THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY
Assam Disturbances: I
Bongal
THE recent unfortunate happen-
ings in the Brahmaputra Valley
( k n o w n as Assam V a l l e y ) of the
State of Assam remind one of the
Direct A c t i o n Day organised by
the M u s l i m League regime in pre-
Independence Bengal, The State
Language agitation was started by
job-seekers in Assam, and the force
u n d e r l y i n g the agitation is essen-
t i a l l y economic. In the oil refinery
at Gauhati many non-Assamiyas,
not necessarily outsiders, are hold-
ing good positions. In the Brah-
maputra bridge construction, under
a private I n d i a n firm, most of the
engineers and technicians are non-
Assamese. In the railways, which
is an I n d i a n Government enterprise,
many Indians of non-Assamiya
o r i g i n are employed. These non-
Assamiya Indians in general and
the Bengalis in particular are an
eyesore to Assamiyas.
N O T BIRDS OF PASSAGE
Outside Assam, an Assamese is
one who lives in Assam whatever
may be his mother tongue. In
Assam, however, Assamiyas or As-
samese are those who speak Assa-
miya and live in the six districts of
the Brahmaputra V a l l e y . The non-
Assamese are those natives of
Assam who live in the remaining
five districts of Assam and whose
mother tongue is not Assamiya or
Assamese. They include the Ben-
galis of Cachar and Goalpara, the
Hindi-speaking tea plantation
labourers and the h i l l people like
the Khasis of S h i l l o n g . Besides
these natives of Assam who are not
birds of passage, there are many
Bengalis, mostly f r o m East B e n g a l
who have settled in all the impor-
tant towns of the Brahmaputra
Valley. Some are displaced per-
sons f r o m Last Bengal. M a n y of
them have cleared jungles, opened
up communications, started c u l t i -
vation and rehabilitated themselves
in the interior of the Brahmaputra
Valley.
In the towns of Gauhati. Tezpur,
Nowgong, Jorhat, D i b r u g a r h , T i n -
sukia etc, almost half the population
consists of Bengalis. They have their
own clubs where Bengali plays are
Kheda Again
K C Chakravarti
staged. M a n y of them own cinema
houses where Bengali pictures are
shown. Bengali dailies f r o m Cal-
cutta enjoy a large circulation in
these towns. In some of them Ben-
gali schools are flourishing well.
M a n y Bengalis are t h r i v i n g as
doctors, lawyers, teachers, clerks
and occasionally as traders.
D I R E C T E D AGAINST N O N - A S S A M E S E
These Bengalis in general and
the Bengali employees of the o i l
refinery at Gauhati in particular
have of late become objects of hos-
t i l i t y and h u m i l i a t i o n . In the past
they used to be jeered at and some-
times even assaulted and stabbed..
The culprits, very often, would be
students. They were being incited
by Assamese job-seekers and pro-
tected by college and university
authorities. The local police often
felt helpless; and just before the
language agitation started, the
Inspector-General of Police had on
one occasion to come w i t h his
police force f r o m Shillong to arrest
a student f r o m the University area.
The w o r d Bongal is used in a
wide sense in Assam. It does not
refer to Bengalis alone. It em-
braces all outsiders. The move-
ment known as Bongal Kheda spon-
sored by Assamese job-seekers to
drive out non-Assamese competi-
tors, assumed the air of a dignified
and respectable agitation when the
Assam Sahitya Sabha demanded that
Assamese must by law be made the
exclusive State language for the
entire t e r r i t o r y of Assam. The
Assamese people belonging to all
shades of o p i n i o n , who love their
mother tongue more than anything
else like most other people in India,
at once began to support the move-
ment.
CHALIHA'S MOVE OPPOSED
M a n y of Chief Minister B P
Chaliha's political and personal
rivals knew that this could not be
done but they supported the move
k n o w i n g that Shri Chaliha would go
d o w n in prestige and popularity in
the Assam V a l l e y . The issue of
the State language was discussed at
a meeting of members of the As-
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July 30, 1960
sembly Congress Party when all
non-Assamese members opposed i t .
