Little Nationalism Turned Chauvinist: Assam's Anti-Foreigner Upsurge, 1979-80

Author(s): Amalendu Guha

Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 15, No. 41/43, Special Number (Oct., 1980), pp.
1699+1701+1703+1705-1707+1709-1711+1713+1715+1717+1719-1720
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
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L i t t l e Nat i onal i sm Turne d Chauvi ni st
Assam's Ant i -Fore i gne r Upsurge , 1979-80
Amal e ndu Guha
The re i s i nade quat e unde rst andi ng of t he l ogi c as we l l as i rrat i onal i t y of Assam's curre nt move -
me nt . It i s undoubt e dl y re l at e d t o t he nat i onal que st i on, t he we ake st l i nk of t he Indi an pol i t y t oday,
whi ch i nt e rve nt i oni st ? fore i gn conspi raci e s fi nd wort h1 e xpl oi t i ng. In t hi s art i cl e , t he aut hor of "Pl ant e r
Raj t o Swaraj:
Fre e dom St ruggl e and El e ct oral Pol i t i cs 1826-47" (Ne wt De l hi , 1977), l 6okS be yond hi s
pe ri od and at t e mnpt sat ancal ysi ng t he move me nt i n i t s se ve ral aspe ct s and draws some concl ut si ons.
The t he ory t hat t he Asami ya noi t i onal cul t ure i s i n dange r i s more a myt h t han a re al i t y now. The
move me nt i s mot i vat e d ot he rwi se . It i s not spont ane oui s, nor are st ude nt s i t s ori gi nat ors. kl s i de ol ogi cal
and organi sat i onal root s are i n t he Asami ya uppe r cl asse s who cont rol t he st i al t e 'spowe rful l ocal pre ss.
The y pl anne d and be gan t o co-ordi nat e i t s pre parat i ons si nce about 1978.
The aut hl or concl zude s t hat t he move me nt i s nat i onal i n form, chauvi ni st anzd unde mocrat i c i n
cont e nt and prot o-fasCi st i n i t s me t hods. It has t wvoface s
-
one , non-vi ol e nt and pe ace ful , t u.rne d t owards
De l hi ; and t he ot he r, coe rci ve and oft e n vi ol e nt , t urne d t ouards t he di ssi de nt mi nori t i e s.
The sol ut i on of t he fore i gne rs' i ssue l i e s most l y i n assi mi l at i on and i n t he se al i ng-off of t he Bangl a-
de sh borde r rat he r t han i n de port at i on. One good t hi ng conmi ng oui t of t he many bad t hi nrgsconne ct e d
wi t h t he move me nt may be t he di si l l usi onme nt of t he pe opl e about t he i r mi ddl e cl ass l e ade rshi p and i t s
obje ct i ve s wvhi chhas st art e d.
NOT BEING convi nce d t hat Assam's
so-cal l e d ant i -fore i gne r move me nt i s a
cudge l of chauvi ni sm, Gai l Omve dt
rai se s some pe rt i ne nt que st i onsi n EPW,
March 12, 1980 and she he rse l f ans-
we rs t he se i n Front i e r, June 7, 1980.
In t he wvake of t he move me nt ,
t he
mont h of January saw an ant i -Be ngal i
pogromi n Nort h Kamrup. In March
she sugge st s t hat , t o unde rst and t he
e ve nt s corre ct l y, we ne e d an anal ysi s
of "t he fundame nt al cl ass/nat i onal
cha-
ract e ri st i csof t he soci e t y and t he move -
me nt " as we l l as of t he "obje ct i ve basi s"
for t he aut ocht hons' fe ar t hat "t he y and
t he i r cul t ural -nat i onal i de nt i t y may be
swe pt by t he Be ngal i i nfl ux". She al -
most jumps t o t he concl usi on
- and
t hi s wi t hout t he ne ce ssary home work-
t hat t he agi t at i oni s one of nat i onal se l f-
de t e mi i nat i on. In he r June art i cl e , she
I urt he r says
:
t he basi c Assame se fe ar i snot so mui ch
of l osi ng jobs t o Be ngal i s (or ot he r
'oL ut si de rs') but of l osi ng t he i r l and.
Thi s i s a much more basi c i ssue , be -
caui se i t cal l s i nt o que st i onone of t hb-
de fi ni ng charact e ri st i csof anat i onal i t y.
t hat of a t e rri t ory; and t he l oss of
t e rri t ory t o pe opl e who se t t l e on i t
t e ncdst o be pe rmane nt .
In hi s art i cl e s i n EPW, March15 and
May 17, 1980, Sanji b Kumar Baruab,
t oo, re fuse s t o t ake not e of t he chauvi -
ni st and mi ddl e cl ass charact e r of t he
Assammove me nt and hol ds t hat , de s-
pi t e cont radi ct i ons, i t i s i n e sse nce
a
l e gi t i mat e , non-vi ol e nt and pe ace ful
re -
be l l i on of t he Assat rne se ci vi l soci e t y
for
se l f-e xpre ssi on. L i ke Gai l Omve dt ,
Baruah t oo rat i onal i se st he agi t at i on
i n
t e rms of sui ppose d dangre s fromt he
Be ngal i i nfl ui x t o t he aut ocht hons'
cul l
t ural -nat i onal i de nt i t y, but wi t h one
di ffe re nce . He avoi ds t he t e rm"se l f-
de t e rmi nat i on", and pre fe rs t o t al k of
Assame se sub-nat i onal i sm. Thi s i s unde r-
st andabl e . For, hi s frame of re fe re nce
i s not mul t i nat i onal Indi a i n t he Mar-
xi st st yl e , but Indi a's "pl ural soci e t y",
a conce pt borrowe d fromt he l i e ocol o-
ni al i st soci al sci e nt i st s - Chi cago so-
ci ol ogi st s and Cambri dge hi st ori ans, for
e xampl e - who at t e mpt t o de ny use -
ful ne ss of such cat e gori e s as cl ass and
nat i onal i smi n t he case of t hi rd worl d
count ri e s l i ke Indi a.
Ye t anot he r cont ri but or t o EPW,
August 9, 1980, Ti l ot t ama Mi sra, hi gh-
l i ght s t he move me nt as one e sse nt i al l y
se t agai nst e xt ra-re gi onal bi g busi ne ss
domi nat i onove r t he re gi on's e conomy.
Ove r t he mont hst he move me nt hasbe e n
abl e , she says, t o make t he comnmon
pe opl e aware of t he bi g busi ne ssst rangl e -
hol d be i ng t he cause of e conomi c unde r-
de ve l opme nt . Accordi ng t o he r, t he pre -
se nt e xpl oi t at i onof Assami s i n no wax
di ffe re nt fromwhat , one e xpe ri e nce d i n
t he col oni al pe ri od; i t now re fl e ct s t he
domi nat i onof a smal l nat i onal i t y by t he
re st of Indi a. Mi sra'si s an at t e mpt t o
provi de t he e conomi c rat i onal e for what
she passe s as apopul ar st ruggl e for se l f-
de t e rmi nat i on.
Inanat t e mpt t o unde rst and t he Assam
move me nt i n re l at i on t o t he nat i onal
que st i on, we shal l t ake up t he i ssue s
i ai se d by t he above -me nt i one d aut hors
and offe r our own comme nt s. Through-
out t hi s art i cl e , we shal l me an by t he
t e rm'Assame se ' al l i nhabi t ant swhohave
t he i r domi ci l e i n t he pre se nt st at e of
AsXsai Ti , whe t he r of ori gi ui or of choi ce ;
and by t he t e rm'Asami ya', t hose amongst
t he m who profe ss Asami yat o be t he i r
nat ural or acqui re d mot he r t ongue .
Thus, t he ne o-Asami yas, i e , t hose i m-
mni grant sand t ri bal aut ocht honswho
have adopt e d Asami yaas t he i r l anguage
are al so cove re d by t he t e rm'Asami ya',
unl e ss ot he r-Wi se st at e d. L i t t l e nat i o-
nal i Erni s de fi ne d by us as a spi ri t ual
se nt i me nt t hat hol ds t oge t he r a group of
pe opl e cl ai mi ng a common cul t ural -
re gi onal i de nt i t y (t o di st i ngui sh t he m-
se l ve s fromt he ot he r groups) and de si r-
ous of a de gre e of aut onomy wi t hi n t he
l arge r nat i on-st at e . Indi a cont i nue st o be
a me l t i ng pot of se ve ral ye t -unconsol i -
cl at e d nat i onal i t i e s whi ch si mul t ane ousl y
t e nd t o me rge wi t h e ach ot he r. He nce ,
one has t o t ake not e of t he fl e xi bi l i t y
of t he si t uat i onand avoi d ascri bi ng fi n-
al i t y t o any nat i onal format i on, as i t i s
found t oday, wvi t hi nt he l arge r conce pt
of t he growi ng Indi annat i onhood.
I
Assame se Soci e t y: It s Nat i onal and
Cl ass Charact e ri st i cs
The pre se nt St at e of Assam as we l l
t he hori zon of t he Assamne se soci e t
i t ; much l arge r t hanwhat i t was unde r
t he AhomKi ngs. Duri ng t he l ast hun-
dre d ye ars of i t s e xi st e nce , or e ve n
be fore , t he AhomKi ngdomof Assanm
di d not i ncl ude t he di st ri ct s of Goal -
para, Cachar and t he Nort h Cachar
Hi l l s wvi t hi ni t s t e rri t ory. Aft e r i t s ani -
ne xat i on i l n1826 t o Bri t i sh Indi a, t he
e rst whi l e Ahomt e rri t ory or AssamPro-
pe r (i e , Kamrup, Nowgong, Darrang,
L akhi mpur, l Di brug arh, Si bsagar and
1699
ECONOMICAND POL ITICAL WEEKL Y
Spe ci al Numbe r Oct obe r 1980
TABL E 1: MOTHER TONGUEWISE DISTRIBUIION OF POPUL ATIONIN AssAM, 1971
Brahmaput raVal l e y Tot al St at e
Qo. ) o' 0 O r4
t 4~ ~ ~
~~~
0 51 5 vz 0 5z 5
,550=
Hi ndi 567 4.5 32 193 792.,5.4
Ne pal i 3161 2. 29 4
Karbi
~ ~ C
18 0.1 17 1 11
Ami ya 8,4 1.0 54 7 850
6.9
Sube nt al 1,502 12.0 481 1533 23882
194.
Hi ndi n 56 4.5 82 193792
5.4
Bod 49 40 33 2, 53
3.7)0
Ne pt e i 316 2.5 29 4 849
2.4
Karbi 18
0.1 172 1 121 1.3
Ori ya 133 1.0 3 14 150 1.0
Sub-t ot al 11879 95.3 371 1553 13803 94.4
Mi shi ng 177 1s2
Me i t e i
~~~
~~~~~~~87
0.6
Tabl e CC- C.
Di masa
39 0.3
Garo
CZC
Z76 0.5
Munda
CZ
CU 77 0.5
Sant al C 86 0.6
Ot he rs ZZ Z 280 1.9
Tot al popul at i on 12457 (100) 455 1713 146-25 100
SorL rce : Ce nsusof Indi a 1971, Se -ri e s3 AssamPart 1-A Ge ne ral Re port , Tabl e
VII, 2, p 91 andl Se ri e s 1, Pa-rt II, C(i , Soci al and Cul t ural
Tabl e s,
Tabl e C-V-B.
Karbi Angl ong di st ri ct s of t oday) be -
came a ne w Di vi si on of t he Be ngal
Pre si de ncy. L at e r, duri ng 1874-1947, i t
use d t o formpart of a se parat e Provi nce
-an amal gat n of Asami ya-spe aki ng,
Be ngal i -spe aki ng and myri ad-t ongue d
hi l l s t ri bal are as - i n whi ch Asami va
was t he cl ai me d mot he r t ongue of l e ss
t han a quart e r and Be ngal i of more t han
40 pe r ce nt of t he popul at i on.
As a re sul t of t he progre ssi ve re -
organi sat i on of t he st at e duri ng 1947-
1972, on t he basi s of t he l i ngui st i c pri n-
ci pl e , t he St at e of Assamnt oday i s 61
pe r ce nt Asami ya-spe aki ng, anot he r 8
pe r ce nt spe aki ng i ndi ge nous t ri bal
l anguage s. Howe ve r, 99.3 pe r ce nt of
t he st at e 's Asami ya-spe ake rsare con-
ce nt rat e d i n t he se ve n di st ri ct s of t he
Brahmaput ra Val l e y, whi ch home l and
t he y share wi t h t ri bal aut ocht hons
spre ad ove r pocke t s of conce nt rat i on. In
e ach of t he t wo ot he r re gi ons
- (i ) t he
hi l l s re gi on e njoyi ng a de gre e of aut o-
n(-rny unde r t he Si xt h Sche dul e of our
Const i t ut i on(i e , t he di st ri ct s of Karbi
Angl ong and Nort h Cachar Hi l l s) and
(i i ) t he ouL t l yi ng di st ri ct of Cachar
t he Asami vas const i t ut e an i nsi gni fi cant
l i ngui st i c mi nori t y (as t he Be ngal i s do
i n t wo subdi vi si ons of Darje e l i ng i n
We st Be ngal ). In Cachar, t he i r home
di st ri ct , Cachar-Be ngal i sconst i t ut e 78
pe r ce nt of t he popul at i on whi l e t he
Asami yas t he re account for l e ss t han
0.05 pe r ce nt . Be si de s, t he re are ot he r
mi nori t i e s as we l l , such as t he Me i t e i s.
The t angl e d nat i onal que st i on of Assam
cannot be compre he nde d unl e ss t hi s
hi st ori cal l y e vol ve d re gi onal -cul t ural pat -
t e rn i s const ant l y ke pt i n mi nd (Se e
Tabl e 1).
It was AnandaramDhe ki yal -Phukan
(1829-59) who, fi rst , t al ke d of an
Assme se 'nat i on' and made l anguage t he
uni fyi ng symbol of i t s mnode mnat i onal
consci ousne ss. He al sosaw i t as a me m-
be r of t he fami l y of nat i onal i t i e s t hat ,
t oday, formt he Indi an Uni on. Of t he
89 l akh Asami ya-spe ake rsof Indi a i n
1971, 99.4 pe r ce nt we re e nume rat e d
i nAssamand onl y 0.6 pe r ce nt i n ot he r
part s of t he count ry. Onl y 6 pe r ce nt
of t he Asami yasl i ve i nt owns as agai nst
a corre spondi ng 18 pe r ce nt i n t he case
of t he st at e 's Be ngal i s. The gap wi l l be
much narrowe r i f t he vi l l age -dwe l l i ng
Musl i mi mmni grant s fromEast Be ngal ,
who have adopt e d Asami ya as t he i r
l anguage , are not acce pt e d as Asami vas
and de e nme d as Be ngal i s. The se i ndi ce s
of spat i al i mmobi l i t y and l ow urbani sa-
t i on are ne ve rt he l e ss re ve al i ng. Be cause
of a re t arde d and di st ort e d e conomi c
growt h unde r col oni al condi t i ons, t he
ongoi ng proce ss of nat i onal i t y-format i on,
t oo, re mai ne d handi cappe d i n Assamas
e l se whe re i n Indi a.
Eve r si nce i t s be gi nni ngs i n t he e arl y
l 9t h ce nt ury, our nat i onal i smhas be e n
de ve l opi ng at t wo l e ve l s
- one al l -
Indi a, on t he basi s of pan-Indi an cul -
t ural homnoge ne i t i e sand anant i -i mnpe ri al -
i smshare d i n common; and anot he r
re gi onal (Be ngal i , Marat hi , Asami ya,
e t c), on t he basi s of re gi onal -cul t ural
homoge ne i t i e s. Fromt he ve ry out se t ,
t he t wo nat i onal i sms are found i nt e r-
t wi ne d and dove t ai l e d. Tradi t i onal l y, an
ave rage Indi an i de nt i fi e s hi mse l f wi t h
bot h t he nat i onal i sms e xce pt i n some
pe ri phe ral are as (e g, Nagal and and
Mi zoram), l e ft unt ouche d by t he rai l -
ways and by t he Indi an nat i onal move -
me nt . Assami s, howe ve r, fai rl y i nt e -
grat e d wi t h t he re st of Indi a, bot h
e conomi cal l y, cul t ural l y and pol i t i cal l y.
L i ke an ave rage Indi an, an ave rage
Asami va, t oo, i s si mul t ane ousl y aware of
bot h hi s re gi onal and Indi an i de nt i t i e s.
Madhav De v, a 16t h-ce nt ury Vai shnava
sai nt of Assam, wrot e i n a ve rse t hat be
was proud of hi s bi rt h i n'Bharat a', and
t hi s fact i s oft e n i nvoke d as a symbol
of t he l at t e r i de nt i t y. Ye t anot he r aspe ct
of t he de ve l opme nt i s t hat , aft e r t he
Bri t i sh had qui t , no part i cul ar nat i o-
nal i t y coul d be i de nt i fi e d as anopre ssor
nat i on i n re l at i on t o ot he r nat i onal i t i e s
wi t hi n t he Uni on, as t he Russi anscoul d
be i n t he Czari st St at e .
The dual i t y of our nat i onal consci ous-
ne ss found e xpre ssi oni n t he art i cul at e d
at t i t ude s of Dhe ki yal -Phukan, Banki m-
chandra Chat t opadhyay and M G
Ranade , and al so t he l at e r he i rs t o t he i r
t radi t i on. In hi s pre si de nt i al addre ss at
t he annual confe re nce of t he Asam
Sabi t yaSabhaat Dhubri i n 1926, Be nu-
dhar Rajkhova(1872-1955), for i nst ance ,
sai d:
'L e t al l nat i onal i t i e s (jat i ) of Indi a
fol l ow t he i r own pat hs. The Brabma-
puL t ra, t he Ganga, t he Yamuna, t he
Kave ri , t he Si ndhi
- l e t al l of t he m
go on and fl ow al ong t he i r re spe ct i ve
course s. L e t t he re be no at t e mpt s t o
me rge one wi t h t he ot he r. Fi nal l y,
al l wi l l conve rge i n t he Indi anOce an,
t hat i s t he Indi an nat i on (mahajat i ).
Troi i bl e s wi l l i ncre ase i f anv ot he r
me t -hod i s re sort e d t o for cre at i ng t he
i ndi an nat i on (t rans oui rs).
R,i jkhovawas happy t o not e i n t he
course of t he same addre sst hat a l arge
numbe r of Be ngal i Musl i ms fromt he
ne i ghbouri ng di st ri ct of Myme nsi ngh
had se t t l e d i n Assam, and he pre di ct e d
t hat t he y woul d al l be proud t o cal l
t he mse l ve s Asami yas i n due course . Hi s
pre di ct i oncamne out t o be t rue .
