siddhartha Shankar Roy to extend a helping hand to the labour class people.

[5][6] He was influenced by Bhawaiya and Bhatiali, and generated his own style, which combined those folk traditions with Sylhet culture's, which he called Bahirana.

Hemanga Biswas was the playback singer in Meghe Dhaka Tara (The Cloud Capped Star) (1960), Lalon Fakir (Deha Tari Dilam Chhariyo), Utpal Datta's Kallol, and Komal Gandhar.