Before the matter came up for final
decision by the Assam Pradesh Con-
gress Committee, Shri Chaliha made
an announcement in the Assembly,
explaining why at this stage Assa-
mese could not be made the State
language. The stand taken by S h r i
Chaliha was bold and wise, but, as
I had indicated in The Economic
Weekly of M a y 7, 1960, it d i d not
seem likely that Shri Chaliha would
be able to control his followers for
long, the forces against h i m being
too strong.
To put pressure on Shri Chaliha,
however, the agitators intensified
the movement, and the Assam Pra-
desh Congress Committee eventually
passed a resolution in favour of
Assamese, non-Assamese members
opposing i t . As the non-Assamese
areas of Assam began to protest,
the agitators, backed by a l l sec-
tions of the Assamese public, resort-
ed to violence and i n t i m i d a t i o n try-
i n g successfully to coerce the Cha-
liha Government to call an emer-
gency session of the Assembly for
introducing the B i l l .
ASSAMESE UNANIMOUS
The way in which the agitation
was organised reminds us of the
Calcutta riots staged under M u s l i m
League Government in the pre-lnde-
pendence period. On the language
issue, w h i c h practically aims at
d r i v i n g the Bengalis f r o m the
Assam Valley, all Assamese are
unanimous. Congress and non-
Congress leaders, politicians of all
shades of opinion, Rightists, Leftists,
Hindus, Muslims, poets, priests, men
of letters, sober educationists, un-
ruly students—all have wonder-
fully cooperated. The town of
Gauhati was divided into a number
of zones. Zonal leaders were sta-
tioned w i t h their student followers
in each zone. If the police entered
one zone, the other zone w o u l d be-
come active. In fact some Govern-
ment officials too- Assamese and
non-Assamese—have made their own
contribution, each according to his
capacity, either through active parti-
cipation or through inaction.
 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY
July 30, 1960

T h e strongest opposition to the Deputy Inspector-General o f Police against Bengalis, the Assamese lead-
Assamese came f r o m the Bengalis who was there was also not spared. ers made use of students w i t h o u t any
of Cachar and the h i l l people f r o m These two officers happened to be scruple. Congress leaders of Cachar,
the four H i l l Districts of Assam. Bengalis. Instances of many other who are opposing the a d o p t i o n of
A conference of Bengalis and h i l l Bengali officers, i n c l u d i n g police Assamese, were also freely employ-
people, held at Silchar. vehemently authorities, being assaulted and i n g the students though not a single
protested against the Official Lan- stabbed have been reported. A f t e r case of stabbing death or arson has
guage B i l l , but what is astonishing this event, the police opened fire, been reported f r o m Cachar,
is that the Assamese d i d no violence and a student was k i l l e d . H i s body LIFE WILL BE INTOLERABLE
to them. V i c t i m s of the Assamese was allowed to be c a r r i e d by bus T h e State Language agitation aims
violence were the Bengalis of the f r o m Gauhati to Sibsagar, a distance at two things. One is to squeeze out
B r a h m a p u t r a V a l l e y , not of Cachar of about 200 miles. A l o n g this l o n g the non-Assamese f r o m the Brahma-
and the H i l l Districts. These Ben- route excitement and violence pre- p u t r a Valley. In this they w i l l be
galis of the towns of Gauhati. Tez- v a i l e d unchecked. For a number of successful. The Assamese sentiment
pur, Jorhat, N o w g o n g . D i b r u g a r h . days law and order h a d completely being what it is, it l i k e l y that the
etc. were l i v i n g there f o r long and broken d o w n i n the Assam V a l l e y . non-Assamese w i l l find life intolera-
could he said to be well-settled. STUDENTS M A D E USE OF ble in the Assam V a l l e y . To a non-
K n o w i n g the Assamese language. Assamese postal clerk, r a i l w a y sta-
Bengali clubs and schools were
they had openly and p u b l i c l y lent tion master or an employee of the
burnt. At one place, the houses of
their support to Assamese, Yet Central Government, life in the
some six h u n d r e d Bengalis in one
they were assaulted and stabbed, Assam V a l l e y , subject to hate and
compact area were looted a n d set fire
their houses b u r n t and their pro- r i d i c u l e on a l l sides, w i l l be worse
to. It is difficult to believe that such
perties looted. Even their women than what it is in Pakistan. He can
large-scale violence could have been
were not spared. So. at bottom, never feel that he is l i v i n g in a State
let loose w i t h o u t cooperation f r o m
it was really not the question of w h i c h f o r m s part of I n d i a .
