GUWAHATI: As sentiments flare-up in Assam about the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 being passed in the Lok Sabha, people are voicing their displeasure against the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the centre for having passed the bill and at chief minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal and state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for not protecting the interests of the indigenous people of Assam.
Sonowal, who was hailed as the jatiyo nayak when he came to power, is now being cursed as the jatiyo khalnayak.
Politicos have taken brickbats on social media as every comment against the government’s decision to pass the bill in the LS is succeeded by the term Joi Aai Axom.
But what is the history of Joi Aai Axom?
Joi Aai Axom literally means “Glory to Mother Assam,” a term that was the main slogan and a virtual war cry widely used during the Assam Agitation (1979-1985). Joi Aai Axom was the operative watchword that drove the entire movement against illegal immigrants in Assam back during the Assam Agitation.
Ah oi ah,
ulai aah,
khed oi khed,
bidekhik khed!
Joi Aai Axom!
Close translation:
“Come on,
Come on out,
Chase
Let’s chase these foreigners away”
“The term today invokes a sense of protectiveness towards Assam, our motherland. We feel that we will be outnumbered by illegal immigrants and because of the vested interests of some political parties and their leaders, the Assamese fabric will be destroyed,” said a protestor at B. Borooah College earlier today to G Plus.
“The Assam Agitation was one of the most turbulent times that Assam has been through. Violence was rampant and human rights were constantly violated. The police and para-military forces that were used to physically crush the agitation were a scorned lot then. I still remember the harrowing visuals and brutality during the Nellie and Khoirabari massacres. The term Joi Aai Axom and the manner in which it was cried out invoked a sense of nationalistic pride in the Assamese youth of those times. But today it also reminds us of those trials and tribulations we had been through for the sake of our identity. We really do not wish to relive those days again. Assam certainly does not deserve to. But yes, I am filled with love for my motherland when I say Joi Aai Axom!” said a senior writer anonymously to G Plus.