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COMMENTARY

Revisiting the Nationality and 1985—featured the works of Ama-


lendu Guha, Hiren Gohain, Gail Omvedt,

Question in Assam Sanjib Baruah, Udayon Misra, Tilottoma


Misra and Lily Bara. To revisit the move-
ment and the ideological moorings it
The EPW 1980–81 Debate took, these discussions are an excellent
starting point. Taken together, these
articles also form one of the few collec-
Ibu Sanjeeb Garg tions on the Assam Movement, reflecting
the views of a galaxy of thinkers that do

A
A series of articles published s the deadline for updating the not necessarily conform to each other. It
in the Economic & Political National Register of Citizens (NRC) is fascinating to see these articles 30
Weekly during the 1980s’ Assam in Assam mandated by the years later and contextualise them in the
Movement—when the nationality Supreme Court draws near, it is impor- present times. While one does have the
debate was at its zenith—offer a tant to look at the context and character luxury of hindsight when reviewing the
of this development. The genesis is articles, it does not take away the origi-
context against which the issue
undoubtedly the six-year-long Assam nality of the authors in terms of ideas.
can be revisited.
Movement against illegal immigrants that Rather, it adds to our understanding of
culminated in the signing of the historic the movement and the questions raised
Assam Accord on 15 August 1985. Since that are relevant even today.
then, for the past three decades, the
movement has been repeatedly analysed Assamese Identity
The author acknowledges the comments given
in a bid to understand and contextualise One of the most defining themes in these
by the anonymous reviewer.
the agitation. articles has been about forging a new
The views expressed by the author are personal.
A series of articles published in the “Assamese” identity. Amalendu Guha
Ibu Sanjeeb Garg (pabloo8690@gmail.com) is Economic & Political Weekly, covering (1980) argues that the “Assamisation”
Assistant Commissoner of Income Tax, Indian the ideological discussions on the Assam process taking place amongst the migrant
Revenue Service.
Movement—which raged between 1979 Muslims of East Bengal origin, is a
Economic & Political Weekly EPW JUNE 2, 2018 vol lIiI no 22 13
COMMENTARY