various sections of the Assamese
adopting Assamese as the State
people, i n c l u d i n g the Assamese police. The second a i m of the State L a n -
language. It was the old Bongal
In season and out of season p o l i - guage agitation is to impose Assa-
Kheda movement in a new f o r m .
tical leaders, both Congress and non- mese on the non-Assamese of the five
T h e Bengalis l i v i n g in the Assam
Congress, advise students not to par- districts o f Assam. I n this there w i l l
V a l l e y and t h r i v i n g i n various
ticipate in active politics. Here on be no success. Even w i t h the mani-
walks of l i f e were to be driven out
the language issue and in the d r i v e p u l a t i o n of census operations, the
and their places taken by the
Assamese.
VIOLENCE N O T C H E C K E D
The method adopted in all these
acts of violence and i n t i m i d a t i o n
was also l i k e that of the pre-Inde-
pendence M u s l i m League Govern-
ment of Bengal. In the t o w n of
Gauhati as elsewhere, the Bengalis
live in compact areas in large num-
bers. They are really not so help-
less. Once the Assamese mob at-
tacked them, they w o u l d ably de-
fend themselves. W h e n the attack
was repulsed, the police w o u l d in-
tervene. The Bengalis who defend-
ed themselves w o u l d be arrested.
Section 144 and curfew w o u l d be
imposed. W h e n the Bengalis were
attacked the police w o u l d remain
inactive but when they repulsed the
attack and became violent the
police w o u l d become active. It is
curious that when violent attacks
were organised on a mass scale by
the Assamese leaders, not a single
Assamese was kept under detention!
There are Bengali officers and
Bengali police but they are helpless.
and they have been assaulted and
stabbed. W h i l e Section 144 was in
operation at Gauhati, a mob of
some 100 persons entered the Dis-
t r i c t Magistrate's bungalow, drag-
ged h i m out add stabbed h i m . T h e
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 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY
July 30, 1960

Assamese are o n l y about 55 per cent
of the total p o p u l a t i o n . A State,
a c c o r d i n g to the States Reorganisa-
t i o n Commission, can be regarded as
u n i l i n g u a l if 70 per cent or more of
the p o p u l a t i o n speak one language.
A c c o r d i n g to this p r i n c i p l e , Assam
cannot be u n l i n g u a l .
To impose Assamese on the people
of Cachar or of the f o u r H i l l Districts
where, except f o r State Government
employees no Assamese lives, w i l l be
a n i n s u l t a n d a n a c t o f force w h i c h
w i l l be vehemently opposed. The
Bengalis of Cachar may be i g n o r e d
but not the h i l l tribes. The Naga
H i l l s D i s t r i c t f o r m e d p a r t o f Assam
but the people there have felt p r o -
voked to rise in revolt. There is no
doubt that if s i m i l a r l y roused, the
remaining f o u r H i l l Districts too w i l l
follow suit.
The Assamese feeling f o r their
language is, however, extremely
strong, and they w i l l not stop t i l l
they have made Assamese the official
language, whatever the cost or con-
sequence. In that case the Assamese
who n u m b e r some f o r t y lakhs i n a l l ,
and who live only in the six districts
of the B r a h m a p u t r a or Assam Valley,
will have to seek a separate State o f
their o w n ,
Silchar,
J u l y 7.

Assam Disturbances: II

Tragedy of Political Tactlessness

P C Goswami
IN the present t e r r i t o r y of Assam as the State Language of Assam for by the Assamese, openly supported
( e x c l u d i n g the Naga H i l l s ) fear of offending the people of the cause of the Assamese. But in
Assamese is the mother, tongue of Cachar and H i l l Ditsricts, particu- areas where the non-Assamese are in
about 57 per cent of the popula- l a r l y when adequate safeguards are majority, (e.g. the H i l l Districts,
t i o n . A m o n g the m i n o r i t y language p r o v i d e d for the m i n o r i t i e s . If the Cachar District and few r a i l w a y
groups, the Bengalis account for present boundary of Assam stands towns like L u m d i n g , M a r i a n i ) or-
about 19 per cent of the total popu- in the way of g i v i n g the Assamese ganised efforts were made to t h w a r t
lation. Barring Cachar district, language its r i g h t f u l status, it w o u l d the move. At all places students took
the Bengalis constitute only a be proper to change the boundary as the most active part.