Asami ya l i t t l e nat i onal i sm be gan t o
t ake shape si nce t he 1850s t hrough
pol i t i cal mobi l i sat i on by t he Asami ya
mi ddl e cl ass on t he l anguage i ssue and,
l at e r, ont he job and l and i ssue sas we l l .
i t gradual l v de ve l ope d as a compre -
'he nsi ve i de ol ogy t hat unde rwe nt or-
gani se d consol i dat i onduri ng t he 1920s.
Though basi cal l y prot e ct i oni st
and de -
fe nsi ve t i l l about 1947, Asami ya
l i t t l e
nat i onal i smhad, by t he n, assume d an
aggre ssi ve t one as we l l . For
e xampl e ,
whi l e pre si di ng ove r t he annual con-
fe re nce of t he AsamSahi t ya Sabba i n
1701
ECONOMICAND POL ITICAL WEEKL Y Spe ci al Nut mi be r Oct obe r 1980
1927, TarunramPhukan (1877-1939)
sai d:
We , Asami yai s, are a di st i nct nat i ona-
l i t y (jat i ) amongst Indi ans. Thougi h
our l anguage i s Sanskri t -base d, i t i s a
di st i nct l anguage . A ri si ng nat i o-
nal i t y shows si gns of l i fe by way of
e xt e ncdi nl g domi nat i ow ove r ot he rs.
Al as! i t i s ot he rwi se (wi t h us),
wt e
are i ncapabl e of se l f-de fe nce t oday!
We are not onl y de pe nde nt , but
e ve n a de pe nde nt ne i ghbour i s t ryi ng
t o swal l ow us, t aki ng advant age of
our he l pl e ssne ss. Brot he r Asami ya!
re col l e ct your past gl ory t o have an
unde rst andi ng of t he pre se nt si t t uat i on
(t ransand e mphasi s ours).
Se e ds of chauvi ni sm sown by such
spe e che s we re sure t o ge rmi i nat e i n due
coui rse .
Howe ve r unt i l about 1947, Asami ya
l i t t l e nat i onal i smi was not a cudge l and
t he re we re no l anguage or raci al ri ot s.
As t he Asami ya mi ddl e cl ass e me rge d
st ronge r and more amnbi t i oust han e ve r
aft e r Syl he t was shake noff i t s back, i t s
l i t t l e nat i onal i sm st art e d de ge ne rat i ng
i nt o chauvi ni smand mi nori t y-bai t i ng.
R P Vaghai wal l a, as Ce nsus Supe ri n-
t e nde nt for Assami n 1951, di d not fai l
t o t ake not e of t hi s ne w t re nd of
"aggre ssi ve l i ngui st i c nat i onal i sm". Ri ot s
di re ct e d agai nst non-Asami yas i n 1948,
1950, 1960, 1968, 1972 and 1980 i n t he
Brahmaput ra Val l e y be ar hi m out .
L arge -scal e ge noci de s, gi vi ng e xpre ssi on
t o ant i -Be ngal i hat re d i n part i cul ar, be -
gan t o t ake pl ace from1960 onward.
Bot h at t he al l -Indi a and re gi onal
l e ve l s, t he e me rge nce of nat i onal i smwas
a mi ddl e cl ass phe nome non. At t he
t op of t he soci e t y we re t he fore i gncapi -
t al i st s and t he i r al l i e s, t he bi g l andl ords;
and at i t s bot t om, t he pri marvproduce rs
t he t oi l i ng pe asant s, art i sans and
worke rs. The mi ddl e posi t i ons we re he l d
by Indi an i ndust ri al i st s, t rade rs, pe t t v
l andl ords and vari ous se ct i ons of t he
pe t t y bourge oi si e , urban and rural . A
mi ddl e cl ass want s t o proje ct i t s own
i nt e re st sas t he i nt e re st sof a l arge group
so t hat t he l at t e r coul d be pol i t i cal l y
mobi l i se d i n t he st ruggl e for powe r.
Thi s i s how Indi annat i onal i smas we l l
as re gi onal l i t t l e nat i onal i smori gi nat e d.
The forme r ai me d at consol i dat i ng t he
al l -Indi a marke t and re se rvi ng i t for
Indi anmi ddl e cl asse s t o t he e xcl usi onof
t he fore i gn domi nat i on. The l at t e r was
and i s i nt e re st e d i n de ve l opi ng t he re -
gi onal marke t as an e xcl usi ve pre se rve
of t he re gi onal mi ddl e cl ass or cl asse s.
Unde r col oni al const rai nt s, Assam
fai l e d t o de ve l op a vi abl e capi t al i st cl ass
of i t s own. By now Nort h Indi an bi g
bourge oi si e , i n col l aborat i on
- wi t h
fore i gn capi t al , are we l l -e nt re nche d i n
and at t he t op of Assam'se conomy, but
t he re i s no Asamni ya (for t hat mzat t e r
e ve n Be ngal i ) bi g bourge oi st o share t he
marke t wi t h t he m. Asami ya busi ne ss
house s t hat coul d be ranke d as mi ddl e
bourge oi si e wooul d hardl y e xce e d hal f a
cl oze ni n numbe r. The Asami yami ddl e
cl ass i s t he re fore vi rt ual l y const i t ut e d of
smal l capi t al i st s and ot he r se ct i ons of
t he pe t t y boourge oi si e i ncl udi ng profe s-
si onal sand se rvi ce -hol de rs; may of t he m
are al so si mul t ane ousl y smal l l andl ords.
The y and t he i r Assan-base d Be ngal i
ri val s (most l y l ong se t t l e d i n Assamor
sons of t he soi l i n Cachar), ope rat e at
t he margi nof t he bi g capi t al -dorni nat e d
e conomy
- i n pe t t v i ndust ri e s, pe t t y
t rade , profe ssi ons and admi ni st rat i ve
se rvi ce s. It i s t he se e conomi c ci rcum-
st ance s, and not l and re l at i ons, t hat
l arge l y e xpl ai n t he t radi t i onal ant i -
Be ngal i e dge of Asami ya l i t t l e nat i ona-
l i sm. Probl e mof l and, t oo, i s a re l e vant
i ssue , whi ch we . shal l di scussi nafol l -ow-
i ng se ct i on. The Asarni yami ddl e cl ass
be l i e ve d
-
and Bri t i sh ci vi l se rvant s
e ncourage d t he m i n t he past t o do so
-
t hat t he i r own pe opl e woul d be
t urne d i nt o a mi nori t y i n t he i r home -
l and unl e ss t he Be ngal i Musl i mpe asant s'
i nce ssant i nfl ux i nt o t he Brahmaput ra
Val l e y si nce about 1905 was che cke d.
Thi s fe ar compl e x was bui l t i nt o t he i r
i de ol ogy and has be e n const ant l y harpe d
on si nce t he 19290s. The y rai se d t he
.cry of t he Asami yanat i onal i t y and t he i r
cul t ural foot hol d be i ng i n dange r wi t h
a vi e w t o mobi l i si ng t he pe asant masse s
be hi nd t he m.
L i t t l e nat i onal i smhad an i de al i somof
i t s own t oo. L ocal pat ri ot s dug up t he
anci e nt gl ory of t he l and and re di s-
cove re d i t s l i t e rat ure , art and musi c.
The y proudl y re cal l e d t he sphynx-l i ke
re appe arance of t he i r l anguage aft e r.
prol onge d suppre ssi on duri ng 1837-7.3.
Mot he r l anguage was l ooke d.upon as a
sacre d ve hi cl e of col l e ct i ve se l f-asse r-
t i on. The y al so foL nd i t conve ni e nt t o
i de nt i fy t he Be ngal i as t he st umbl i ng
bl ock on t he i r way t o progre ssand cul -
t i vat e d a se nse of gri e vance agai nst hi m.
The gri e vance was base d, amongst
ot he rs, on t he fact t hat t he Asami yas
we re unde r-re pre se nt e d and Be ngal i s
ove r-re pre se nt e d i n t he se rvi ce s and
profe ssi ons i n t he provi nce . L achi t
Phukan, t he 17t h-ce nt ui y he ro who de -
fe at e d t he Mughal s at t he bat t l e of
Sarai ghat i n 1671 was proje ct e d as t he
symbol of re si st ance t o i mmi grat i ng out -
si de rs. Al l l i t t l e nat i onal i st s we re not
ne ce ssari l v chauvi ni st s. The re was scope
for one t o re mai na l ocal pat ri ot and an
Indi an nat i onal i st at t he same t i me .
L ocal admi ni st rat i onby, and job-sfor,
t he sons of t he soi l , i nt roduct i onof
Asamni yaas t he onl y me di umo.f i nst ruc-
t i on i n al l school s, a hal t t o. se t t l e me n
of wast e l ands wi t h i mmi grant sfor pro-
t e ct i on of t he
i ndi ge n-i ouspe asant s'
i n-
t e re st s and re organi sat i onof t he mul t i -
l i ngual provi nce i nt o a l i ngui st i c one
wvi t hAsami vaas t he offi ci al l anguage --
t he se we re t he de nmandst hat sust ai ne d
Asai ni ya l i t t l e nat i onal i smove r t he de -
cade s. In t he 1940s whe n t he dange r
of t he provi nce be i ng absorhe d i nt o
East Paki st an (Group C of Cabi ne t
Mi ssi oni Pl an, 1946) be came i mmi ne nt ,
t he Ant i -Groupi ni g agi t at i on, an asse r-
t i on of fai t h i n bot h Indi an uni t y and
l ocal aut onomy, was l e d by t he l ocal
Congre ssand l e ft part i e s, i n de fi ance of
t he Al l -Indi aCongre ssCommi t t e e 'scon-
t rary st and. It wasl arge l y be cause of t hi s
st i ff opposi t i ont hat t he Cabi ne t Mi ssi on
Pl an fai l e d, and a part i t i on of Indi a
and Assamfol l owe d. He nce fort h, Be ngal i -
spe aki ng popul ous Syl he t ce ase d t o be
a Part of Assam.
Jyot i Prasad Agarwal a (1903-51) -
Congre ssman, l i t t e rat e ur and founde r-
pre si de nt of Assam's IPTA move me nt
- showe d how l ocal pat ri ot i sm, Indi an
nat i onal i smand i nt e rnat i onal i smcoul d
go t oge t he r. What e ve r was progre ssi ve ,
de mocrat i c and l e gi t i mat e i n t he
de mands rai se d by Asami yal i t t l e nat i o-
nal i sm di d fi nd a pl ace i n t he pro-
gramme t he Assam Prade sh Congre ss
Commi t t e e st ood for. For e xampl e , i t
st ood for re organi sat i onof t he provi nce
on a l i ngui st i c basi s and was i n favoul
of t he l i ne syst e mas a che ck t o un-
cont rol l e d i mmi grat i oni n t he Brabma-
pL ut raVal l e y. Thi s Commi t t e e bad i t s
juri sdi ct i ononl y ove r t he Brabmaput t a
Val l e y
-
t he t radi t i onal Asami yahome -
l and - and, l at e r, al so Shi l l ong.
Be ngal i -spe aki ng Cachar and Syl he t
we re , on t he ot he r band, unde r t he
juri sdi ct i on of t he Be ngal Provi nci al
Congre ss Commi t t e e unt i l 1947. Ne ve r-
t he l e ss, de spi t e provocat i ons from
Asami yaand Be ngal i chauvi ni st s, t he
t wo Commi t t e e s we re , by and l arge ,
abl e t o make a commonant i -i mpe ri al i st
cause and st and t oge t he r on t he Syl be t
que st i on t i l l 1946. The se parat e pl at -
formof Asamni yal i t t l e nat i onal i smwas
const i t ut e d of t he Asam Sabi t yaSabha
(e st d i n 1917) and t he Asami yaSamrak-
sbi ni i Sabha(e st d i n 1926 and re name d
AsamJat i ya Mahasabhai n t he
1930s).
Ge ne ral l y, i t use d t o at t ract gove mme nt
se rvant s, cl i e nt i nt e l l e ct ual s and Cong-
re ss drop-ot ut s. Ni l mani Phukan
(1880-
1978) and Amnbi kagi ri Raychaudhuri
(1885-1967) e me rge d as t he i r de di cat e d
l e ade rs. Be ngal i l oyal i st s and chauvi -
ni st s of t he Brahbi aput raVal l e y,
on t he
ot he r handl , l ooke d forward t o t he
AssamDomi ci l e d and Se t t l e rs' Associ a-
1703
ECONOMICAND POL ITICAL WEEKL Y
Spe ci al Numbe r Oct obe r 1980
t ,on (e st d i n 1935 and re name d Assam
Ci t i ze ns' Associ at i onby 1940, but soon
de funct ) profe sse dl y for t he de fe nce of
t he ci vi l and pol i t i cal ri ght sof al l pe rsons
havi ng t he i r domi ci l e of choi ce i n
Assam. Assame se masse s pai d l e ast at -
t e nt i ont o t he se di vi si ve force s and di d
not al l ow t he mse l ve s t o be di st ract e d
bv such i nfl ue nce s fromt he i r part i ci pa-
t i on i n t he ant i -i mpe ri al i st nat i onal
upsurge .
Whe n t he Congre ss and al l i e d l e ft
part i e s we re busy fi ght i ng i mpe ri al i sm,
t he Asami ya l i t t l e nat i onal i st pl at form
we nt on proje ct i ng Bri t i sh ci vi l se rvant s
l i ke Bampfyl de Ful l e r, P R T Gordon
and C S Mul l an as savi ours of t he
Asami yape opl c. Impe ri al i sme ncourage d
re gi onal i sm t o count e r t he Congre ss
move me nt and l ooke d upon i t s hi gh
pri e st s as al l i e s of t he Raj. Rai Bahadur
S K Bhuyan(1894-1964), who di d pai n-
st aki ng and pat h-bre aki ng re se arch t o
i nvoke hi st ori cal and cul t ural symbol s
of Asami ya l i t t l e nat i onal i sm, was
nomi nat e d t o t he me mbe rshi p of t he
Gauhat i Muni ci pal Board duri ng t he
Non-Coope rat i ondays, t o act as a che ck
upon t he Congre ssbl oc t he re i n. L at e r
i nt he 1940s, he was pursuade d t o l e ave
hi s t e achi ng job i n t he Cot t on Col l e ge
t o joi n t he Nat i onal War Front . Ot he r
i nst ance s of l i t t l e nat i onal i st s' col l abora-
t i oni st rol e coul d al so be ci t e d.
Whi l e many Asami ya t e a pl ant e rs
we re wi t h t he Congre ss, we al t hi e r and
more powe rful one s cl ung t o Bri t i sh
i mpe ri al i smand t he Asami yamove me nt .
To propagat e t he cause , Si vaprasad
Barua - t he bi gge st Asami ya and
Indi an t e a pl ant e r of hi s t i me s --
st art e d i n t he 1930s Assam's fi rst and
short -l i ve d dai l y ne wspape r, t he Dai ni k
Bat ori , wi t h Ni l moni Phukanas i t s e di -
t or. It was i n course of an art i cl e pub-
l i she d i n t hi s ne ws-dai l y i n 1937 t hat
Jnananat hBora, a l aw t e ache r, he l d ot t
t he fri vol ous t hre at of Assam'sse ce ssi on
fromIndi a, obvi ousl y t o bl ackmai l t he
Congre ss move me nt . Thi s happe ne d
e ve n be fore t he Musl i mL e ague had
t ake n a si mi l ar move . Bora'swas st i l l a
l one voi ce , not backe d by e ve n hi s owni
cl ass, not t o spe ak of t he pe asant mas-
se s who we re t he n de e pl y i nvol ve d i n
t he Congre ss and i t s Ryot Sabbamove -
me nt .
L at e r, i n t he 1940s, t he masse s cont i -
nue d t o re spond t o t he ant i -i mpe ri al i st
st :ruggl e and gave e l e ct rol support t o t he
Congre ss, rat he r t han t o t he l i t t l e na-
-t i onal i st pl at form. The Congre ss st ood
for se parat i onof Syl he t from Assam,
but t ri e d t o mai nt ai nt he broade st pos-
si bl e Assame se uni t y by she l vi ng paro-
chi al de mands, l i ke t he i mposi t i on of
Asai ni ya on t he unwi l l i ng mi nori t i e s,
t hat mi ght di vi de t he pe opl e . It was
onl y aft e r t he 1950s t hat Assambe gan
t o shri nk i n are awi t h e ve ry re t re at t he
Congre ssmade be fore t he t i de of ri si ng
chauvi ni sm. The AsamSahi t yaSabba's
re ce nt de mand at i t s Rahase ssi on, 1980,
for de nyi ng t he major mni nori t i e s t he i r
e xi st i ng pri vi l e ge of usi ng t he i r owni
re spe ct i ve mot he r t ongue s as t he me -
di a of i nst ruct i on i n school s e ve n i n
t he i r own l ocal i t i e s has come as a
t hre at , sowi ng se e ds of di sse nsi on i n
Cachar and t ri bal are as.
In pre -1947 Assame se soci e t y t he n,
t he Asami yami dd(l e cl ass and pe asant ry
we re unde r gre at e r i nfl ue nce of t he i de al s
of Indi an nat i onal i smt han of re gi on-
base d l i t t l e nat i onal i sm. The soci al base
of t he l at t e r re mai ne d narrow. Ne i t he r
t he Congre ss nor t he Asarni ya l i t t l e
nat i onal i st s had me nt i onabl e i nfl ue nce
ove r
t he t ri bal , Musl i mand t e a garde n
l abour masse s. Thi s re fl e ct e d a ce rt ai n
de gre e of non-i nt e grat i on wi t hi n t he
Assame se soci e t y, nodoubt . Ne ve rt he l e ss
e conomi c, pol i t i cal and soci al force s of
i nt e grat i onwe re si l e nt l y at work and,
wi t h e l i mi nat i onof many of t he col oni al
const rai nt s, e me rge d st ronge r duri ng t he
post -Inde pe nde nce pe ri od.
Howe ve r re t arde d or di st ort e d, some
e conomi c de ve l opme nt di d t ake pl ace
i n Assamat t ract i ng hundre dsand t hou-
sands of pe asant s and worke rs - a
si ze abl e numbe r of t he mfrom ne i gh-
bouri ng Be ngal
- t o t he farms, mi ne s,
pl ant at i ons and t owns duri rfg t he l ast
one ce nt ury and a hal f. As a re sul t .
t he re has be e n bot h di ve rsi fi cat i on and
i nt e rpe ne t rat i onof soci al groups. Through
t he l at t e r proce ss, t he Asami ya soci e t y
has e me rge d nume ri cal l y st ronge r and
ci ul t ural l y more e nri che d. It has t o gai n
more fromu t he cont i nui ng proce ss of
vol unt ary i nt e grat i on.
The l i mi t e d e conomi c de ve l opme nt
and assi mi l at i ont hat had t ake n pl ace
de spi t e col oni al re st rai nt si s an i ndi spu-
t abl e fact t oday t hat can no l onge r be
nul l i fi e d wi t h re t rospe ct i ve e ffe ct . The
sol ut i on of Assam'snat i onal que st i on,
l ooke d at froma Marxi st poi nt of vi e w,
t he re fore l i e s not i n put t i ng t he cl ock
back, but i n an e mphasi s on assi rni l a-
t i on and a hal t t o furt he r i mmi grat i on
for t he sake of 'nat i onal pe ace '.