welcome integrative process. He draws an Assamese identity. Is it the language However, the fact that the movement
inspiration from the history of Assam, alone, or a certain way of life? On the was chauvinistic at times cannot be
including the integration of the Tai- question of Assam, perhaps, one can argue denied. The movement could have, per-
Ahoms in the medieval era. Quoting that it is the latter. It is a way of life haps, been an ideal platform to bring the
Jyoti Prasad Agarwala—who termed the which is composed of language, culture, smaller nations of people, existing within
Bengali Muslims as Na Axomiaya or Neo- folk festivals and art. The indigenous the political boundaries of Assam, into the
Assamese1—Guha argues that this inte- Muslims share a much more common subnational space of Assamese nation-
gration is a natural process that must be space with the indigenous Hindus of hood, which in turn would assimilate
encouraged and one that will strengthen Assam in terms of language, food habits, with the larger Indian nationhood. Yet,
Assamese nationhood (nation here as a festivals and other forms of social spaces it failed to do so. As the movement
“little nation” within the territorial bound- such as surnames. This, however, is not began to linger, there was undoubtedly
aries of India). Sanjib Baruah (1980) con- true for the Bengal-origin Muslims. This is lesser participation amongst the tribals
tradicts Guha, stressing that the advent of the root of the illegal immigration debate. and other communities. In fact, when
the Bengali Muslims in Assam cannot be To argue on the basis of language and the curtains finally fell on the Assam
equated with that of the Ahoms centuries census figures alone would be to remain Movement, the Bodos began to identify
earlier, and as such, immigration in Assam dangerously prejudiced to what the idea themselves as outside of the framework
has few parallels in the world, in terms of an Assamese actually is. of the Assamese subnational space. A
of scale and magnitude, thus hopelessly The question of religion also acquires precursor to this was the alienation of the
tangling Assam’s nationality question. more prominence in present times. The hill tribes in the early 1960s, precisely
Indeed the number of Ahoms who came to past three decades have witnessed new because there was a need to contextualise
Assam was quite small and yet the space political understandings, where religion Assamese subnational space in a lingusitic
and time continuum over which they is much closer to the state than it was paradigm. The Assam Movement too
integrated themselves was fairly long. decades ago. In such changed circum- could not prevent itself from becoming
On the contrary, in a little over hundred stances, when religious identity has be- a victim of this linguistic chauvinism
years, a large number of Muslims from come primordial and fundamental to and lost a golden opportunity to assert
East Bengal have settled in Assam. one’s identity, merely the question of itself as a broad umbrella of ideas within
As social scientists have opined, with who speaks Assamese cannot, and will the Indian nationhood. One needs to go
modern modes of communication, while not settle the debate. In such changed no further than looking into the creden-
Bengalis—both Hindus and Muslims— circumstances, the question of “who is tials of the tallest political leaders that
concentrated in pockets to communicate in an Assamese?” needs to be articulated the movement threw up, to find that no
Assamese, their integration with Assa- far more carefully. tribal made it to that list. This was de-
mese society is far less today. Even though spite the fact that communities like the
the number of Assamese speakers showed Underlying Chauvinism Bodos were the original “sons of the
a remarkable increase post independence, Another central theme that has emerged soil.” This undoubtedly demonstrates a
there is a general agreement that it was out of these articles is whether the Assam major weakness in the way the Assam
a “political call” of the Muslim settlers to Movement was “chauvinistic” in nature. Movement unravelled.
list their language as Assamese while Once again, the articles throw up inter-
continuing to restrict its usage to a bazaar esting perspectives. Guha (1980), in his Degrees of Autonomy
language. Recent evidence has shown arguments, terms the Assam Movement as The third idea that runs central to these
parallel trends. Today, while Muslim set- a middle-class bourgeois-inspired struggle articles is the role of the left and how it saw
tlers have indeed accepted the Assamese against the peasants. This is perhaps the itself within the Assamese subnational
language, there is also a distinct trend classic fallacy of the left, to discover class space and Indian nationhood during the
to carve a new literary space within the struggle in every movement. As Baruah movement. Most of the authors gravitate
“Miya” boundaries.2 This assertion is only (1980) has argued that this was not a class towards a unifying theme on these is-
natural. The North East has witnessed struggle, because the peasants were invol- sues with varying degrees of support.
numerous such movements, including ved en masse. Baruah therefore rejects Guha (1980) argued that the only viable
the return to Bathouism by a large num- the suggestion that it was a case of land- form of nationhood within the Indian
ber of Bodo people. As political con- lords and the bourgeoisie launching a framework was the Swiss model with
sciousness in a particular community movement against the peasants. The Nellie the creation of autonomous areas. He
grows, it brings with it a growing asser- massacre, which happened after the riots, drew inspiration from Lenin’s demand for
tion of identities in different forms. Such would conclusively prove that the Assam autonomy, while contextualising the left
inherent tendencies would undoubtedly Movement was not a class struggle. in this national framework. Guha refuses
be a part of any “cultural project,” and Peasant communities on opposing sides to believe that there is an economic
the Assamese project is no different. took up arms against one another, which exploitation of Assam and that these are
To this, one must add the more funda- resulted in one of the most gruesome merely the perils of a nation that accom-
mental question of what, then, comprises massacres in independent India. pany the varying stages of development.
14 JUNE 2, 2018 vol lIiI no 22 EPW Economic & Political Weekly
COMMENTARY