small p r o p o r t i o n of the popula- has been done in other parts of The opposition to Assamese came
t i o n . Spoken Bengali of the Cachar India. mostly f r o m the Bengalis who con-
district is as different f r o m Bengali stitute the most vocal and educated
A l t h o u g h there has been a persis-
as it is f r o m Assamese. There are section among the non,-Assamese.
tent demand f r o m the Assamese pub-
scores of d i s s i m i l a r t r i b a l languages A l t h o u g h most of the H i l l Districts
lie for recognition of Assamese as
or dialects, but none of these is (except M i k i r Hills) opposed Assa-
the State Language since 1950. those
spoken by more than 5 per cent of mese and favoured English, their
in a u t h o r i t y t r i e d to shelve the issue.
the population. In certain h i l l dis- opposition was not so bitter. The
The Congress Party tended to ignore
tricts, i n c l u d i n g the Naga H i l l s and H i l l people, in general, d i d not or-
the demand and others, to e x p l o i t
the N E F A , Assamese is the p r i n c i - ganise any meetings or demonstra-
the situation. Delay in deciding the
pal o r o n l y m e d i u m o f i n t e r - t r i b a l tions to oppose the move, m a i n l y
issue caused frustration and anger
or inter-regional c o m m u n i c a t i o n . because of the fact that they were
among the Assamese and encouraged
M u c h has been said about the opposition f r o m the non-Assamese, more interested in achieving a se-
r e l i a b i l i t y of the census figures of p a r t i c u l a r l y Bengalis. parate h i l l state o f their own than
1951. It is possible that the census in f r i t t e r i n g away their energies on
UNWISE STATEMENT the language controversy.
figures of 1931 were cooked up
under the guidance and active co- The leader of the O p p o s i t i o n in CONCESSION TO M I N O R I T Y GROUPS
operation of Bengali officers who the Assam Assembly moved a reso-
O w i n g to the pressure of p u b l i c
were at the helm of affairs at the l u t i o n in the last budget session for
o p i n i o n , the Assam Pradesh Con-
d i s t r i c t level at that time. If Ben- declaring Assamese as the State Lan-
gress Committee had to adopt a re-
galis outnumber the Assamese even guage. M a n y Congressmen favoured
solution defining its p o l i t y . The
in the B r a h m a p u t r a V a l l e y , it is the move. The resolution was talked
Pradesh Congress Executive met in
s u r p r i s i n g that they are subject to out. Chief M i n i s t e r Chaliha declared
A p r i l last and decided that Assamese
violence f r o m the Assamese! T h e on the floor of the House on M a r c h
should be adopted as the State Lan-
question of the accuracy of the 15, 1960 that the demand to make
guage in the B r a h m a p u t r a V a l l e y
1931 and 1951 census figures was Assamese the State Language must
f o r t h w i t h and that the status quo
considered by the States Reorgani- come f r o m the non-Assamese. T h i s
should be maintained in the rest of
sation Commission, and more re- i m p r a c t i c a l and unwise statement was
Assam. Assamese was to be adopted
liance was placed by it on the the cause of all the subsequent hap-
penings in connection w i t h the lan- in Cachar and the H i l l Districts o n l y
1951 figures,
guage agitation. Meetings and de- when the people there were pre-
Bengali has been declared as the monstrations were held all over the pared f o r i t . T h e A P C C resolution
State Language f o r the D a r j e e l i n g State either to support or oppose the thus gave the m a x i m u m possible
D i s t r i c t of West Bengal where it is claims of the Assamese language. concession to the m i n o r i t y language
spoken o n l y by about 16 per cent of Non-Assamese residents ( i n c l u d i n g groups.
the p o p u l a t i o n . So there should be Bengalis) of the B r a h m a p u t r a Valley, In M a y 1960. Chief M i n i s t e r
no hesitation in d e c l a r i n g Assamese where they are greatly outnumbered Chaliha indicated that Government
1195