IIT
Cl ass/Nat i onal Charact e ri st i cs
of
t he Move me nt
The se are some of t he root s of t he
chauvi ni smt hat i s now re surge nt and i s
re pre se nt e d by t he AsamSahi t yaSabha,
t he AsamJat i yat avadi Dal and t he Pur-
banchal i ya L oka Pari shad (PL P) -t he
l at t e r t wo fl oat e d around 1977. The
PL P has a wi de r vi si on t hant he Sabha
and t he Dal , t o t he e xt e nt t hat i t s pl ans
and programme s re l at e t o t he e nt i re
nort he ast re gi on t hat consi st s of se ve n
si st e r st at e s. The Sabha, Dal and Pari -
shad, t he se t hre e are t he mai n const i -
t ue nt s of t he GanaSangramPari shad -
t he uni t e d front of al l Asami yare gi onal -
nat i onal i st force s - whi ch has ove r
1,200 branche s i n t he st at e . The Asamn
Sahi t ya Sabha, al one , has 700 branche s
of i t s own. In t he 1970s, e ve ry annual
confe re nce of t he Sabha was at t e nde d
by se ve ral l akhsof pe opl e . It i s auni que
i nst i t ut i onwhi ch, t hough act i ve l y and
formal l y i nvol ve d i n t he curre nt move -
me nt , al sohappe ns t o be a UGC-re cog-
ni se d re se arch body. The Al l Assam
St ude nt s' Uni on (AASU) i s anot he r i m-
port ant organi sat i oi nwhi ch. t oge t he r
wi t h t he Asam Sahi t ya Sabha, spe ar-
he ade d t he 1972 Asami ya l anguage
move me nt , was i n t he fore front of t he
se cond re fi ne ry move me nt i n 1970 as
we l l as t he food move mne nt i n 1966 and
i s, agai n, i n t he fore front of t he curre nt
agi t at i on. It re pre se nt s t he st ude nt
powe r t hat has adde d re spe ct abi l i t y
t o
chauvi ni smand a spi ri t of de di cat i on
t o t he caui se .
Whi l e unt angl i ng Assam'st angl e d na-
t i onal que st i on, Sanji b Kumar Baruah
bri ngs i nt o focus not t he soci al cl asse s,
but such cat e gori e sas 'e t hni ci t y', de mo-
graphi c i mbal ance and 'pl ural soci e t y'
as t he ke y de t e rmi nant sof "t he l ogi c
of pol i t i cal powe r" i n t he gi ve n si t ua-
t i on. But t hi s l ogi c, we assume , cannot
be aut onomousi n ope rat i on. i t re qui re s
t he me di at i on of a cl ass or cl ass-i n-
maki ng i n ne e d of t hat pol i t i cal powe r.
In Baruab'sanal ysi s, t oo, one fi nds t he
st ude nt s and "soci o-cul t ural and l i t e rary
bodi e s" as t he me di at orsi n t he proce ss
t hrough whi ch t he mnassagi t at i oni s fe d
wi t h myt hs and pe rhaps "a fal se con-
sci ousne ss". But i n t e rms of e conomi c
i nt e re st swhomdot he se st ude nt s(AASU)
and t he soci o-cul t ural and l i t e rary bl odi e s
(AsamSahi t ya Sabha) re pre se nt ? Asa-
t ni ya t oi l i ng pe asant s and worke rs? No.
The y re pre se nt t he Asami ya mi ddl e
cl ass or cl asse s, as de fi ne d by us, const i -
t ut e d of bourge oi s-l andl ord and pe t t y
bourge oi s e l e me nt s. In our vi e w and as
i t s chronol ogy i s ske t che d be l ow, t he
agi t at i onwas st art e d by t he Asami ya
capi t al i st sand ge nt ry t hrough t he com-
muni cat i onme di a t he y cont rol , and t he
st ude nt sand ot he r se ct i ons of t he pe t t y
bourge oi si e i ncl udi ng se ct i ons of pe a-
sant s we re gradual l y drawn i nt o i t .
Et hni ci t y was not a gi ve n fact or t o
whi ch pol i t i cs re sponde d; rat he r, e t hni -
ci t y-aware ne sswas e ncourage d and e x-
1705
Spe ci al Numbe r Oct obe r 1980
ECONOMICAND POL ITICAL
WEEKL Y
pl oi t e d
by t he uppe r cl asse s for
pol i t i -
cal e nds.
Al t hough t he pre se nt move me nt
was
formal l y l aunche d by t he st ude nt s
i n
a
bi g way onl y a ye ar back, i t s
pre para-
t i ons we re be i ng made by t he Asami ya
bi ourge oi si e si nce 1978. Hard-pre sse d by
bi g capi t al fromabove and t he
ri si ng
l abour and pe asant move me nt frombe -
l ow ancl , at t he same t i me , be i ng i nt e r-
nal l y di vi de d by cast e pol i t i cs, t he Asa-
t ni ya uppe r cl asse s are t e rri bl y
agi t at e d
about t he e conomi c st agnat i oni . Not be -
i ng st rong and re source ful e nough,
t be y
are hardl y opt i mi st i c about pui shi ng
oui t
bi g capi t al fromposi t i ons
of cl omi na-
t i on i n i ndust ri e s and t ra(l e . So t he y
aspi re t o monopol i se what re si dual i s
l e ft ove r, t hat i s, smal l i ndui st ri e s
and
pe t t y t rade as we l l as profe ssi ons
and
se rvi ce s i n t he i r st at e . The i r survi val ,
t he y t hi nk, i s de pe nde nt
on t hre e
con-
di t i ons:
(i ) e l i mi nat i onof Be ngal i and ot he r
compe t i t ors (for i nst ance , at one
st age , t he AASU de mande d
e ve n
t he abol i t i on of al l re se rvat i ons
i n t he mat t e r of jobs and scho-
l arshi ps for sche dul e d cast e s and
t ri be s);
(i i ) opport uni t i e s
of i nt e nsi fi cat i on
of
l abour e xpl oi t at i on,
unhi nde re d
by t rade uni ons (for i nst ance ,
on
Nove mbe r 6, 1979,
Ni baran
Bora publ i cl y gave out hi s
cal l
t o smasht he 'Be ngal i -domi nat e d'
t rade uni ons and, st i l l e arl i e r,
Jat i yat avadi vol unt e e rs had he l p-
e d ci t y bui s owne rs t o bre ak t he
st ri ke of Gaui hat i ci t v bus wvor-
ke rs; and
(i i i ) unhi nde re d
cont rol ove r t he
st at e admi ni st rat i on
for t he cre a-
t i on of bure aucrat i c capi t al
of
whi ch t he Asami yauppe r
cl asse s
coul d be made t he be ne fi ci ari e s.
The spurt i n t he l e ft act i vi t i e s
si nce
1977 goade d t he m t o consol i dat e
t he i r
force s on t he basi s of a chauvi ni st
pol i -
t i cal programme ,
whi ch al one
was
de e me d e ffe ct i ve t o ni p t he t hre at i nt he
bud.
The cui dge l of chauvi ni sm
i s handy
for capi t al i st s and l andl ords on se ve ral
consi de rat i ons.
It coul d be use d t o cut
t o si ze not onl y Be ngal i and ot he r
non-
Asami ya compe t i t ors,
but al so
t he i r
worke rs and t e nant farme rs,
a l arge
numbe r of whomare non-Asami ya,
by
di vi di ng t he m. Thi rdl y, by bl ackmai l i ng
t he Ce nt re t hrough conni vance
wi t h
cl ande st i ne t hre at sof se ce ssi oni sm,
more
l ocal powe r coul d be gai ne d
for t he
Asami yauppe r cl asse s. For,
t he cake
has t o be now l arge r i nde e d t o accom-
modat e ne w mi ddl e -cl ass
e l e me nt s
from
t he ne o-Asami ya communi t y,
he re t ofore
backward but now forci ng t he i r way
up
wi t h cl ai ms t o a share of t he spoi l s.
The bourge oi s-l andl ord
chauvi ni st s
ski l ful l y use d t he pre ss and ot he r
com-
muni cat i onme di a t o cre at e an
i mpre s-
si on amongst t he pol i t i cal l y
back-
ward se ct i ons of t he pe opl e
t hat t he
Be ngal i s, as a communi t y,
are oppose d
t o t he aspi rat i onsof t he Asami yas,
t hat
t he y are al l l e ft i st s and t hat al l l e ft i st s
i n Assamare , i n ge ne ral ,
a me re age ncy
of Be ngal i e xpansi oni sm
i n e ast e rn In-
(l i a. Thi s st and he l pe d
t he Asami va
mi ddl e cl ass t o ove rcot ne t he cast e pol i -
t i cs ori e nt e d t o t he Ujani
Asam Rajya
Pari shad and t he Ot he r Backward
Com-
muni t i e s (OBC) fact i on and e me rge
ui ni t e d out of t he chaos t hat t he di vi de d
Congre ss house was. Thi s st and
al so
i ni t i al l y he l pe d t he chauvi ni st s
t o wi i n
ove r t o t he i r caui se , or at l e ast ne ut ra-
l i se , t he l ocal Marwari busi ne ss house s
re pre se nt i ng
t rade rs, t e a pl ant e rs
and
i ndust ri al i st s,
who we re t he mse l ve s
vi ct i ms of a raci al hat e campai gn
and
ri ot sduri ng 1966-68. It mi sl e d t he back-
ward t oi l e rs and cause d a di vi si on
i n
t he t rade uni ons and t he l i qui dat i on
of
snme
of t he m.
How t he i ni t i al phase of t he agi t at i on
(l e ve l ope d 'by and l arge pe ace ful l y'
wi t h
bl e ssi ngs of t he pre ss, organi se d
i nt i mi -
dat i ons and ji ngoi st
wal l wri t i ngs,
how
ce ase l e ss prot e st me e t i ngs
fe d wi t h
mnyt hs ancl fal se st at i st i cssi nce
1978
fi nal l y cul mi nat e d
i nt o a mass hyst e ri a
aft e r Se pt e mbe r
1979 and how t hi shyst e -
ri a l e d t o l arge -scal e
ant i -Be ngal i
pogroms
i n January
and May-June
of
1980 i s i nt e re st i ng t o t race fromt he fi l e s
of t he l ocal pre ss.
An obscure pi e ce
of
re se archi na de part me nt al journal
of t he
Di brugarh Uni ve rsi t y, mi sconst rue d
t o
re fl e ct i t s aut hor'sant i -Asami ya
at t i t ude ,
t he mi sbe havi our
of a pl aye r
of
t he
East Be ngal Cl ub i n a foot bal l
mat ch
at Gauhat i , t he nami ng
of t he confe -
re nce ve nue of t he P and T Worke rs'
Uni ons i n t he Cot t on Col l e ge
campus
as Bhupe ndraNagar
i n honour
of l at e
B N Ghosh, an e mi ne nt t rade uni oni st
of al l -Indi a st at ure
- al l t he se we re
t ume d i nt o cont rove rsi al
and
nast v
publ i c i ssue s by t he chauvi ni st
l ocal
pre ss, ost e nsi ve l y
t o provoke
communal
i l l -fe e l i ngs and parochi al i sm.
Unt rut hs
and sl ande rs
we re spre ad
about
t he
Be ngal i 's rol e i n Assam. Art i cl e s
i n
doze ns appe are d
t o convi nce t he cre du-
l ous masse s t hat i f t he t oi l i ng
non-
Asami yas
we re pushe d out ,
t he i r share s
of t he cake woul d go t o t he sons
of
t he soi l .
It was as e arl y as i n Jul y
1978 t hat
t he worki ng commi t t e e
of t he Asam
Sa-
hi t ya Sabhapasse d a re sol ut i on
e xpre ss-
i ng e xagge rat e d conce rn ove r t he
fre sh
i nfl ux of i mmi grant sacross t he borde r.
The Dai ni k Asamfl ashe d t he ne ws
wi t h
st art l i ng he adl i ne s and de vot e d
unusual -
l y l arge space t o cove r i t .
Doubt ful
st at i st i cs, oft e n e manat i ng from
hi gh
offi ci al s, cont i nue d t o be poure d
i nt o
publ i ci t y t o e xagge rat e
t he i nfl ux
and
out si de rs' domni nat i on
ove r Assam's
e co-
nomv, pol i t y and cul t ure . In an
e di t o-
ri al art i cl e e nt i t l e d "Nat i onal i sm:
In
Whose Int e re st ?"
i n i t s Oct obe r 1978
i ssue , t he Samprat i k Sai nyi ki i ,
a pro-
gre ssi ve Asami ya mont hl y,
vi e we d t he
ri si ng chaui vi ni smas an i ndi cat i on
t hat
t he conspi racy of t he nat i onal and i n-
t e rnat i onal
ve st e d i nt e re st s agai nst
t he
growi ng l e ft i st force s had st art e d
yi e l d-
i ng i t s bi t t e r frui t s. The e di t or de pl ore d
t he compl ace ncy
and l ack of pol i t i cal
wi l l on t he part
of t he l e ft t o cl ose
t he i r ranks and fore st al l any
furt he r
worse ni ng of t he si t uat i onby
anal t e rna-
t i ve programme
of l e ft and de mocrat i c
ui ni t y t o combat t he dange r and,
at t he
same t i me , t o voi ce t he frust rat i ons
and
i ni ui re d fe e l i ngs of t he Assame se pe opl e .
FromJune 1979 onwards,
t he pre ss
di re ct e d i t s hat re d campai gn
al most
e x-
cl usi ve l y agai nst
t he so-cal l e d
"Bangl a-
de shi s" - al l post -1951
East
Pal dst an
mi grant s and t he i r proge ny,
most
of
whomdi d not posse ss re adi l y
acce pt abl e
docume nt s
t o prove
t he i r Indi an
ci t i -
ze nshi p
i n a no l onge r pe rmi ssi ve
se t -
up. The i nsi st e nce on docume nt s
e xpos-
e d al so t he pre -191 Be ngal i
se t t l e rs
t o
humi l i at i ons
of t he fore i gne r-hunt .
The
campai gn
was agai nst i mmi grant s
from
Ne pal as we l l . 'De t e ct ,
Di se nfranchi se
and De port
t he Fore i gne rs'
and 'No
De l e t i on,
No El e ct i on'
we re t he popu-
l i st de mands
t hat e me rge d
out of t he
campai gn.
On June 8, 1979,
t he re was
t he fi rst -e ve r
12-hour
Assam
Bandh
cal l e d by t he AASU t o back t he de -
mand of fore i gn
nat i onal s' e xpul si on.
On
August 26, t he Al l AssamGana
Sang-
ramPari shad
was forme d.
The nfol l owe d
t he unpre ce de nt e d
popul ar upsurge
i n
t he form of mass si t -i ns,
pi cke t i ngs,
sat yagrahas,
st ri ke sand amass si gnat ure
campai gn
- al l t he se cul mi nat i ng
i nt o
t he 34-hour
AssamBandh on De ce m-
be r 3. Me anwhi l e , pri nt i ng
pre ss
ow-
ne rs, as an organi se d body,
had re fuse d
t opri nt t he e l e ct oral rol l sfor t he Parl i a-
me nt ary
El e ct i on
of 1979-80.
On De -
ce mbe r 10, 1979 t he move me nt
cl ai me d
i t s fi rst mart yr who re port e dl y
di e d of a
CRP l at hi charge on t hat day.
On
De -
ce mbe r 18, l akhs of pe opl e
t ook oat h
t o
carry on l i fe -l ong st ruggl e
unt i l al l
fore i gne rs
we re oust e d.
The ye ar
e nde d
wi t h t he obse rvance
of a st at e -wi se
1706
ECONOMIC, AND POL ITICAL WEEKL Y Spe ci al Numbe r
Oct obe r
1980
Non-Co-ope rat i on We e k, and t he ne w
ye ar be gan wi t h a 58-hour Assam
Bandh. On January 3, t he move me nt
cl ai me d a se cond mart yr, who bad
be e nmurde re d unde r myst e ri ousci rcum-
st ance s. The n fol l owe d t he l arge -scal e
ge noci de i n Kamrup. Boycot t of t he
e l e ct i on al l ove r t he st at e , e xce pt i ng
Cachar, was compl e t e . Eve n gaze t t e d
offi ce rson e l e ct i on dut y most l y re fuse d
t o co-ope rat e wi t h t he gove rnme nt . Oi l
was re fuse d t o t he re st of Indi a. School s
and Col l e ge s we re cl ose d. Duri ng t he
pe ri od fromt he col l apse of t he l ast
L ok Sabha t o t he i nst al l at i on of Indi ra
Gandhi gove rnme nt i nt o powe r i n Janu-
ary 1980, t he re was vi rt ual l y no admi ni -
st rat i oni n Assam, and t he offi ce rswe re
oft e n se e n t aki ng t he i r orde rs fromt he
AASU and t he Gana SangramPari shad.
Ove r t he mont hs, t he move me nt de -
monst rat e d t hat i t coul d mobi l i se hund-
re ds and t housands of pe opl e wi t hout
di st urbi ng pe ace or cre at i ng vi ol e nce , i f
i t so wi she d. Thi s was fe asi bl e al so
be cause di ssi de nt pol i t i cal and l i ngui s-
t i c mi nori t i e s pre fe rre d not t o come i n
t he i r way by hol di ng paral l e l me e t i ngs
and proce ssi ons t o di sapprove of some
of t he i r sl ogansand me t hods. The mi no-
ri t i e s we re submi ssi ve i n ge ne ral . Ye t
i nci de nt s of i nt i mi dat i on, arson and
vi ol e ce cont i nue d t o mount fromAugust
1979 re sul t i ng i n an e xodus of Be ngal i
and Ne pal i se t t l e rs i n t ri ckl e s. Soon
t he gove rnme nt of We st Be ngal was
force d t o ope n t wo camps i n Jal pai guri
di st ri ct t o accommodat e t he m. Swe l l i ng
t o t e n t housand soul s by now, t he y are
most l y e vi ct e d pe asant s, t e nant farme rs,
art i sansand fi she rme n. Ne pal i re fuge e s
of Assamori gi n who found t he i r way
t o Kat hmandu are grazi e rsand pe asani t s
and/or re t i re d armyme n.
The Pe opl e 's Uni on of Ci vi l L i be rt i e s,
Ne w De l hi , const i t ut e d a fact -fi ndi ng
commi t t e e wi t h G P De shpande , Dhi -
re ndra Sarma and Chamanl al of t he
Jawaharl al Ne hru Uni ve rsi t y on t he
AssamUnre st (Mai nst re amMarch 8,
1980). Aft e r t he i r we e k-l ong i nve st i ga-
t i ons i n Assamduri ng Fe bruary 9-16,
1980, t he y submi t t e d a re port whi ch
i s re ve al i ng. Be t ve e n August 1979 and
16 Fe bruary, al t oge t he r 23 pe rsons got
ki l l e d i n Di brugarh di st ri ct al one ; of
t he m6 i ncl udi ng 4 cl ai me d as mart yrs
di e d of pol i ce fi ri ng and 17 we re ki l l e d
by mob vi ol e nce or unknownassai l ant s.