Baruah (1980) and Udayon Misra has undoubtedly been the search for Notes
(1981) on the other hand talk about better economic opportunities. To be 1 The term Na Axomiaya or Neo-Assamese was
first coined by Assamese writer Jyoti Prasad
autonomy with self-determinism (and able to understand these factors would Agarwala in his poem “Axamiya Dekar Ukti.”
not secession), and argue that the ques- lie at the root of solving the illegal im- In the poem Agarwala uses the term to refer to
the Muslims of East Bengal origin, who had at
tion of the North East’s economic rela- migration problem. that point entered in Assam in the preceding 50
tions with the rest of the country is a There is, therefore, a need to think of years. On the other hand, the indigenous Muslims
date back to medieval centuries and share com-
factor that needs to be analysed. To the illegal immigration in economic terms. monalities with their Hindu brethren in terms of
question of the left’s own position on Indeed, none of the authors could have food habits, dress, language and even surnames.
the Assam Movement, Guha (1980) predicted the almost phenomenal rise of 2 Miya is a popular pejorative term used to refer
to Bengali-origin Muslims of Assam. Recent
argues with evidence that the left has the United Liberation Front of Asom times have seen the emergence of Miya poetry
supported the question of safety for (ULFA) just a few years after the Assam and art among these Muslims, in an attempt to
carve a distinct space and to claim the Miya
indigenous people of Assam and in very Movement, and it was indeed interest- identity for themselves.
clear terms wanted no further infiltra- ing that economic grievances and con-
tion. Hiren Gohain (1981) says that the structs formed a tool of the core propa- References
Baruah, Sanjib (1980): “Assam Cudgel of Chauvism
left needed to argue for the Assam ganda of ULFA in the early stages. In a or Tangled Nationality Question?,” Economic &
Movement much more vociferously, but frontier state like Assam, the issue of Political Weekly, Vol 15, No 11, pp 543–45.
cautioned against the mindless violence economy and control of economic re- Gohain, Hiren (1981): “Little Nationalism Turned
Chauvinist,” Economic & Political Weekly,
unleashed on the left, asserting the sources form the fundamental bedrock Vol 16, No 9, pp 339–40.
need to stick to the law, advice that to providing long-term solutions. The way Guha, Amalendu (1980): “Little Nationalism Turned
Chauvinist: Assam’s Anti-foreigner Upsurge,
would hold much ground even today, as ahead after the NRC rolls are declared 1979–80,” Economic & Political Weekly, Vol 15,
the NRC rolls are drawn out. must be approached in this context. Nos 41–43, pp 1699–1720.
Misra, Tilottama (1980): “Assam: A Colonial
More than 30 years have passed since Instead of resorting to histrionics and Hinterland,” Economic & Political Weekly, Vol 15,
the Assam Movement took place and mindless violence, a rational economic No 32, pp 1357–64.
Misra, Udayon (1981): “Little Nationalism Turned
the situation has changed considerably. solution would pave the way for a truly Chauvinist: A Comment,” Economic & Political
There is a rhetoric that is dominant and long-term fruitful solution. Weekly, Vol 16, No 8.
if one does not approach the question
right, for many, the threat of violence
remains real. Fundamentally, what was Appeal for Donations to the Corpus of the
perhaps glossed over was the economic Sameeksha Trust
question. Only Tilottamma Misra (1980)
in her essay argued that the movement This is an appeal to the subscribers, contributors, advertisers and well-wishers of Economic
had an economic genesis as well. The and Political Weekly (EPW), published by Sameeksha Trust, a public charitable trust registered
with the office of the Charity Commissioner, Mumbai, India. EPW has completed
demands of the movement were not
50 years of publications. We have become what we are at present because of your support and
limited to the expulsion of illegal immi- goodwill. Week after week, EPW publishes at least 80,000 words by a wide range of writers:
grants alone, but also kick-starting the veteran and young scholars, senior journalists and public commentators, political and social
economy of Assam. Even today, despite activists; elected representatives of the people, policy practitioners, and concerned citizens.
being blessed with abundant natural In order to meet new editorial challenges, confront technological changes, provide adequate
resources, the domestic income of the remuneration to our employees and contributors, enhance our reputation and grow in stature
state remains low. Economic opportuni- and scale while zealously maintaining our editorial independence and autonomy, we seek
ties remain limited and agriculture is not your support. Given the growing uncertainty in flows of advertising income and the fast-
considered a viable option for employ- changing nature of publishing, it is our endeavour to increase interest income by enlarging
ment anymore, barring amongst the the corpus of the Sameeksha Trust. We seek active support from both institutions and individuals
Bengal-origin Muslims. With stress on in this endeavour.
land and economic resources, as the Do donate to the corpus of the Sameeksha Trust. The Sameeksha Trust, which owns
2012 Kokrajhar riots have shown, the EPW and the EPW Research Foundation, is a public charitable trust registered under the
chances of violence are very real. Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950. Donations to Sameeksha Trust enjoy tax exemption under
Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. We welcome donations to the corpus not less than
An important issue that needs to be
Rs 1,000 per individual. Donations in foreign currency and donations from political parties are
addressed for solving the problem of
not accepted. We welcome donations from non-resident Indians (NRIs) and persons of Indian
illegal immigration lies in finding new origin (PIOs), but only in Indian currency and through regular banking channels. All donors
ways to kick-start the economy. Agricul- must provide details of their Permanent Account Number (PAN) and a covering letter, stating
ture and entrepreneurship are to be the that this donation is to the corpus of the Sameeksha Trust. Please note that a covering letter
mainstays in a state like Assam. The and photocopy of the PAN card is mandatory.
questions related to the Assam Move- If you need more information on how to support us, please email us at edit@epw.in and
ment, the NRC and Assamese identity, we shall be happy to provide you with details.
can all be linked to the economy. One of — From the Trustees of Sameeksha Trust and the Editor of EPW
the push factors for illegal immigrants
Economic & Political Weekly EPW JUNE 2, 2018 vol lIiI no 22 15

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