Almost after 35 years since the signing of the Assam Accord, the question of who qualifies as ‘indigenous’ under Clause 6 of the Assam Accord is still a matter of discussion or debate.
Making it a vital agendum, many organizations, including political parties are playing this card as vote-bank politics. The Assamese intelligentsia has been debating the issue ever since, and trying to make the citizens of Assam understand as to who are the indigenous people. Rather, who is an Asssamese?
As the issue is all set to be debated again in the ongoing budget session of the state assembly, G Plus tries reach out on this controversial and sentimental issue, by speaking to some of the eminent personalities that comprise the intelligentsia of Assam.
We asked for their personal opinion on who they think should be considered Assamese or what a proper definition of the term ‘Assamese’ is. Here are the responses from six prominent personalities of Assam.
Dr Nagen Saikia, former general secretary of Asam Sahitya Sabha: “For me, all the people who speak Assamese as their mother-tongue, the aboriginal people of the state, the permanent residents of Assam who might speak a different language as well as those who consider themselves truly as an Assamese and have unified oneself with this community collectively form the greater Assamese society. This also includes people who have migrated from other states of India but have wholeheartedly accepted the Assamese culture. It must be remembered that all ethnic groups of Assam can be divided into two linguistic groups – one group speaks their own language, while the other speaks the Assamese language, be it Bodos, Karbis, Misings, Rabhas, Deuris and others. However, all of them collectively define Assamese.”
Pradyut Bordoloi, Congress MP from Nowgong Constituency: “The Assamese identity has always been broad based. That is why more than the word ‘Asomiya’, I would vouch for the word ‘Asomiyattva’. Remember a migrant statesman Chaolung Siukafa came along with his large entourage in 1228 AD from the Yunan of present day China into this land and slowly cobbled up an identity known as the ‘Asamiyattva’. This had been an arduous and painstaking journey but culminated through a liberal process of assimilation, merger and adaptation. The Assamese identity never was foisted by intimidation, hatred, violence and war mongering between various ethnic groups and the migrants. That is why, the Assamese is not just a spoken language or a religion or even a compartmentalised cultural practices. It’s wide and inclusive.”
Wasbir Hussain, editor-in-chief of Northeast Live and member of the Clause 6 committee said: “I would like to say that Assamese is a very broad terminology that includes all the indigenous people that have been living in the state for generations, the ‘sons of the soil’ are Assamese people. It comprises the various ethnic groups, communities, caste Hindu Assamese and also the indigenous Assamese Muslims. We cannot also completely segregate the Barak Valley. The original inhabitants of the Barak Valley are part of the greater Assamese society. Of course, illegal migrants and migrant settlers, I would say, belong to a different bracket.”
Pranjal Saikia, prominent Assamese thespian: “For majority of the people of Assam exchange of conversation have always taken place in the Assamese language. Many prominent personalities of Assam, right from Ahom King Sukafa, Srimanta Sankardev, Madhavdev, Lakshminath Bezbaroa, Jyoti Prasad Agarwalla, Bishnu Rabha, Ambikagiri Rai Chowdhury and others have immense contribution in the formation of the larger Assamese society from much before the time of independence. When the great northeastern region was bifurcated into seven states, the land area of Assam had already shrivelled. Now, if the many tribes and other indigenous communities of Assam, apart from protecting its own culture, do not stand up as one large Assamese community, Assam would remain no more. Every Assamese speaking person along with all the people – the other Indians - who have settled and consider this their motherland is a true Assamese. And we must remain as such. And Assamese is the language or the medium that brings all of us together. It is very important to have a mother-tongue or a state language if we are to showcase our strength and have a proper identity. But all the other minority communities of Assam - be it Karbi, Kachari, Mising etc - all are an integral part of this state. They are like colourful motifs in one ‘gamosa’. Finally, Bengali language is already the identity of West Bengal and Bangladesh. So it can’t be a medium in Assam, although we will continue to follow their culture and literature as ever.”
Rupam Goswami, BJP state spokesperson: “Every Assamese has an ethnic identity of his own, be it the general caste Brahmin, Gosain, Kalita, Rajbonshi, etc, the tribals – Mising, Moran and others, even including the Assamese Muslims –Goriya, Moriya, etc. According to me, as per the Assam Accord 1971, many people got Indian citizenship but they cannot be considered as indigenous people of Assam. However, amongst them some are exceptional like Jyoti Prasad Agarwalla, who have unified themselves with the Assamese society and now cannot be segregated. But it is difficult to define them legally, going by the constitution. But I believe that the ethnic identities of all the indigenous people, combined together can be defined as truly Assamese.”
Haider Hussain, eminent journalist: “I feel all the native people of Assam, the sons of the soil, inclusive of all the ethnic groups form the Assamese society. However, in recent times most of the ethnic communities like the Bodos, have bifurcated and do not identify themselves with mainstream Assamese. Although states in India were organised along linguistic lines in 1956, yet every state has further minority communities who prefer to identify themselves by their own language. However, they are definitely Assamese. So for me, all those people who have culturally assimilated as Assamese are so. It is now being proposed that people who have come after 1951 are permanent residents of the state. But are they Assamese? So the Assamese speaking population as well as those speaking any ethnic language of the minority groups are all together Assamese. It also includes the people who have settled here for generations and have assimilated with the culture of the state. Moreover, the constitutional rights enjoyed by the people who have come from other parts of the country, the same also be enjoyed by the ones from East Bengal, as Sylhet was once a part of Assam. So apart from the indigenous people of Assam, those who have mingled or unified themselves completely with the culture and ethnicity of the state are Assamese.”