Of t he l at t e r 17, one was an Asami ya
and t he re st non-Asami yas, most l y
Be ngal i s as t he name s sugge st .
The
Commi t t e e submi t t e d a l ong l i st of pe r-
sonsknownt o have be e n ki l l e d i not he r
di .st ri ct sas we l l , bu_l t coul d not make
i t e xhaust i ve .
The January ge noci de i n Nort h Kam-
rup al one cause d de at h of some t wo
hundre d pe rsons, accordi ng t o some
non-offi ci al e st i mat e s; de ad bodi e s of
onl y some 80 pe rsons, howe ve r, coul d
be found and i de nt i fi e d and al l of t he m,
e xce pt i ng t wo i ncl udi ng a non-Asami ya
CRP jawanbe l onge d t o l i ngui st i c or
re l i gi ous mi nori t i e s. Ne arl y t we nt i fi ve
t housand pe opl e we re re nde re d home -
l e ss by l arge -scal e arson. Re t al i at ary
ki l l i ngs and arsons i n L owe r Assam,
part i cul arl y i n Nowgong, for days t o-
ge t he r i n t he wake of t he obse rvance
of t he AssamMi nori t y St ude nt s' Uni on's
Prot e st Day on 26 May 1980 far sur-
passe d e ve n what had happe ne d i n
Nort h Kamrup. As t he Dai l y Assam
Tri bune re port e d, on i t s e ve t he pre si -
de nt of t he AASU had aske d t he pe opl e
t o "crush" t he count e r-agi t at i on. More
t han t hre e l akhs of pe opl e had come
out ont he st re e t s i n prot e st de spi t e t he
t hre at .
The Assamarme d pol i ce act e d i n a
part i san manne r and, on one spot at
Bi i ni al one , mowe d down at l e ast 23
pe rsons i ncl udi ng chi l dre n on a si ngl e
day, t hus surpassi ng t he e arl i e r re cord
of ki l l i ng four part i ci pant sof t he move -
me nt at Dul i ajan on January 18. Ac-
cordi ng t o some non-offi ci al e st i mat e s,
t he numbe r of de at hs due t o vi ol e nce ,
di re ct l y and i ndi re ct l y conne ct e d wi t h
t he ye ar-ol d move me nt so far i s a
t housand or so. The but che ri ng of mi no-
ri t i e s we nt unde r-re port e d and most l y
unl ame nt e d i n t he l ocal bourge oi s pre ss
and on t he pl at formof t he move me nt .
The re has be e n pre mat ure and e ve n
l at e at t e mpt s at maki ng t he CPI (M)
and a ce rt ai n st at e me nt of Jyot i Basu
i n Nove mbe r 1979 t he scape goat for al l
t hat happe ne d i n Assam. What was t hat
st at e me nt ? It e xpre sse d not hi ng but
goodwi l l for t he Assame se pe opl e and
conce rnabout what woul d happe ni f t he
We st Be ngal -bound e xodus we re t o at -
t ai n se ri ous proport i ons. Eve n t he Dai l y
As.sam. Tri bune , Nove mbe r 8, 1979,
ot he rwi se rabi dl y part i sant o t he move -
me nt , found i t i nnoce nt and pu-bl i she d
t he ne ws al ong wi t h a gi st of Basu's
vi e w unde r t he fol l owi ng capt i on: "Fe ar
of Assame se about Out si de rsIs Ge nui ne
and Re al - Says Jyot i Basu". In course
of i t s re sol ut i ondat e d Se pt e mbe r
21 and
a not e submi t t e d t o t he Gove rnme nt -
sponsore d al l -part y me e t i ng at De l hi on
Nove mbe r 28, 1980,
t he Assam St at e
Commi t t e e of t he CPI (M)
cal l e d for an
i mme di at e se al i ng off of t he Bangl ade sh
borde r t o st op i nfi l t rat i onand st art
de t e ct i ng and de port i ng
t he re al fore i gn-
e rs, i n accordl ance wi t h t he count ry's
l aw and i nt e rnat i onal agre e me nt s. The
CPI, CPI (M) and ot he r l e ft part i e s, t oo,
had t ake n a si mi l ar st and on t he for-
e i gne r i ssue . But al l t he se part i e si nsi st e d,
at t he same t i mne , on t he due proce ss of
l aw so t hat ci t i ze ns of t he mi nori t y com-
muni t i e s we re not harasse d i n t he wake
of t he fore i gne r-hunt . The y we re al l
aware t hat t he so-cal l e d
1951 nat i onal
re gi st e r of ci t i ze ns was not admi ssi bl e
as a proof of one 's ci t i ze nshi p unde r
t he Indi an Evi de nce Act , as had be e n
not e d i n a judgme nt of t he Gauhat i
Hi gh Court . Thi s condi t i onal and l i mi t e d
support t o t he cause was i nt e rpre t e d as
hal f-he art e d, e ve n mi schi e vous, and vi o-
l e nt at t acks we re conce nt rat e d on t he
l e ft i n ge ne ral and t he CPI (M) i n part i -
cul ar. So far, fi ve CPI and t wo CPI (M)
cadre s
-
t he l at t e r on Jul y 2, 1980-
have be e n ki l l e d by fanat i cs l e t l oose
bv t he move me nt . On August 17,
t he pre ss i n whi ch t he Asami ya
progre ssi ve we e kl y, Kal akhar, i s pri nt -
e d was at t acke d and damage d, and
a st ude nt s' and yout h ral l y, oppose d
t o t he move me nt , at Gauhat i was broke n
up by force . The se are onl y se l e ct i n-
st ance s of t he re i gnof t e rror. Hundre ds
of l e ft i st cadre s have be e n be at e n up,
t ort ure d and mai me d, e xpe l l e d from
t he i r vi l l age s or are unde r soci al boy-
cot t . The y are faci ng al l t he se brut al i -
t i e s wi t h e xe mpl ary he roi sm, t o de fe nd
t he pri nci pl e sof a consi st e nt de mocracy.
In Jul y and August se ve n al l -Indi a
part i e sjoi nt l y he l d a se ri e s of succe ssful
publ i c me e t i ngs i n se l e ct t owns, as had
be e n care ful l y pl anne d, t o asse rt t he i r
fre e domof e xpre ssi onand* move me nt .
Thi s has provoke d t he AASU pre si de nt
t o conme oi t wvi t ha publ i c t hre at t hat
t he y wi l l no l onge r be "al l owe d" t ocarry
oi n t he i r coui nt e r-agi t at i on.
What i s t he charact e r of t he move -
mi i e nt t he n? Al t hough i t has t he appe ar-
ance of an Asami yanat i onal move me nt ,
i t s cont e nt i s unde mocrat i c and rabi dl y
ant i -l e ft . It s mne t hodsare doubl e -face d
and prot o-fasci st . The de st ruct i ve ange r
i t rouse d, has be e n di re ct e d not agai nst
bot urge oi sand l andl ord
prope rt i e s, not
e ve n bure aucrat i c prope rt i e s,
but
agai nst
t he t hat che d hut s and l i be rt y
of ase ct i on
of t he poor pe opl e
and t he di ssi de nt s.
Aspi rat i onsof t he Asami yami ddl e cl ass
are we l l -art i cul at e d i n course of t he agi -
t at i onand propaganda, but not t he ant i -
fe udal de mandsof t he pe asant ry. Anot he r
not i ce abl e fe at ure of t he move me nt i s
a t e nde ncy
t o di sown t he humani st -
l i be ral and i nt e l l e ct ual e l e me nt s i n t he
nat i onal he ri t age
of Asami yacul t ure and
t o re vi ve i t s cl e ri cal , conse rvat i ve as-
pe ct s. Thought s of Joyt i prasad Agarwal a
and Bi shnu Rahhaare be i ng mi sconst ru-
e d, di ve .st e d of some o)f t he i r humani st -
1707
ECONOMICAND POL ITICAL WEEKL Y Spe ci al Numbe r Oct obe r 1980
TABi E 2: Di STRIBUIION OF SCHEDUL ED TRIBE POPUL ATION OF AssAM
No i n Thousands De cadal Pe rce nt age
Growt h
1961 1971 Growt h 1961-71
Brahmaput raVal l e y 943 1,329 386 40.9
Aut onomous Hi l l s Are a 211 263 52 24.6
Cachar 14 15 1 7.1
St at e of Assam 1,168 1,607 439 37.5
Not e : The e nume rat i oni s t ri be -wi se , not l anguage -wi se .
Source : Proce sse d fromre l e vant ce nsus dat a i n "St at i st i cal Handbook, Assam",
Gauhat i , Annual Se ri e s.
TABL E 3: 1971 PoPuL TAIoN, ASSAM-
MIZORAM
(Bi rt h Pl ace Dat a on t he Basi s of
1 Pe r Ce nt
Sampl e )
bo 0
C~~~~~~~~~~~~C
0 E-C e EH A
Assamand Mi zoram 13213 88.4
Ot he r Indi an St at e s 701 4.7
Paki st an 931 6.2
Ne pal 92 0.6
Ot he r fore i gncount ri e s 6 0.1
Tot al popul at i on 14943 100
Source : G K Me hrot ra, "Bi rt h Pl ace
Mi grat i oni n Indi a", Ce nsus of
Indi a 1971, Spe ci al Mono-
vrrnl nhNo 1, Ne w De l hi , 1974,
Appe ndi x B, pp 15-19.
l i be ral cont e nt and mi suse d for t he
pur-
pose s of t he move me nt . (Bot h
Agarwal a
and Rabhawe re , i nci de nt al l y,
progre ssi ve
and i nt e rnat i oni st i n out l ook; t he forne r
di e d as a cl ose fri e nd and t he l at t e r as
anact i ve l e ade r of t he communi st
move
me nt i n Assam.) He nce , de spi t e
mass
part i ci pat i on,
t he mi ddl e cl ass charact e r
of t he move me nt cannot be de ni e d. More
about t hi s i n a fol l owi ng se ct i on.
III
Be ngal i Infl ux and Fe ar Psychosi s
Who are t he fore i gne rs? In 1978 and
e arl y 1979, t he t e rms "bi de shi " (for-
e i gne r) and "bahi ragat a" (out si de r)
we re
use d i nt e rchange abl v.
The se t e rms not
onl y cove re d non-Indi ans, but al so t hose
Indi ans who had come t o Assamfrom
Indi a's ot he r st at e s. L at e r, t he Asam
Sahi t ya Sabha - t he i nt e l l e ct ual
wi ng
and se ni ormost const i t ue nt of t he Gana
SangramPari shad
- i nt e rve ne d t o nar-
row down t he me ani ng of t he t e rmt o
post -1951 i mmi grant s from fore i gn
count ri e s wi t h que st i onabl e
ci t i ze nshi p
st at us, and t hi s got wi de acce pt ance
amongst t he ot he r const i t ue nt s of t he
move me nt . It re pre se nt e d a major
t act i -
cal shi ft .
The AASU and t he Gana Sangram
Pari shad e st i mat e t he nui mbe r
of such
fore i gne rsat 45 l akhs, al mnost al l of t he m
of Be ngal i st ock. Thi s me ans t hat t he
AASU and t he GSP want ne arl y one -
fourt h of Assam'spre se nt e st i mat e d po-
pul at i on of 188 l ahks t o be de cl are d
st at e l e ss and re move d. The y are most l y
t oi l i ng pe asant s, art i sans and worke rs,
bornor re si di ng i nt he st at e for a pe ri od
up t o 30 ye ars, vi rt ual l y as nat ural i se d
ci t i ze ns. The y we re gi ve n she l t e r and
re l i e f, and i n many case s e ve n wast e -
l andsby t he gove rnme nt . Be si de s, pat ro-
nage and hospi t al i t y we re al so e xt e nde d
t o t he m by t he i r Asami ya ne i ghbours,
so t hat t he y coul d make Assamt he i r
ne w home .
Be i ng poor and i l l i t e rat e and be cause
of const ant mobi l i t y i nse archof al i vi ng
and i n t he wake of re curre nt race ri ot s,
most se t t l e rs l ost t he i r 'borde r sl i ps',
camp cards and e ve n re fuge e re gi st ra-
t i on ce rt i fi cat e s. The y fai l e d t o t ake ad-
vant age of t he const i t ut i onal provi si ons
for t he i r nat ural i sat i onbe cause of t he se
re asonsand ge ne ral i ndol e nce . For t he i r
fai l ure , t he bure aucracy i s al so t o be
bl ame d. For i t di d not provi de e asy and
i ne xpe nsi ve acce ss t o such a val i dat i on
proce dure . What e ve r be t he i r formal
st at us now, t he se se t t l e rs are , i n any
case , al re ady assi mi l at e d or are on t he
way t o assi mi l at i on.
That t he re has be e n l arge -scal e
i m-
mi grat i onof Be ngal i s t o Assam, mai nl y
fromSyl he t
- once part of Assamc
and East Be ngal duri ng t he l ast se ve n
de cade s and t hat t he st at e 's popul at i on
has be e n growi ng at an al armi ng
de -
cadal rat e of 35 pe r ce nt si nce 1951 are
we l l -knownfact s. But what i s not not e d
ge ne ral l y i s t hat more t hanfour-fi ft hs
of
t he de cadal popul at i on growt h i s due
t o nat ural growt h and onl y about one -
fi ft h doi e t o i mmi grat i on. Space doe s not
pe rmi t us t o e l aborat e t he basi s of our
e st i mat e he re , e xce pt for one e xe rci se .
L e t us t ake t he i ndi ge nous
t ri be s
l i st e d for t he Brahmaput raVal l e y who
const i t ut e 11 pe r ce nt of i t s popul at i on.
The se l i st e d t ri be sare Bodo/Bodokachari ,
Me ch, Hojai , Kachari /Sonowal ,
Ti wa
(L al ung), Rabba, De uri and Mi shi ng
(Mi ri ), whose numbe r out si de t he val l e y
i s i nsi gni fi cant . In fact , t he y are conspi -
cuousl y abse nt i n Bangl ade sh or any
ot he r fore i gn count ry. The t ri bal popu-
l at i on unde r scrut i ny i s vi si bl y al most
fre e of any mi grat i on-i nduce d de rnogra-
phi c change . Ye t t he rat e of popul at i on
growt h for t hi s t ri bal group for t he de -
cade 1961-71 i s as hi gh as 41 pe r ce nt
as agai nst a 38 pe r ce nt growt h for t he
Brahmaput ra Val l e y popul at i on as a
whol e (Tabl e 2). Eve nwi t h a re asonabl e
margi nof e rror al l owe d, t he t ri bal case
sure l y de monst rat e sa ve ry hi gh rat e of
nat ural growt h i n Assam. Thi s i s due
t o a hi gh bi rt h rat e and l owe re d de at h
rat e re sul t i ng frompubl i c he al t h me a-
sure s. Thi s cut s t o si ze t he e xagge rat e d
rol e ascri be d t o mi grat i on i n Assam's
popul at i on growt h i n re ce nt t i me s and
corroborat e sS K Dass'scont rary fi ndi ngs
i n E'PW, (May 10, 1980).
The i mmi grat i on i nt o Assam, we
are t ol d by Sanji b Kumar Baruah, i s
"on a scal e t hat has fe w paral l e l sany-
whe re i n t he worl d wi t hi n a re l at i ve l y
short pe ri od". Had he done a l i t t l e
home work, he woul d have found a
paral l e l i n some ot he r part s of Indi a
as we l l , at l e ast i n ne i ghbouri ng We st
Be ngal . Accordi ng t o t he bi rt h-pl ace
dat a of t he Ce nsus of Indi a, mi grant s
from out si de t he st at e const i t ut e d
15.7 pe r ce nt of t he popul at i on of
We st Be ngal i n 1961 and 11.9 pe r ce nt
i n 1971. The comparabl e fi gure s for
Assamare 11.4 and 10.2 pe r ce nt , re s-
pe ct i ve l y
-
t hus i n bot h t he ye ars
l owe r t han i n We st Be ngal . What i s
t o be not e d i s t he de cl i ni ng t re nd i n
bot h case s. The abse nce of mi grat i on-
i nduce d soci al t e nsi on i n We st Be ngal ,
de spi t e a si ze abl e numbe r of t he mi g-
rant s and majori t y of t he i ndust ri al
worke rs i n i t s organi se d se ct or con-
t i nui ng t o be non-Be ngal i s, i s al so a
fact t o be not e d. It s posi t i on sl i de d
down from t he fi rst t o t he t hi rd
amongst Indi a's st at e s i n t he scal e of
i ndust ri al i sat i on duri ng t he post -
Inde pe nde nce ye ars, t hus bri ngi ng i n
i t s t rai l mount i ng une mpl oyme nt , e co-
nomi c di scont e nt and a fe rt i l e soi l for
Be ngal i chauvi ni sm. But t he l e ft has
not al l owe d chauvi ni smt o st ri ke i t s
root s i n t he agoni e s of We st Be ngal .
The e xact numbe r of post -1951
se t t l e rs i n Assam, t oge t he r wi t h t he i r
l ocal l y born proge ny, i s and wi l l re -
mai n an unknown quant i t y. Ye t fai r
e st i mat e s are not i mpossi bl e . Bi rt h-
pl ace dat a for Assam i ncl udi ng
Mi zorami ndi cat e se parat e l y t he num-
be r of re si de nt s bornout si de t he st at e s
(Tabl e 3) al ong wi t h i nformat i on on
durat i on of re si de nce i n t he st at e of
e mume rat i on. From t he se dat a, we
coul d ge t t he numbe r of act ual i ni g-
1709
Spe ci al Numbe r Oct obe r 1980 ECONOMICAND POL ITICAI
WEEICL Y
rant s who e nt e re d Assamfromfore i gn
count ri e s duri ng 1951-61 and 1961-71.
But such dat a do not cove r t he
chi l dre n born of t he m i n Assam.
Agai n, t he l anguage dat a cove r al l ,
but do not di st i ngui sh be t we e n t he
post -1951 and ol d se t t l e rs (Tabl e 1).
Nor do t he se dat a i ncl ude t hose
mi grant s who have me anwhi l e change d
t he i r l anguage for Asami ya. Ne ve rt he -
l e ss, t he se who se t s of dat a, t oge t he r
wi t h t he avai l abl e pe ri odi c count s of
re gi st e re d di spl ace d pe rsons, mi ght
make a fai r e st i mat e possi bl e i f t he
t ask i s l e ft t o t he re se arch st aff of t he
Re gi st rar Ge ne ral of Ce nsus Ope ra-
t i ons. It appe ars, as pe r our qui ck
e st i mat e s, t hat t he numbe r of post -1951
se t t l e rs wi t h que st i onabl e ci t i ze nshi p
st at us woul d i nno case e xce e d 13 l akhs
by any me asure and t hat t he numbe r
of pe rsons born i n Paki st an (i ncl udi ng
Bangl ade sh) and e nume rat e d i n Assam
shows a de cl i ni ng t re nd ove r t he
pe ri od 1951-1971. Of t he se 13 l akhs,
l e ss t han 3 l akhs appe ar t o be post -
1971 se t t l e rs.
No doubt t he re i s a fe ar psychosi s,
bui l t i nt o t he Asami ya mi nd, of be i ng
out numbe re d by out si de rs i n due
course . Thi s fe ar had an obje ct i ve
basi s t oo, duri ng t he Bri t i sh pe ri od, as
I had e l aborat e l y shown i n my book,
"Pl ant e r Raj t o Swaraj", i n 1977.
Duri ng t hat pe ri od t he Asami ya
popul at i on, numbe ri ng l e ss t han 7 t o
8 l akhs around 1826 and 15 l akhs i n
1901, was growi ng ve ry sl owl y, bot h
i n absol ut e and re l at i ve t e rms and
t he i r l anguage was unde r many handi -
caps, was e ve n suppre sse d for l ong 36
ye ars, 1837-1873. But t he si t uat i on i s
radi cal l y change d si nce Inde pe nde nce ,
wi t h an asce ndant Asami ya mi ddl e
cl ass. From 20 l akhs i n 1931, t he
numbe r of Asami ya spe ake rs
i n
Assam l e ape d t o 50 l akhs i n 1951
and t o 89 l akhs by 1971. Asami ya
poe t ry, fi ct i on, l i t e rary cri t i ci sm
and
musi c are now at a he i ght t hat was
ne ve r at t ai ne d at any poi nt of t i me
duri ng t he post -Shankarde va pe ri od
t i l l our Inde pe nde nce .
In t he provi nce /st at e of Assam, t he
share of t he Asami ya l i ngui st i c
com-
muni t y i n t he t ot al popul at i on
move d
up from23 pe r ce nt i n 1931 t o 55 pe r
ce nt i n 1951, 57 pe r ce nt i n 1961 and
61 pe r ce nt i n 1971. If we ke e p i n
vi e w onl y t he are a t hat const i t ut e s
Assam t oday, t he n t he share has i n-
cre ase d from 36 pe r ce nt i n 1931, t o
62 pe r ce nt i n 1951 and t o 61 pe r
ce nt i n 1971.
The Be ngal i -spe aki ng popul at i on,
on
t he ot he r hand, has be e n growi ng more
mode st l y wi t h i t s share i n t he t ot al
popul at i on of re const i t ut e d Assam of
t oday, st e adi l y de cl i ni ng from 30 pe r
ce nt i n 1931 t o 21 pe r ce nt i n 1951
and 20 pe r ce nt i n 1971. Duri ng
t he
1951-71 pe ri od, t he st at e 's Be ngal i
l i ngui st i c group e xpande d onl y 71 pe r
ce nt , whi l e t he Asami ya l i ngui st i c
group e xpande d 80 pe r ce nt .
In conse que nce of t he se change s,
Asami ya achi e ve d t he st at us of offi ci al
l anguage of t he st at e i n 1961. It i s
al so, t oge t he r wi t h Engl i sh, t he sol e
me di umof i nst ruct i on at t he l e ve l of
Uni ve rsi t y e ducat i on si nce 1972. The se
are we l come de ve l opme nt s
whi ch,
aft e r some confl i ct s, we re acce pt e d
by
t he l i ngui st i c mi nori t i e s on a gi ve and
t ake basi s. Thus, t he e xce pt i onal l y
hi gh de mographi c growt h, due t o bot h
ni at ural growt h as we l l as l i ngui st i c
conve rsi on, provi de d an e xpande d base
t o t he Asami ya mi ddl e cl ass for t he
e xe rci se of st at e -wi se cul t ural and
pol i t i cal domi nat i on wi t hi n re asonabl e
l i mi t s.
The above anal ysi s, re l e vant t o t he
l ast hal f-ce nt ury and base d on Ce nsus
dat a, shows t hat t he popul at i on i nfl ux
i n ge ne ral , and t he Be ngal i i nfl ux i n
part i cul ar, has not cre at e d any l i ngui st i c
i mbal ance i n Assam, whi ch coul d be
de e me d as de t ri me nt al t o t he Asami ya
cause . Ne i t he r has i t di st urbe d t he
re l i gi ous bal ance ove r t he pe ri od
1941-1971. In t he re const i t ut e d Assam
of t oday, t he proport i on of t he Musl i ms
t o t he t ot al popul at i on re mai ne d al -
most st at i c-ne ar about 25 pe r ce nt
t hroui ghout t hi s pe ri od. In fact , be t we e n
1951 and 1971 t hi s share de cre ase d from
24.7 pe r ce nt t o 24.6 pe r ce nt . For,
wA,hi l e t he st at e 's Hi ndu popul at i on i n-
cre ase d 83.4 pe r ce nt and t he Si kh and
jai n communi t i e s at a much fast e r rat e
me anwhi l e , t he comparabl e growt h for
t he Musl i ms was onl y 81.2 pe r ce nt .
Thus, whe t he r judge d i n t e rms of t he
l )al ance be t we e n t he major l i ngui st i c
communi t i e s or be t we e n t he major
r e l i gi ous communi t i e s, t he pre -195l
si t uat i on re mai ne d vi rt ual l y t he same
al so i n 1971. The t he ory of t he Asami ya
l anguage and cul t ure be i ng i n dange r
t oday i s t he re fore more a myt h t han a
re al i t y.
The i nfl ux i nt o Assam i s sure l y t he
ce nt ral focus of t he re ce nt
move me nt
and soci al t e nsi on. Howe ve r, whi l e di s-
cussi ng t hi s Sanji b Kumar Baruah
i nt ro-
duce s a numbe r of mi sl e adi ng
hal f-
t rut hs. He says, for i nst ance , "ori gi ns
of i mmi grat i on i nt o Assam be gan at t he
t urn of t he ce nt ury whe n Assam's vi rgi n
l ands we re ope ne d up for East Be ngal
re fuge e s". In fact , rural i mmi grat i on
st art e d i n t he wake of t he t e a i ndust ry
hal f a ce nt ury e arJwi e r and at t ai ne d
a
much l arge r scal e aft e r bi g t ract s of
vi rgi n l ands we re made ove r t o t he t e a
pl ant e rs. Te a garde n l abour i t nmi gra-
t i on and t he i r se t t l e me nt on wast e l ands
i n t he Brahmaput raVal l e y cont i nue d
on
a bi g scal e , wi t h i nt e rmi t t e nt vi gour,
ri ght up t o t he 1930s. Ne arl y 15 l akh
acre s of gove rnme nt l ands we re di re ct l y
se t t l e d wi t h t he fore i gn t e a pl ant e rs, as
t he i r pri vat e prope rt i e sby 1940-41. On
t he ot he r hand, anot he r 11 l akh acre s
of gove rnme nt l ands we re se t t l e d wi t h
vari ous groups of mi grant s from ot he r
provi nce s i ncl udi ng e x-garde n l abour,
for ordi nary cui l t i vat i on; of t hi s, onl y 5
l akh acre s, wi t h mi grant s fromEast
Be ngal (re l e vant annual re port of t he
L and Re ve nue De part me nt , Gove rnme nt
of Assan).
Baruah's de scri pt i onof t he i nfl ux as
a "sudde nde mographi c change " i s al so
ahi st ori cal . The re was no que st i on of
"e me rge nce " of a pl ural soci e t y e i t he t ;
t hat t oo, sudde nl y. For, t he pl ural i t y
and t he i nt e grat i ve proce ss are t wi n
phe nome na of t he Assame se soci e t y (as
much as of t he Indi an soci e t y at l arge )
t hat have be e n cont i nui ng for many
ce nt uri e s. Assam was not fre e of i m-
mi grat i onand pl ural i t y i n any pe ri od of
hi st ory. Indo-Aryanand Mongol oi d
e l e -
me nt s cont i nual l y came i nt o t he popul a-
t i on-poor val l e y and i nt e rmi ngl e d
t o
formt he Asami ya/Assame se soci e t y. Any
furt he r i nfl ux may be unwe l come now
on grounds, e conomi c and pol i t i cal , but
fact s ne e d not be gi ve n a t wi st t o sui t
one 's t he ory of cul t ure be i ng i n a cri si s.
Aft e r havi ng sai d t hi s about t he fe ar-
psychosi s and i t s basi s, l e t us now
e xami ne t he modus ope randi of t he
chauvi ni st st osust ai nt he fe ar, e ve nwhe n
i t s obje ct i ve basi s i s t hi n i n t he post -
Inde pe nde nce pe ri od. We shal l l i mi t our
ci t at i ons t o onl y re ce nt propaganda
car-
ri e d on by t he AsamSahi t ya Sabha
-
a major const i t ue nt and i de ol ogi cal
i n-
spi re r of t he move me nt . It i s cl ai me d
t hat t he move me nt i s above raci sm
and
i s not di re ct e d agai nst t he Be ngal i
com-
muni t y assuch. Ye t , i ni t spri nt e d
Me mo-
randumsubmi t t e d t o t he Pre si de nt
of
Indi a on Nove mbe r 4, 1979, whi ch
i s
wi de l y ci rcul at e d, i t make s "Be ngal i
Hi ndus", as a communi t y, re sponsi bl e
for t he suppre ssi on of t he Asarni ya
l anguage i n t he school s and court s of
Assami n 18,36. In i t s Me morandum
submi t t e d t o t he Home Mi ni st e r
on
Fe bruary 23, 1980, al so pri nt e d
and
wi de l y ci rcul at e d, t he same charge
i s
re pe at e d:
The re we re Be ngal i -spe aki ng
pe opl e
and ont he i r advi ce Be ngal i was i nt roS
1710
ECONOMICAND POL ITICAL WEEKL Y Spe ci al Numbe r Oct obe r 1980
duce d i n t he court s of just i ce and
ot he r gove rnme nt offi ce s and school s
i n Assam(e mphasi s ours).
The st at e me nt was not ne ce ssary at al l
t o boost a move me nt profe sse dl y
di re c-
t e d agai nst t he fore i gne rs onl y, nor i s
t he re any hi st ori cal t rut h i ni t . The East
Indi aComnpany di d not rul e and fornu-
l at e i t s pol i ci e s accordi ng t o t he advi ce
of i t s 'nat i ve ' cl e rks. The re se arch
of
Be nudhar Sarma(b 1894), a di st i ngui sh-
e d hi st ori an and l i fe -l ong associ at e
of
t he Sabha, had de ci si ve l y bl ast e d
t he
rmyt hi n an art i cl e i n Pravandha-Sau-
rabh (i n Asami ya) l ong back, quot i ng
Franci s Je nki ns who as Commi ssi one r
bad t ake n t he de ci si on. He wrot e : "It
was I who was at t he root of t he advi ce
i n favour of i nt roduci ng Be ngal i .
I was
i n favour of Be ngal i . It was my orde rs
t hat Robi nsoncarri e d out " (re t ransl at e d).
The fact t hat many Be ngal i s
l i ke Rai n-
l ochan Se n, Janaki nat hSe n, Swanmp-
chandra De wan, Madanmohan
Ghosh
De wan and no l e ss a pe rsonal i t y
t han
R C Dut t l e nt act i ve support t o t he
cause of t he re st orat i onof t he st at us of
Asami ya by 1873 and t hat doze ns of
Be ngal i s st art i ng wi t h Jaychandra
Chakravart y, Abhayshankar Guha, Gopal -
kri shna De and Rai mohan Nat h we re
i nvol ve d i n t he Asami yal i t e rary
move -
me nt e ve n i n i t s most cri t i cal days are
al so known t o t he Sabha. In Be ngal
Ashut osh Mukhe rje e and P C Ray
suc-
ce ssful l y fought Be ngal i chauvi ni sm
i n
de fe nce of t he ri ght s of t he Asami ya
l anguage . Ye t t he AsamSahi t ya
Sabha
goe s on re pe at i ng an unt rut h, wi t h ob-
vi ousl y unde rst andabl e
purpose s.
Thi s i s but one i nst ance of how t he
mass fre nzy i s cre at e d and di re ct e d
agai nst t he Be ngal i s.
The Sabha'sre ac-
t i on t o t he Nort h Kamrup ge noci de
-
t he bi t t e r frui t of t he fre nzy i t nurt ure d
-s; al so
wort h not i ng. In"Ecl i pse of
t he
East : AnAnal ysi sof t he Pre se nt Agi t a-
t i on i n Assam" (AsamSahi t ya
Sabha,
1980), p 2, i t i s obse rve d: "The
re ce nt
out bre aks of vi ol e nce re sul t i ng
i n
Assame se vi l l age rs
of Nort h Kamrup
be comni ng re fuge e s
i n t he i r own st at e ,
t he arsonand l oot i ng of Assame se vi l -
l age s, t he rape of Assarne se
vi l l age
wome nand t he brut al murde r of a CRP
jawan be ar t e st i mony t o t he mi l i t ant
post ure and e xpansi oni st de si gn
of
Bangl ade shi i mmi grant s
i n Assamn." Fe d
by such Goe bbl e s-l i ke propaganda,
t he
Asami yapat ri ot i c masse s re al l y came t o
be l i e ve t hat t he y,
and not t he i r Be ngal i
and ne o-Asami ya ne i ghbours,
we re t he
vi ct i ms of t he ge noci de .
As has be e n not e d by many,
fant ast i c-
al l y e xagge rat e d
st at i st i cs rai si ng
t he
numbe r of fore i gne rs
froman i ni t i al
13
l akhs t o 45 and e ve nt o 51 or 70 l akhs,
al socont ri but e d t ot he fre nzy.
L anguage -
wi se , Be ngal i s and Ne pal i s i n
Assam
numbe re d onl y
29 l akhs and 3.5 l akhs,
re spe ct i ve l y,
i n 1971. As pe r
bi rt h-pl ace
dat a, t he re we re no more t han10 l akhl s
of pe rsons born i n fore i gn
count ri e s,
most l y i n Paki st an(Bangl ade sh),
i n
t he
same ye ar. It i s he nce cl e ar t hat
t he
t arge t , se t by t he ant i -fore i gne r
move -
me nt far i n e xce ss of t he popul at i on
of
e i t he r cat e gory, was t o de l i be rat e l y
mi s-
l e ad t he pe opl e sot hat t he y re act e d
wi t h
a do-or-di e spi ri t . On t he ot he r
hand,
t he se e xagge rat e d fi gure s made
t he
mi nori t i e s appre he nsi ve
of at t acks
on
t he i r ownci t i ze nshi p ri ght sas we l l .
Thi s
i s one of t he re asons why
t he soci al
base of t he move me nt
l at e r be came
narrowe r t han what i t i ni t i al l y
was.
Pe opl e 's de mand t hat Assam
shoul d
not be burde ne d
wi t h furt he r
i mmi gl a-
t i on from fore i gn l ands and t hat
al l
ge nui ne fore i gne rs,
who do not sub-
st ant i ve l y qual i fy
for ci t i ze nshi p
i n t e rms
of l aw and Const i t ut i on,
shoul d
be
de t e ct e d and re move d
i s l e gi t i mat e .
It
was acce pt e d i n pri nci pl e by
t he Ce nt ral
gove rnme nt
and al l major
Indi an pol i -
t i cal part i e s by Se pt e mbe r
1979 and,
t hi s acce pt ance
t he v re i t e rat e d
agai n
and agai n. Ye t t he di sput e
l i nge rs
on
be cause t he move me nt
re fuse s t o admi t
e ve n t hose i mmi grant s
who have st aye d
for, t e n ye ars or more i n Indi a or are
born i n Indi a - and whose pare nt s
or
grandpare nt s
we re born i n undi vi de d
Indi a - t hus subst ant i ve l y
qual i fyi na
t he mse l ve s
for nat ural i se d
ci t i ze nshi p
as
provi de d
for by our Const i t ut i on.
The
move me nt 's
i nsi st e nce
on t he
so-cal l e d
1951 Nat i onal Re gi st e r
of Ci t i ze ns
as
t he basi c docume nt
for de t e rmi ni ng
ci t i ze nshi p
i s mnot i vat e d
by t hi s
re fusal .
NATIONAL
REGISTER
OF CITZENS,
1951
If 1951 i s acce pt e d
as t he cut -off ye ar,
t he n se ve ral l akhs of fami l i e s
wi l l have
t o be aske d t o pack up
and go,
aft e r
t he y had re si de d
i n Assamfor upt o
30
ye ars, re are d t he i r chi l dre n
and grand-
chi l dre n
he re and l arge l y
assi mi l at e d
t he mse l ve s
t o t he ori gi nal pe opl e
i n
many ways. The crue l t y
of aski ng
pe o-
pl e t o unde rgo
t he suffe ri ngs
of anOpe -
rat i onDe port at i on
aft e r a
ge ne rat i on
gap
apart ,
one may pe rhaps
pe rt i ne nt l y
que st i on
i t s pract i cabi l i t y.
Is i t fe asi bl e
at al l , short of a ci vi l war or ge ndarme -
backe d fasci st t e rror?
Eve n i f fe asi bl e and e ve n i f t he 1951
Re gi st e r i s fi nal l y dug up out of
obl i vi on,
one may st i l l have doubt s about
t he
l e gal i t y of i t s use for t he purpose .
The
Pre fat ory
Not e of Vol XII,
Ce nsus
of
Indi a 1951, Part I-B, re l e vant t o
Assam,
Tri pura and Mani pur,
i nforms us
t hat
as a part of ce nsus work.
... t he re are Nat i onal Re gi st e rs of
Ci t i ze ns, pre pare d si mul t ane ousl y
wi t h
t he fi l i ng up of e nume rat i onsl i ps,
gi vi ng i mport ant de t ai l s for e ach pe r-
son of e ve ry vi l l age or ward i n a
t own. The se Re gi st e rs are pre se rve d
i nmanuscri pt as pe rmane nt re cords
i n
Di st ri ct offi ce s.
Uni de r se ct i on 15 of t he Ce nsus Act ,
re cords pre pare d by t he Ce nsus
offi ce rs
are ne i t he r ope n t o i nspe ct i on nor
ad-
mi ssi bl e i n e vi de nce i n any l e gal pro-
ce e di ng. In a t e st case of 1967, t he
Gauhat i Hi gh Court re fuse d t o consi de r
t he copy of an e nt ry i n NRC, 1951
as
an admi ssi bl e proof of one 's ci t i ze nshi p
(AIR 1970, Assamand Nagal and
206)
pre ci se l y on t he above grounds,
i nt e r
al i a. Thi s e xpl ai nswhy t he Gove rnme nt
of Indi a, whi l e havi ng al l owe d t he
pol i ce i nt e l l i ge nce t o consul t i t i n t he i r
se arch for fore i gne rs i n t he 1960s,
i s
he si t ant now t o admi t t hi s publ i cl y
and
t o commi t t hat t he pract i ce
woul d
cont i nue . If t he NRC i s not a publ i c
docume nt accordi ng t o t he Ce nsus Act ,
how coul d i t be made avai l abl e t o a
ci t i ze n t o e st abl i shhi s cl ai m? Or,
how
coul d i t be me nde d i f, e g, one 's name
i s not e nt e re d by mi st ake ?
In any case , as we have shown
above , no basi c i nt e r-comnmuni t y
i mba-
l ance was cre at e d duri ng t he pe ri od
1951-71 t hat mi ght be sai d t o have
t hre at e ne d Asami ya cul t ure i n i t s re l i -
gi ous and l i ngui st i c aspe ct s. Unde r t he
ci rcumst ance s, 1971 shoul d have be e n
acce pt e d as t he cut -off ye ar by
t he
move me nt , bad t he fe ar of be i ng
swampe d be e n t he i r re al and major
conce m. It ne e ds t o be st re sse d
t hat
e ve n i f al l t hose who camne t o Assam
t i l l March 25, 1971 (bi rt h-dat e
of
Bangl ade sh) are absorbe d, t he st at e 's
cul t ural map re mai ns al most t he
same
as i t was i n 1951. Why not t he n t hi nk
i n t 4e rmsof e xpe l l i ng onl y t he post -1971
i nfi l t rat ors,
t he se al i ng off of t he borde r
and ot he r safe guards rat he r t han put -
t i ng t he cl ock back?
IV
Se l f-De t e rmi nat i on
or
Se l f-Anni hdi at i on
"The pri nci pl e of nat i onal i t y
i s hi st o-
ri cal l y i ne vi t abl e i nbourge oi ssoci e t y
and
t aki ng t hi ssoci e t y i ndue account ",
sai d
L e ni ni n 1913, "t he Marxi st ful l y
re -
cogni se s t he hi st ori cal l e gi t i macy
of
nat i onal move me nt s". Ye t , i ncont i nua-
t i onof hi s argume nt ,
he al sowarne d:
But t o pre ve nt t hi s re cogni t i on
from
be comi ng anapol ogi aof nat i onal i sm,
i t must be st ri ct l y l i mi t e d t o what i s
progre ssi ve
i n such move me nt s,
i n
orde r t hat t hi s re cogni t i onmay
not
l e ad t o bourge oi s i de ol ogy
obscuri ng
1711
ECONOMICAND POL ITICAL WEEKL Y
Spe ci al Numbe r Oct obe r 1980
prol e t ari an consci ousne ss ("Col l e ct e d
Works", Vol 20, Moscow, 1964, p 34).
The se gui de l i ne s hol d good for Mar-
xi st s of any count ry whe n t he y face t he
nat i onal que st i on at t he st age of t he
de mocrat i c re vol ut i on. L e t us se e how
Gai l Omve dt appl i e s he r Marxi smt o
t he Assamsi t uat i on.
Al most t he sol e de mand of t he ye ar-
ol d move me nt i s t he e xpul si on of al l
t hose whomi t consi de rs as fore i gne rs,
wi t h re fe re nce t o t he NRC, 1951. It s
re l uct ance t o t hrash out al l ot he r pre ss-
i ng de mands, e ve n t he e conomi c one s
nnt i l t he n, l e ave s no ambi gui t y about
t hi s pri me obje ct i ve . The move me nt i s
bui l t up on t he fal se be l i e f t hat such
fore i gne rsconst i t ut e about one -fourt h of
Assam's popul at i on. Sure l y amongst
t he m t he re are some l andl ords, capi t a-
l i st s and ot he r e xpl oi t e rs just as t he re
are among t he Asami yas and among
p)e opl e of al l nat i onal i t i e s. But t hat
doe s not just i fy t he move me nt 'sunt i ri ng
and i ndi scri mi nat e t i rade s agai nst al l of
t he m.
We have shownt hat ne i t he r t he ove r-
al l l i ngui st i c nor t he re l i gi ous bal ance ,
i n t e rms of proport i ons i nt e rnal t o t he
Assame se soci e t y, has be e n affe ct e d by
t he mi grat i onmove me nt s of 1951-71.
Thi s may not be convi nci ng for Gai l
Omve dt . She mi ght st i l l argue t hat si nce
Asami vanat i onal cul t ure i s t hre at e ne d
by change s i n i t s ori gi nal raci al base ,
t hi s make s an Ope rat i on De port at i on
al l t he more ne ce ssary t o pre se rve t hat
base and re st ore t he 1952 vot i ng pot e n-
t i al t o t he pe opl e so t hat t he i r aut o-
nomy and home l and we re not robbe d of
t he i r ori gi nal raci al cont e nt . Omve dt
doe s not mi nd e ve n i f t hat me ans
re nde ri ng l akhs of se t t l e d pe asant s and
worke rs home l e ss and e conomi cal l y
rui ne d. But for Marxi st s, and e ve n for
l i be ral de mocrat s, such a sol ut i on i s
monst rousand que st i onabl e .
Doe s hi st ory furni sh us wi t h ot he r
e xampl e s of t hi s ki nd of ne gat i ve de -
mand
-
and on such a scal e
-
be i ng
e quat e d wi t h t he urge for "se l f-de t e rmi -
nat i on"? Two such e xampl e s come off-
hand t o oui r mi nd. In Ge rmany, t he
Nat i onal Soci al i st Part y's de mand for
di se nfranchi se me nt and de port at i onof
t he Je ws i n t he name of t he puri fi cat i on
and uni fi cat i on of t he Ge rman nat i on
l e d ul t i mat e l y t o di sast rous conse que n-
ce s for t he mas we l l as ot he rs. Agai n,
i n Paki st an, t he Musl i mL e ague 's i nsi s-
t e nce on t re at i ng t he non-Musl i mson a
se parat e foot i ng as "ji mmi s" and on an
e xchange of popul at i on wi t h Indi a
-
al l t hi s i nt he name of se l f-de t e rmi nat i on
of t he Paki st ani s
-
onl y he l pe d di si n-
t e grat e Paki st an i t se l f and st re ngt he nT
t he force s of aut hori t ari ani smand sub-
se que nt army rul e .
One fi nds ye t a t hi rd e xampl e from
t he hi st ory of Assami t se l f. Duri ng t he
se cond hal f of t he 18t h ce nt ury, t he
AhomCourt carri e d on a de t e rmi ne d
st ruggl e t o i de nt i fy and wi pe out t he
Mayamari as(a prot e st ant re l i gi ous se ct
re pre se nt i ng t he whol e Morant ri be and
ot he rs), t he n e st i mat e d t o be 8 l akhs or
about one -t hi rd of t he Assame se popul a-
t i on, i n t he name of prot e ct i ng cows,
brahmans and cul t ure . The re sul t was
a l i nge ri ng ci vi l war for t hre e de cade s
and t ot al rui n of Assam, i t s popul at i on
comi ng downt o just hal f of what , i t was
and i t s smi l i ng fi e l ds t urne d i nt o
sprawl i ng wast e l ands. Much of t he
st agnat i on i n Assam's pe asant e conomy
duri ng t he 19t h ce nt ury may be t race d
back t o t hat cal ami t y. Assam's ant i -
fore i gne r move me nt , unl e ss se l f-re st rai n-
e d i n t i me , mi ght al so l e ad t o di si nt e -
grat i onnot onl y of t he Assame se but
al so of t he Indi an soci e t y, whi ch i s a
mosai c of e t hni c di ve rsi t i e s. The January
and May-June ant i -Be ngal i pogroms
and t he i r subse que nt i mpact on t he
agrari ane conomy of L owe r Assamare
poi nt e rs.
Omve dt 's "Ioss of t e rri t ory" (not of
pe asant -occupi e d l ands, but most l y
wast e l ands "l ost " t o e qual l y e xpl oi t e d
mi grant pe asant s and art i sans) argume nt
t o e xpl ai n t he ant i -fore i gne r
move me nt
i n t e rms of de fe nce of nat i onal se l f-
de t e rmi nat i oni s not convi nci ng. The se
mi grant s di d not come as conque rors
and e xpl oi t e rs but as source s of che ap
l abour suppl y t o not onl y t he bi g bour-
ge oi si e , but al so t o t he Asami ya l and-
l ords and t he ri si ng Asami yacapi t al i st s.
If t hi s combi nat i on had broke n down
- as Onve dt says
-
t he out dat e d
mode s of cul t i vat i onof t he aut ocht hons,
i s t hat a suffi ci e nt re ason t o put t he
cl ock back by t hre e de cade s t o ge t ri d
of t he mand t he proce ss?1 Are not t he se
pe opl e most l y i nde pe nde nt smal l pe a-
sant s, agri cul t ural worke rs and t e nant s,
and not l andl ords, i n re l at i ont o t he i r
Asami yane i ghbours? If so, t he Asami ya
nat i onal i smconne ct e d wi t h such l and
re l at i ons i s ge nt ry nat i onal i sm, not pe a-
sant nat i onal i sm. The ori gi nal se t t l e rs
may be de ad, but cat ch hol d of t he i r
chi l dre n and grand-chi l dre nand de port ,
e ve n i f t he y we re born i n Assamand
are t oi l e rs! Such i s t he sol ut i onfroma
profe sse d di sci pl e of L e ni n!
L e t us se e what L e ni n had t o say i n
a some what si mi l ar cont e xt . The hi s-
t ori cal l y-root e d mi st rust be t we e n t he
L i t t l e and Gre at Russi ans i n 1913 was
no l e ss t han what pre vai l s t oday be t -
we e n t he Asami yas and t he Be ngal i s,
but more be cause t he Russi answe re an
oppre ssor nat i on, donmi nat i ng e ve ry
sphe re of t he Czari st St at e , e conomi c,
cul t ural and pol i t i cal . Ye t , whi l e mak-
i ng a not e of t he ol d mode s be i ng
broke n down by t he mi grant s i n
Ukrai ne , L e ni n obse rve d:
For se ve ral de cade s a we l l -de fi ne d
proce ss of acce l e rat e d e conomi c de -
ve l opme nt has be e n goi ng on i n
t he
Sout h, i e , t he Ukrai ne ,
at t ract i ng
hundre ds of t housands of pe asant s
and worke rsfromGre at Russi at o t he
capi t al i st farmns, mi ne s and ci t i e s.
The 'assi mi l at i on' - wi t hi n t he se
l i mi t s
- of t he Gre at Russi anand
Ukrai ni anprol e t ari at i s an i ndi spui -
t abl e fact . And t hi s fact i s undoub-
t e dl y progre ssi ve . Capi t al i smi s re -
pl aci ng t he i gnorant , conse rvat i ve
se t t l e d mt i zhi k of t he Gre at Russi an
and Ukrai ni an backwoods wi t h a
mobi l e prol e t ari an whose condi t i oncz
of l i fe bre ak down spe ci fi cal l y nar-
rowmi nde dne ss, bot h Gre at Russi an
and Ukrai ni an. ("Col l e ct e d Works",
Vol 20, p 31.)
Al l t hi s L e ni n sai d de spi t e t he fact
t hat Russi a and Ukrai ne we re une qual
part ne rsl ocke d i n an oppre ssor-oppre ss-
e d re l at i onshi p. To dri ve homne t he poi nt
t o fe l l ow Marxi st s, he cont i nue d:
Eve ni f we assume t hat , i nt i me , t he re
wi l l be a st at e front i e r be t we e n Gre at
Russi a and t he Ukrai ne , t he hi st ori c-
al l y progre ssi ve nat ure of t he 'assi -
mi l at i on' of t he Gre at Russi an and
Ukrai ni an wi l l be as undoubt e d as
t he progre ssi ve nat ure of t he gri ndi ng
down of nat i ons i n Ame ri ca (i bi d).
L at e r i n 1919 L e ni n saw t hat t he
Ukrai ni anl anguage was gi ve n due st at us
and more Ukrai ni ans got gove rnme nt
jobsi nt he i r ownst at e , but ne ve r di d he
advi ce de port at i onof Russi ansfromt he ,
Ukrai ni ansoi l .
Omve dt 's use of t he t e rm "se l f-
de t e rmi nat i on" i n t he Assamcont e xt i s
al so i nappropri at e as a Marxi st proposi -
t i on. L e ni n made i t cl e ar i n course of
hi s many wri t i ngs t hat t he mul t i nat i onal
ce nt ral i se d st at e s we re a t re me ndous
hi st ori cal st e p forward from me di e val
di suni t y and t he re fore , Marxi st s we re
oppose d t o t he i r de ce nt ral i sat i on. What
was ne ce ssary, accordi ng t o L e ni n t o
e nsure 'consi st e nt de mocracy' and e l i -
mi nat i onof nat i onal oppre ssi oni n such
st at e s, was t o fol l ow t he Swi ss mode l
and t o cre at e aut onomousare as, how-
e ve r smal l , wi t h homoge ne ous popul a-
t i ons, as far as pract i cabl e t o whi ch
"me mbe rsof t he re spe ct i ve nat i onal i t i e s
scat t e re d al l ove r t he count ry... coul d
gravi t at e ". Marxi st sde mand not a ri ght
t o aut onomy but st rai ght away aut onomy
i t se l f. For, i t i s an i nt e gral aspe ct of
consi st e nt de mocracy t he y st and for.
Se l f-de t e rmi nat i on, on t he ot he r hand,
i s more t han aut onomy; i t i s t he ri ght
t o se ce de and form a se parat e st at e .
Marxi st sdo not popul ari se t he de mnand
1713
ECONOMICAND POL ITICAL WEEKL Y Spe ci al Numbe r Oct obe r 1980
for se l f-de t e rmi nat i onon t he i r own, bt i t
onl v re cogni se t he ri ght t o i t , "whe re
sul chamove me nt i s act ual l y i ne xi st e nce "
and i s di re ct e d agai nst an oppre ssor
nat i onwhi ch i s e conomi cal l y and cul t u-
ral l y domi nant wi t hi n t he St at e . Agai n
e ve n whe re t hi s ri ght i s re cogni se d, t he
de ci si on of t he re l e vant worki ng cl ass
mi ght be i n favour of opposi ng se ce s-
si on, de pe ndi ng upon t he nat i onal and
i nt e rnat i onal ci rcumst ance s. ("Col l e ct e d
Works", Vol 20, pp 45-6, 405, 410, 441
and Vol 22, p 345.)
It i s i n consi de rat i on of t he se basi c
pri nci pl e s t hat Omve dt shoui l d have re -
frai ne d from he r chi l di sh prat t l e ove r
se l f-de t e rmi nat i onwhe n such a de mand
(i n t he Marxi st se nse ) has not be e n on
t he age nda of t he move me nt i t se l f.
Al t hough t he i de a i s t oye d wi t h by
pe ri phe ral force s t he re i n, i t has not ye t
e me rge d as a cl ass de mand. Eve n i f
i t doe s, a t rue Marxi st wi l l oppose i t
and cont i nue t o de mand more of aut o-
nomy and e qual i t y for al l nat i onal i t i e s
and l anguage s, bi g and smal l i n Indi a
- i f ne ce ssary t hrough a re vi si on of
t he Ce nt re -st at e re l at i ons i n favour of
t he l at t e r and cre at i onof ne w aut ono-
mous are as for t ri bal popul at i ons wi t hi n
const i t ue nt st at e s. Encourage me nt t o
l i vi si ve force s and di srupt i onof t hz
ui ni t y of worki ng pe opl e wi l l l e ad t he
pe opl e of Assamnot t o se l f-de t e rmi na-
t i on but t o se l f-anni hi l at i on. Assamcan
de fe at t he rui l e of Indi an bi g bout -
ge oi si e onl y i n cl ose co-ope rat i on wi t h
t he worki ng pe opl e of al l Indi an
nat i onal i t i e s. L e t us t he re fore e mphasi se
'assi mi l at i on' as an al t e rnat i ve sol ut i on
of t he probl e m. L e ni n sai d i n t hi s con-
t e xt :
Fi ght for e ve ry ki nd of nat i onal de -
ve l opme nt , for 'nat i onal cul t ure ' i n
ge ne ral ? Of course , not . The e cono-
mi c de ve l opme nt of capi t al i st soci e t y
pre se nt s us wi t h e xampl e s of i mma-
t ui re nat i onal move me nt s... and al so
e xampl e s of assi mi l at i on of nat i ons.
The prol e t ari at , howe ve r, far from
unde rt aki ng t o uphol d t he nat i onal
(l e ve l opme nt of e ve ry nat i on, on t he
cont rary, warns t he masse s agai nst
st uchi l l usi ons, st ands for t he ful l e st
fre e domof capi t al i st i nt e rcourse and
we l come s e ve ry ki nd of assi mi l a-
t i on of nat i ons, e xce pt t hat whi ch i s
foui nde d on force or pri vi l e ge ("Col -
l e ct e d Works", Vol 20, p 35).
For more t han t he past one hundre d
ye ars, l arge -scal e i mmi grat i onhas be e n
sai d t o be a t hre at t o t he Asami yaso-
ci e t y and cul t ure . Ye t , l i ke Pi sa's l e an-
i ng t owe r, i t st i l l mai nt ai ns i t s t al l
e xi st e nce and e ve n- grows at a rat e
fast e r t han i n t he case of any ot he r
l i ngui st i c group i n Indi a and cast i ng i t s
shadow ove r t he t ri bal and ot he r mi no-
ri t y groups. It s nume ri cal domi nance as
a l i ngui st i c communi t y i n t he st at e , as
a rat i ot o t he t ot al popul at i on, i s al so
hi i ghe r t oday t han i n any past pe ri od.
How di d t hi s mi racl e happe n? Al ong
t he pat h of assi mi l at i on, an age -ol d,
act i ve hi st ori cal proce ss. Duri ng t he
pre -Bri t i shpe ri od, t he Asami ya soci e t y
swe l l e d i t s ranksby absorbi ng aut o-
cbht honoui s t ri bal groups as we l l as Tai -
Ahomn and nort h-Indi an i mmi grant s.
Thi s proce ss cont i nue d t hrough t he
Bri t i sh pe ri od and re ache d out t o t he
i mmi grat i ng t e a l abour, Ne pal i and
Be ngal i commt ni t i e s. The t re nd i s e x-
pe ct e d t o cont i nt ue unl e ss hal t e d and
re ve rse d by re pe at e d ant i -mi nori t v
pogroms and a re act i ont he re t o.
Gi ve nt he hi gh rat e of l i ngui st i c assi -
mi l at i on, we re pe at , t he fe ar of t he
Asami yasbe i ng swampe d by Be ngal i shas
l i t t l e obje ct i ve basi s. Thi s fe ar was cul -
t i vat e d by Bri t i sh ci vi l se rvant s l i ke
Gordonand Mul l aIni n t he past , as was
poi nt e d out e arl i e r, as a part of t he i r
di vi de and rul e pol i cy. Unde r t he Raj,
pol i t i cal part i ci pat i on t hrough se parat e
e l e ct orat e s, se t t l e me nt of wast e l ands i n
communal and cast e bl ocs i unde r t he
L i ne Svst e t mand se gre gat e d school s and
syl l abi for t he majori t y and mi nori t y
communi t i e s
-
t he se we re some of t he
fe at ui re sof t hi s di vi de and rul e pol i cy.
Mt i l l an, i n hi s 1931 Ce nsus Re port ,
provocat i ve l y de scri be d t he i mmi grat i on
proce ss as an 'i nvasi on' and 'conque st '
and pre di ct e d t hat Si bsagar woul d ul t i -
i nat e l y re mai n t he onl y Asami ya homne
cl i st ri ct . Hi s pre di ct i on has not come
ot i t t o be t rue . Nor was hi s i nt e rpre t a-
t i on of t he ce nsus dat a he l d corre ct .
The Gove rnor of Assamhad t o cl ari fy
and t e l l t he AssamL e gi sl at i ve Counci l i n
1]933 t hat , de spi t e he avy i mmi grat i on
si nce 1901, t he pe rce nt age of spe ake rsof
Asami ya t o t ot al popul at i on ha'd re -
mai ne d "ve ry st e ady" and t hat "t he
l anguage at pre se nt i s i n no dange r of
supe rse ssi on" (AL C Proc, 1933, Vol 13,
p 5). If i t was t rue of 1931, i t i s much
more so t oday si nce t he rat i o of
Asami ya-spe ake rst o t ot al popul at i onhas
i ncre ase d e normousl y me anwhi l e bot h
i n t he Brahmaput raVal l e y and t he st at e
of Assamas a whol e . Thi s i s t he r e -
sul t of assi mi l at i on.
Sanji b Kumar Baruah'sobse ssi onwi t h
MyronWe i ne r and t he "conce pt of
pl ural soci e t y" (not t he L aski an, but i t s
ne o-col oni al i st vari ant me ant for t he con-
sumpt i on of t hi rd worl d schol arshi p)
l e ads t o hi s sce pt i ci sm about assi mi l a-
t i on. What has de ve l ope d i n Assam,
not e s Baruah, i s "not a composi t e so-
ci e t y of pe opl e s who mi ngl e wi t h one
anot he r, but a pl ural soci e t y of se parat e
communi t i e s", and t hat pol i t i ci ans "had
hardl y cont ri but e d t o a ge nui ne i nt e gra-
t i on of t he communi t i e s and e vol ut i on
of composi t e cul t ural pat t e rns". Such
pl at i t udi nousst at e me nt s coul d be made
t o de scri be any nat i onal i t y i n maki ng,
t he Uni t e d St at e s i n i t s format i ve st age
and Chi nanot e xcl ude d. In t he forme r,
e t hni ci t y-ori e nt e d vot i ng bl ocs are st i l l
an i mport ant aspe ct of t he pol i t i cal
cui l t ure .
The proce ss of nat i onal i t y-format i on
doe s i ni t i al l y e xhi bi t i nt e r-group t e n-
si ons. Ye t , gi ve n appropri at e l e ade r-
shi p and t i me
-
as was se e n i n t he
days of Ul ai fi -Namani (Uppe r Assam
and L owve r Assam) confl i ct s - t he for-
mat i ve proce ss goe s ahe ad ove rcomi ng
t he spe ci fi c cont radi ct i onsamong t he
pe opl e . The soci al sci e nt i st shoul d al so
conce rnhi mse l f wi t h 'what i s be comi ng',
i nst e ad of be i ng sol e l y occupi e d wi t h
'what i s'. A pl ural si t uat i oni s not some -
t hi ng st at i c and i nsurmount abl e , but i s
corre l at e d wvi t ht he pace of e conomi c
de ve l opme nt . It i s t he e conomy, not
soci e t v or pol i t y, t hat one shoul d pri -
mari l y l ook i nt o for t he root s of t he
mal adv for a cure . Thi s doe s not me an
t hat e t hni ci t vy and pol i t i cs are of no
i mport ance and t he nat i onal que st i on
can be ui nt angl e d t hrought he e conomi c
me asui re sal one . As L e ni n poi nt e d out
l ong back t hat woul d be she e r e cono-
mi sm.
To say t hat t he re has be e n no re al
assi mi l at i on' %i nAssame se soci e t y i s as
nuch a hal f-t rut h as sayi ng t hat assi -
mi l at i on i s compl e t e . Avai l abl e ce nsus
dat a on t he mot he r t ongue and bi -
l i ngui sml e ave no doubt about t he fact
of assi mi l at i on, t hough much re mai ns
t o be achi e ve d. Duri ng 1931-71, t he
numbe r of Asami ya-spe ake rsmade a
gre at l e ap forward from20 t o 89 l akhs
and t he i r pe rce nt age proport i ont o t he
st at e popul at i onfrom36 pe r ce nt (ad-
jul st e d for re organi sat i on of t he st at e
and made comparabl e ) t o 61 pe r ce nt .
But Baruah i s not happy wi t h t hi s
growt h si nce "t he Be ngal i Musl i ms" who
had e n masse re t urne d Asami yaas t he i r
mot he r t ongue consi st e nt l y for t he l ast
t hre e ce nsuse s as a mat t e r of "pol i t i cal
act ", mi ght shi ft t he i r l anguage l oyal t y
an(I joi n t he "urban Be ngal i Hi ndus"
t o spi t e t he re al Asami yas! The con-
t rarv RSS propagandahas be e n t hat
t he y are i n l e ague wi t h t he Asami ya
Musl i mst o spi t e t he Asami yaand Be n-
gal i Hi ndus! Such i s t he l ogi c of t he
e t hni ci t y approach t o pol i t i cs.
The de ci si on of Be ngal i Musl i m
se t t l e rs of t he Brahmaput raVal l e y t o
e sche w t he L e ague pol i t i cs, support t he
Congre ss and me rge t he i r l i ngui st i c
i de nt i t y wi t h t he major l anguage and
1715
ECONOMICAND POL ITICAL WEEKL Y Spe ci al Numbe r Oct obe r 1980
cul t ure was i nde e d a pol i t i cal act i n
1948 wi t h a vi e w t o mi ni mi si ng soci al
t e nsi on. It was al so an act of pol i t i cal
wi sdom
- an e xpre ssi on of ge nui ne
urge for assi mi l at i on comparabl e t o,
say, t he vol unt ary i nt e grat i onof di ve rse
mi grant groupst ot he domi nant l i ngui st i c
group i n t he US. Wrot e t he Ce nsus
Supe ri nt e nde nt of Assam i n 1961:
"Whe nt he y cone t o Assam, t hose Mus-
l i mi mmi grant shone st l y t ry t o know t he
Assame se l anguage and se nd t he i r chi l -
cdre nt o school s whe re t he Assame se
l angui age i s t he me di umcn of i nst ruct i on."
The y have be e n i nt e rmarryi ng wi t h
Asami yaMusl i ms. The y have be e n l ong
adopt e d by t he i r Asami yane i ghboursas
Ne o-Asami vas. Eve n Ni l moni Phukan,
one of t he hi gh 'pri e st sof l i t t l e nat i ona-
l i sm, sai d i n 1972:
Today t he se ve ry i mmi grant s, havi ng
unde rgone assi mi l at i ont o t he Asami ya
soci e t y have be e n abl e t o t ake t he i r
ri ght fui l pl ace i n t he re al mof l an-
(rgage and cul t ure and, wi t h e qual
acce ss t o l e ade rshi p, have be e n abl e
t o share t he re sponsi bi l i t y of t he
count ry's admi ni st rat i onon an e qual
foot i ng. Thi s i s t he normal pat h t o
nat ui ral i sat i on. (D Chaudhul ri . "Ni l a-
rnani Phukanar Ci nt adhara",
Gauhat i ,
1972, p 91, t rans ours.)
It i s a pi t y t hat Baruahdoe s not share
t hi s opt i mi smand wi sdomand, i nst e ad,
i s i n const ant dre ad of a si ni st e r worl d
ot pre t e nsi ons
al l around. De spi t e pos-
si bl e dri ft s i n l anguage l oyal t i e s at t he
margi n and l ags be t we e n a formal
change of l anguage and fi rme mot i onal
and cul t ural i nt e grat i on, t he ove ral l
l ong-t e rmt re nd i s unmi st akabl y se t by
t he l ast t hre e ce nsuse s, i n favour of
Asami yi sat i on.
Fromt he i r se cond ge ne rat i on,
t he
Be ngal i mi grant s' major di al e ct , Mvme n-
si nghi a, be gan t o borrow words and
e ve n i di oms fromt he i r Asami ya ne i gh-
houi rs. As a re sul t , by now, t he i r di a-
l e ct - l i ke Sadri or Garde n-baat spoke n
i n t e a garde ns and e x-garde n l abour
vi l l age s
- i s i ncre asi ngl y gravi t at i ng
t o
Asami ya. For i t has once for al l l ost
i t s anchorage i n di st ant East Be ngal .
Thus, Sadri and Myme nsi nghi a mi ght
be acce pt e d as ne wl y de ve l ope d
di al e ct s
of t he Asami val anguage . Inde e d,
t he
AsamSahi t ya Sabbadi d a good job by
ge t t i ng fol k t al e s i n t he l at t e r di al e ct
col l e ct e d and publ i she d. Assi mi l at i on
i s faci l i t at e d al soby t he aware ne sst hat
Be ngal i and Asami ya have a si ze abl e
common vocabul ary and a common
scri pt , wi t h t he e xce pt i on of onl y
t wo
l e t t e rs i nt he al phabe t . The same scri pt
i s use d for Bodo, Karbi , Me i t e i
and
Di masal anguage s as we l l .
Rural Be ngal i Hi ndus al so t e nd t o
fol l ow t he i r Musl i mbre t hre ni n re spe ct
of opt i ng for l i ngui st i c assi mi l at i on.
Many such pe opl e we re vi ct i ms of re -
ce nt ri ot s i n Nort h Kamrup, amongst
whoomwe re pe opl e who had e ve n adopt -
e d t ypi cal l y Asami ya surname st o be
more acce pt abl e t o t he soci e t y at l arge .
Al l t he se pe opl e use d t o se nd t he i r
chi l dre nt o Asami ya-me di umschool sand
spoke fl awl e ss l ocal di al e ct . Thus, l i n-
gui st i c assi mi l at i oni nvol ve s bot h Be ngal i
Musl i msand Be ngal i Hi ndus, t hough
wi t h a varyi ng de gre e . The t re nd i s
re fl e ct e d al so i n cont e mporary Asami ya
l i t e rat ure . Saki na Khat un, Il i muddi n
De wan, RajmohanNat h, Dhi re n Dat t a
and Ravi ndraSarkar
- t he se are some
of t he ne o-Asami ya wri t e rs of Be ngal i
st ock, who have cont ri but e d t o Asami ya
l i t e rat ure . Sanant aTant i , a son of t he
t e a garde nsoi l of Cachar, has adde d t o
cont e mporary Asami ya poe t ry a ne w
vi gour t hat e me rge s from t he rural
prol e t ari at .
The Tai -Ahomst ook at l e ast t hre e t o
four ce nt uri e s t o compl e t e l y Assami se
t he mse l ve s by t he 17t h ce nt ury. But
some of t he re ce nt l y Assami se d commu-
ni t i e s have not t ake ne ve nhal f-a-ce nt ury
t o do so. Urban Be ngal i s and Cachar-
Be ngal i s are on t he ot he r hand,
part i cul ar about t he i r l anguage ri ght s
and no re asonwhy t he y shoul d not be .
The y, t wo, are ge t t i ng cul t ural l y as-
si mi l at e d t o t he t ypi cal l y Assame se
psychol ogi cal make -up and way of l i fe ,
t hrough vari ous e conomi c, pol i t i cal and
soci al t i e s, ge ographi cal compul si onsand
i nt e r-pe ne t rat i on of group me mori e s,
se nt i me nt s and forms of cul t ure .
Unde r t he ci rcumst ance s, we do not
share t he conspi racy t he ory (propounde d
by Baruah t o e xpl ai n t he Assami sat i on
proce ss goi ng on amongst t he mi grant
Mui sl i ms), bui t have fai t h i n t he i ne vi t a-
bi l i t y of t he hi st ori cal i nt e grat i ve proce ss.
The l i ngui st i c conve rsi onno l onge r
re mai nsapol i t i cal act . It i s ane conomi c
act , di ct at e d bv t he ne e ds of t he re gi onal
marke t wi t h i t s ce nt re at Gauhat i .
Mi grant s i ncre asi ngl y fi nd t he val ue of
Asami yaas t he l anguage of t he marke t
pl ace i n t he Brahmaput raVal l e y. The
Asami ya fe st i val , Bi hu, has e me rge d,
l i ke i t s scri pt , as t he se cul ar symbol of
Assame se uni fi cat i on. Asami yafol k musi c,
powe rful l y re pre se nt e d and re cre at e d by
Bhupe nHazari ka, has cast i t s spe l l ove r
Be ngal i l i ght musi c.
One can re adi l y agre e wi t h Baruah
whe n he says t hat t he pri nci pl e of l i n-
gui st i c st at e s i n Indi a has, amongst
ot he r fact ors, he l d out t he promi se of
an Asami yahome l and. Not t he Asami -
yas al one , ot he rs t oo wi t hi nt he st at e of
Assamand out si de i t have si mi l ar as-
pi rat i onsfor a home l and. The nat i onal
format i onsare st i l l i name l t i ng pot ; and
t he se are e xpe ct e d t o t ake t he i r fi nal
appropri at e shape s onl y aft e r consi st e nt
de mocracy and aut omni sat i onare acce pt -
e d as basi c pri nci pl e s of st at e organi sa-
t i on.
Unde r t he ci rcumst ance s, t wo possi -
bi l i t i e s of re gi onal -nat i onal de ve l opme nt
are ope n be fore us i n t he pre se nt st at e
of Assam: (i ) The Asami yas, t he Karbi s,
t he Di masas and t he Cachar-Be ngal i s
cont i nui ng t o share t he same aut onomous
st at e on t he basi s of t he i r hi st ori cal l y-
e vol ve d unde rst andi ngs, so far achi e ve d
i n an at t e mpt t o re sol ve nat i onal con-
t radi ct i ons, or (i i ) t he Asami yasl i mi t i ng
t he uni l i ngual st at e conce pt st ri ct l y t o
onl y t he homoge ne ous Asami ya-spe aki ng
are a.
The format i onof a st at e -wi se Assa-
me se nat i onal i t y t hrough an i nt e grat i on
of t he Asami vas, t he Cachar-Be ngal i s,
t he Karbi s, t he Di masas and ot he r t ri bal
nat i onal format i onson t he Swi ss mode l ,
i s not ani mpossi bl e t hi ng. Wi de acce p-
t ance of t he Assam St at e L anguage
Act , 1961, de cl ari ng Asami yat he offi ci al
l anguage of t he st at e and Be ngal i of
Cae har, and t he i nt roduct i onof Asami ya
i n 1972 as t he me di umof i nst ruct i onat
t he l e ve l of Uni ve rsi t y e ducat i on (wi t h
Engl i sh as an al t e rnat i ve . me di um)
-
t he se re sul t e d froma common conce rn
of t he Cachar-Be ngal i sand t he Asami yas
for t he pre se rvat i on of t he i r age -ol d
hi st ori cal associ at i on. If consi st e nt de mo-
cracy wi t h aut onomi sat i oni s pract i se d,
t he re i s no re ason why t he Asami yas,
Be ngal i s, Karbi s, Di masas, Mi shi ngs and
Bodo-Kachari s coul d not ful fi l t he i r
cul t ural and l i ngui st i c aspi rat i ons, whi l e
shari ng t he same st at e . Eve n now t he
Karbi sand t he Di masase njoy aconsi de r-
abl e de gre e of t e rri t ori al aut onomy i n
t he i r re spe ct i ve t e rri t ori e s, unde r t he
provi si ons of t he Si xt h Sche dul e .
The ot he r possi bi l i t y ope n be fore t he
pe opl e i s t o al l ow l i t t l e nat i onal i smt o
de ge ne rat e i nt o e hauvi ni sm and go
t hrough furt he r "t e rri t ori al fragme nt a-
t i on just so t hat what i s l e ft of t he i r
st at e can unambi guousl y be a st at e of
t he i r own"; i n ot he r words, t o re t re at t o
t he ol d, more or l e ss st abl e boundari e s
of t he l at e 17t h ce nt ury AhomKi ngdom,
for achi e vi ng an unadul t e rat e d Asami ya
home l and. The AsamSahi t ya Sabha
l e d, wi t h i t s aggre ssi ve l i ngui st i c pol i ci e s
i n t he past , t o t hi s fragme nt at i on. By
i t s i nsi st e nce ont he adopt i onof Asami ya
as t he onl y me di umof i nst ruct i on i n
al l se hool s, duri ng t he curre ncy of t he
pre se nt move me nt , i t i s agai npre pari ng
t he ground for anot he r fragme nt at i on.
Gi ve n t he t wo possi bi l i t i e s, t he
Marxi st ssure l y opt for t he fi rst and go
on worki ng for a l arge r t e rri t ori al base
1717
ECONOMICAND POL ITICAL WEEKL Y Spe ci al Numbe r Oct obe r 1980
TABL E 4: AVERAGE PFER CAPITA INCOME
OF SEL ECT STATES
0,z; P4 X4
o . C o
St at e (Rul pe e s) (Rul pe e s) (Pe r
Ce nt )
P'unjab 1688 1586 34
l l Iary ana 1514 1.399 27
Maharasht ra 1455 1349l 39
We st Be ngal 1100 10133 33
Ke ral a 1000 948 60
Rajast han 87.3 853 19
Ori ssa 834 7913 26
Assam 848 791 29
MadhyaPrade sh 790 776 22
Ut t ar Prade sh 727 715 22
Bi har 669 645 20
Source : Re port of t he 7t hFi bance Com-
mi ssi on, 1978, ci t e d i n "Basi c
St at i st i cs of Nort h East e rn
Re gi on", NE Se cre t ari at , Shi l -
l ong, Fe bruary 1980, pp 65-
66; and "St at i st i cal Handbook,
Assam 1978" Di re ct orat e of
Economi cs and St at i st i cs, Govt
of Assam, Gauhat i . p 281.
for t he re gi onal st at e so t hat a bi gge r
Asami ya/Assame se nat i onal i t y i s de ve -
l ope d sl owl y t hrough a proce ssof vol un-
t ary i nt e grat i on, wi t h Asami ya cont i nu-
i ng t o be t he offi ci al l anguage of t he
st at e and t he me di umof hi ghe r e duca-
t i on, wi t h Engl i sh as an al t e rnat i ve
mne di umn(as l ong as t he l i ngui st i c
mi nori t i e si nsi st oni t ) i n t he uni ve rsi t i e s.
V
Communi st sand t he Ani -Fore i gne r
Upsurge
T Mi sra hi ghl i ght s Assa4 i n he r
art i cl e as a col oni al hi nt e rl and; C Parde -
shi , as an i nt e rnal col ony wi t hi n t he
nat i onal e xpl oi t at i ve syst e m; and H
Gohai n, as an unde rde ve l ope d are a, de -
pre sse d i n t he proce ssof t he l aw of un-
e ve nde ve l opme nt of capi t al i smand i t s
col oni al l e gacy. The re i s a conse nsus
among t he l e ft i st s t hat t he col oni al
l e gacy of an e xcl usi ve l y raw mat e ri al
suppl yi ng rol e st i l l pe rsi st s i n Assam,
se rvi ng t he i nt e re st s of t he Indi an bi g
mourge oi si e and fe udal e xpl oi t e rs. Thi s
i s i nde e d one of t he basi c poi nt s of t he
agi t at i onand propagandacommuni st sof
l l l shade s have be e n carryi ng on i n
Assamsi nce Inde pe nde nce .
Ml ost of t he mhowe ve r woul d not
agre e wi t h Mi srawhe nshe , l i ke Omve dt ,
charact e ri se s t he parochi al and chauvi -
ni st out burst s as t he "move me nt s for
se l f-de t e rmi nat i on(e conomi c and pol i t i -
cal ) of t he oppre sse d and backward
ni at i onal i t i e sof Indi a". For, i rnMarxi st
t e rmi nol ogy, se l f-de t e rmi nat i on i nvol ve s
t he ri ght t o se ce de and t hi s i s unwar-
rant e d by t he si t uat i onunaccompani e d
l )y an e conomi cal l y, cul t ural l y and
pol i t i cal l y domi nant nat i onal i t y wi t hi n
our mul t i nat i onal st at e .
No de mand for se l f-de t e rni nat i on or
e ve n more powe r for t he st at e has be e n
rai se d fromt he organi se d pl at form of
t he move me nt . It s al most sol e e mphasi s
i s on e xpul si onof a ve ry bi g proport i on
of Assam's popul at i on, i rre spe ct i ve of
t he i r l ocal bi rt h and/or l ong re si de nce .
How coul d t he n t he communi st s joi n
t he mass mobi l i sat i onsi n favour of t hi s
spe ci fi c ce nt ral de mand and agai nst t he
1)asi c hubmanri ght s of a fourt h of t he
popul at i on, goi ng back on t he i de al s of
Marxi sm-L e ni ni sm, as e xpl ai ne d above ?
The Be ngal i s, or, for t hat mat t e r, t he
Ne pal i s are not an oppre ssor nat i onal i t y
i n t he i r re l at i onshi p wi t h t he Asami yas;
i nor are t he Asami yas, i n re l at i ont o t he
pl ai ns t ri bal s. The re are onl y spe ci fi c
cont radi ct i ons, chauvi ni sm and l ocal
nat i onal i smamong t he m, t hat ne e d t o
be ove rcome . In Chi na, for i nst ance ,
Han chauvi ni smwas pre t t y bad, but
t hat di d not just i fy Ti be t an l ocal nat i o-
nal i sm. In Chi na, t he commmuni st s fought
bot h and de fe nde d t he worki ng pe opl e s.
i rre spe ct i ve of t he i r nat i onal i t y.
The Be ngal i s are ne i t he r domi nant i n
t he e conomy nor i n t he st at e machi ne ry.
The Indi an bi g bui si ne ssi s re pre se nt e d
by t he Marwari s i n Assam, and t he
st at e powe r, al so, l arge l y by non-Be nga-
l i s Eve n i n t he profe ssi ons, gove rn-
me nt se rvi ce s, uni ve rsi t i e s and t he cul -
t ural fi e l d, t he Be ngal i s have l ost t he i r
pre -Inde pe nde nce posi t i onof domi nance
t o t he Asami yas l ong back; t he y st i l l
re t ai n i t onl y i n some of t he Ce nt ral
gove rnme nt e st abl i shme nt s. How i s i t ,
t he n, t hat more t han 90 pe r ce nt of
t hose de cl are d unde si rabl e as ci t i ze ns
happe n t o be Be ngal i s? By acci de nt al
ci rcurnst ance s? If so, how i s i t , t he n,
t hat wom-out myt hs and past ant i -
Be ngal i pre judi ce s are be i ng rake d up
afre sh duri ng t he move me nt by t he
Gana SangramPari shad and i t s const i -
t t ue nt s? Al l t he se que st i ons ne e d an
answe r, be fore any hone st at t e mpt i s
made t o asse sst he communi st s' rol e vi s-
a-vi .vt he move me nt . It goe s t o t he
cre di t of Mi srat hat she has gi ve n al so
one i nst ance as t o how Jyot i rmoy Basu,
a CPI(M) MP, use d t he fl oor of t he
Parl i ame nt t o gi ve voi ce t o t he agoni e s
of Assamz.
The pl i ght of Assam, i nde e d t he
whol e of nort he ast re gi on, i s pre t t y bad
t i nde r t he bi g busi ne ss rul e and e xpl oi -
t at i on. But t he same bi g busi ne ss i s
al so e xpl oi t i ng Bi har, Ori ssa, Madhya
Prade sh, Ut t ar Prade sh and We st
Be ngal ; i n fact , al l part s of Indi a i n
varyi ng de gre e s. Rajast han, t he bome
of Marwari capi t al , t oo, i s one of Indi a's
re l at i ve l y more backward st at e s, bot h
e conomi cal l y and cul t ural l y. A com-
pari sonof t he ave rage pe r capi t a i n-
come s and l i t e racy rat e s of st at e s
(Tabl e 4) sugge st s t hat some of t he m,
t oo, have re asons t o be di scont e nt e d.
Some t i me back, Bi har'scase was re pre -
se nt e d i n a book wi t h t he sub-t i t l e
"Col ony wi t hi n a Col ony", and t he t i t l e
of Ranaji t Roy's book on We st Be ngal
i s "Agoni e s of We st Be ngal ". Unde r
t he ci rcumst ance s, t he i nt e re st s of t ht
t oi l i ng masse s i n al l t he se st at e s and al l
ove r Indi a are i de nt i cal
-
t o de fe at
bi g busi ne ss pol i ci e s by t he i r uni t e d
st ruggl e s.
The pre se nt move me nt , i nst e ad ot
uni t i ng t he t oi l i ng masse s of vari ous
cast e s, cre e ds and l anguage s i n an ant i -
fe udal , ant i -monopol i st st ruggl e has
dl i vi de d t he m. It has made t e a l abour
suspi ci ous of t he mot i ve s of t he move -
me nt . It de ni e d 20,000 organi se d pl y-
wood worke rst he i r basi c ri ght t o work
for al i vi ng si nce August . Thre e de mands
i n t he 16-poi nt chart e r of de mandscan-
vasse d by t he AASU we re ant i -t ri bal .
Al l t he se apart , t he l e ade rs of t he
move rne nt have t ake n an act i ve rol e i n
bre aki ng up t rade uni ons, for re asons
al re ady e xpl ai ne d.
Si mi l arl y, t he l and ne xus of t he move -
me nt re l at e s t o t he i nt e re st s of t he
Asami ya l andl ords rat he r t han of t he
pe asant ry, part i cul arl y i n L owe r Assam.
The l e ft i st s came i n a si ze abl e numbe r
i n t he AssamL e gi sl at ure i n 1978, wi t h
24 se at s i n a 126-me mbe r house and 11
pe r ce nt of val i d vot e s. L andl ord ci r-
cl e s had appre he nsi ons t hat t he l e ft
woul d now pre ss for t he i mpl e i me nt a-
t i on of t he L and Ce i l i ng Act , l ong ke pt
i n abe yance by t he Assamgove rnme nt ,
and for ne w l e gi sl at i on i n de fe nce of
t he t e nant farme rs' ri ght s on t he We st
Be ngal mode l and of t ri bal pe asant s'
i nt e re st s i n prot e ct e d t ri bal bl ocs on
t he Tri puramode l . Be si de s, t he CPI(M)'s
i nfl ue nce was rapi dl y i ncre asi ng amnong
Asami ya poor pe asant s i n not ori ous
l andl ord-i nfe st e d are as. Al l t he se ,
amongst ot he r fact ors, prompt e d t he
l andl ords
-
many of t he mare sal ari e d
and profe ssi onal pe opl e or mone l ye nde rs
(de hat i )
-
t o be come t rue sons of
mot he r Assamove rni ght , forge t t i ng t he i r
al l -Indi a part y t i e s. Thi s i s how t he
l and ne xul sand ant i -t e nant charact e r of
1719
t he move me nt as we l l as t he ove rni ght
di sappe arance of some al l -Indi a
part i e s
shoul d be e xpl ai ne d. It i s not t he case
of l andl ordsme re l y t aki ng advant age
of
ot he rwi se a nobl e move me nt . On t he
cont rary, t he l andl ords, i n l e ague wi t h
Asami ya capi t al i st s, saw t o i t t hat
d
fi e rce move me nt wi t h an ant i -Be ngal i
and ant i -communi st e dge was cre at e d
so
t hat t he y coul d ge t ri d of unde si rabl e
e l e me nt s on t he i r farms and ke e p t he
t oi l i ng pe asant s di vi de d. One fi nds
such l andl ords and t he i r sons and
daught e rs at al l l e ve l s of t he Gana
SangramPari shad. Unfort unat e l y
t he
i de ol ogy of Mi sra and Baruah, t hough
di ffe ri ng i n l anguage and jargon, i s at
once a rat i onal i sat i onof t he Asami ya
uppe r cl asse s' i nt e re st s and a vi e w of
soci al re al i t y fromt he i r cl ass st andpoi nt .
Be cause of t he l arge l y communal
(cast e Hi ndu) and pro-l andl ord
st ance
of t he move me nt i n t e rmsof non-se cul ar
symbol s and e ve n se cul ar de mands
(t hi s
e xpl ai ns why t he RSS has e me rge d
as
a fri e nd of t he move rne nt ), t he soci al
base of t he move me nt we nt on narrow-
i ng down. The pl ant at i on l abour cl ass
apart , l arge se ct i ons of Asami ya
Musl i ms and pl ai ns t ri bal s, t oo, who
had be e n i ni t i al l y wi t h t he move me nt ,
are now oppose d t o i t . Sye d Abdul
Mal i k, MP, an e x-se cre t ary,
e x-pre si de nt
and l i fe -l ong associ at e of t he Asam
Sahi t ya Sabhawho, hi mse l f, had hai l e d
t he e arl i e r l anguage move me nt as "st one
gi ve n l i fe ", for i nst ance ,
has gone
agai nst t he pre se nt move me nt .
Tri bal pe asant s want al l t ransfe rre d
l ands re st ore d t o t he i r ori gi nal
t ri bal
propri e t ors
fromt he cl ut che s of i nt ru-
de rs, i rre spe ct i ve of t he i r
ci t i ze nshi p
st at us, i n t he t ri bal be l t const i t ut e d
of
31 re se rve d bl ocs. The y al sowant e du-
cat i on of t he i r chi l dre n t hrough
t he i r
mot he r t ongue s at t he school st age .
Se e i ng t hat t he mnove me nt
i s not symn-
pat he t i c t o t he se de mands, t he y are
now i ncre asi ngl y t urni ng host i l e t o i t .
L Panggi ng, apl ai ns t ri bal yout h
l e ade r,
has for i nst ance obse rve d
re ce nt l y:
Ye s t he re are fore i gne rs i n Assam,
t he y ne e d t o be e xpe l l e d. The t ri bal
pe opl e are aware t hat i t i s a major
probl e m. But t he de mand for de port a-
t i on of fore i gni nfi l t rat orsi s a de mand
of se condary i mport ance , i e , a short -
t e ymde mand... It cannot be a l ast -
di t ch bat t l e for t he survi val of Assam,
unl e ss t he Assame se pe opl e are
goi ng
t o be subme rge d i n mi l k and hone y
fol l owi ng t he e xpul si on of t he for-
e i gne rs. (Trans from Samprat i k
Samaui ki i , Apri l -May
1980.)
We re pe at our concl usi ont hat
t he
pre se nt move me nt i n Assarni s e sse nt i al l y
nat i onal i n form(at l e ast i t was so at
t he out se t ) and, de spi t e mass part i ci pa-
t i on, i s re act i onary and unde mnocrat i c
i n
cont e nt ; The me t hods of t he move me nt
are prot o-fasci st , and an i nvol ve me nt
of
fore i gn age nt s as a pe ri phe ral force
i n
i t i s not i mpossi bl e . Unde r ci rcumst ance s,
t he re was no scope for t he l e ft i st s
t o
be wi t hi n i t or t o frat e rni se wi t h i t .
A
se ct i on of t he CPI (M) st ude nt s l e d by
Ut t am Bart hakur t ri e d t o de mocrat i se
AASU and re mai nwi t h i t i n t he move -
me nt , de spi t e re se rvat i ons, onl y t o burn
t he i r fi nge rs. The y found t he pl at form
t oo hot and t he y qui t i t . It i s
not by e xpe l l i ng, but by assi mi l at i ng
t he se t t l e rs t hat t he bul k of t he
probl e mcoul d be re sol ve d. A powe r-
ful proce ss of vol unt ary i nt e grat i on
i s al re ady t he re , and t he communi st s
appare nt l y shoul d want not t o hal t ,
but t o e xpe di t e i t t hrough t he mai nt e -
nance of nat i onal pe ace unde r any cost .
Eve n i n t he past , whe n t he Brahma-
put ra Val l e y and Cachar we re at l og-
ge rhe ads ove r t he l anguage i ssue i n
1960, t he uni t e d CPI of t hose days he l p-
e d di ssol ve t he t e nsi onwi t h i t s compro-
mi se formul a whi ch was acce pt abl e
t o
al l and i s st i l l worki ng. Now al so t he y
are i n favour of a ne got i at e d
pol i t i cal
se t t l e me nt , si nce t he se nsi t i vi t i e s of a
whol e pe opl e and t he i r i njure d
fe e l i ngs,
for re asons re al and i magi nary,
are i n-
vol ve d. Uppe r cl ass wome n al one di d
not come out on t he st re e t s, nor i s t he
move me nt pi cni c-st yl e as an e mbi t t e re d
Jyot i Basu t ol d us once i n de spai r
t hi s
ye ar. It i s dange rous be cause i t has a
mass charact e r.
Hi st ory has shown t hat e ve n i n Ge r-
many and It al y duri ng t he
i nt e r-war
pe ri od, much st ronge r communi st
move -
me nt s had t e mporari l y col l apse d l i ke
a
house of cards whe n i njure d
nat i onal
fe e l i ngs gave ve nt t o bl i nd force s
of
chauvi ni smand obscurant i smi nt he
form
of ant i -Je wi sh pogroms and ant i -l e ft
st orm-t roope rs. The cudge l of chauvi -
ni smbe i ng base d on a smal l nat i onal i t y
wi t hi n a fe de ral St at e , i t s prot o-fasci st
t e de ncy i s a passi ng phase i n
Assam.
But t he harmdone me awbi l e i s i mme nse .
Force s of aut hori t ari ani smhave
be e n
consci ousl y or i nade ve rt e nt l y
st re ngt h-
e ne d i n Assamby t he move me nt by
i t s
at t ackson de mocrat i c ri ght s of t he pe o-
pl e and i t s handi ng ove r of t he
i ni t i a-
t i ve for a se t t l e me nt t o De l hi .2 As space
doe s not pe rmi t , we propose t o pre se nt
amore compre he nsi ve re vi e w of
Assam's
l e ft move me nt i nre l at i ont o t he nat i onal
que st i on
and t he upsurge
-
bot h
i t s
we akne sse sand poi nt s of st re ngt h - i n
course of an art i cl e t o fol l ow. Myron
We i ne r'sbook "Sonsof t he Soi l " and i t s
i mpact on Assamwi l l al so be t ake nup
t he n for a scrut i ny.
Not e s
1 Inci de nt al l y, Gai l Omve dt i s t ot al l y
mi st ake nt o sugge st i n he r Front i e r
(June 7, 1980) art i cl e t hat pl ough-
l e ss shi ft i ng cul t i vat i on cont i nue d
t o be an i mport ant
mode of agri -
cul t ure unt i l t he Be ngal i
mi grant
pe asant s
broke i t down. In fact t he
t he pl ough and we t ri ce cul t ure
was t he basi s of t he e xpandi ng
Ahomand ot he r Ki ngdomsi n
me di e -
val not he ast Indi a. Hoe and di ggi ng
st i ck cul t ure survi ve d onl y i n
t he
hi l l s and pre si st e d fe e bl y i n
some
re mot e pocke t s i n t he Assam
pl ai ns.
I'l oughl e ss
shi ft i ng cul t i vat i on
was
al re ady a t hi ng of t he past i n
t he se
pl ai ns whe n t he mi grant s
arri ve d.
Be ngal i mi grant pe asant s
we re
ge ne ral l y
more ski l l e d, but not
i n
e ve rv re spe ct . For i nst ance ,
t he
t ri bal pe asant s
i n some are as
made
use of t e chni que s
of gravi t at i onal
i rri gat i ont o grow we t ri ce , but
not
t he Be ngal i s.
Howe ve r, some
fe a-
t ure s of t ri bal i sm, such as sl ash-
and-burnand l and rot at i on,
survi ve d
i n combi nat i on
wi t h pl ough-t i l l i ng
on l ands not sui t abl e for pe rmane nt
we t ri ce cul t i vat i on.
It i s t he se
fe at ure swhi ch t he mi grant
pe asant s
i nt e rve ne d
wi t h. The l at t e r cont ri -
bui t e d t owardst he spre ad
of doubl e -
croppi ng,
ne w crops
such as jut e ,
mi ul ng pul se
and ne w vari e t i e s
of
ve ge t abl e s,
e t c, and al so ne w t e ch-
ni que s such as t he Barro1
me t hod
of be t e l -vi ne
cul t i vat i on
and a
re l at i ve l y
advance d
fi shi ng t e chno-
l ogy.
i f t he t e a l abour mi grat i on
i nt o pl ant at i ons
had made
t he
Brabmaput ra
Val l e y ri ce -short
i nt he
19t h ce nt ury,
t he Be ngal i pe asant
mi grat i on
of t he 20t h ce nt ury
made
i t more t han se l f-suffi ci e nt i n
ri ce .
2 As some of t he art i cl e s on Assam
publ i she d
duri ng t hi s ye ar i n EWP,
e g, t hose bv K M Sarmaand S K
Dass, re produce
much of t he
re l e -
vant Ce nsus
st at i st i cs i n
t abul ar
form, our st at i st i cal Tabl e s are
ke pt
t o t he mi ni mum.
Indust ri al Count ri e s' Trade De fi ci t
INDUSTRIAL count ri e s i ncurre d an
aggre gat e t rade de fi ci t (i ncl udi ng
t he cost
of fre i ght and i nsurance payme nt s
oni m-
port s) of an e st i mat e d $ 10.3 bi l l i on i n
June , fol l owi ng a $ 13.7 bi l l i on de fi ci t
i n May. The June de fi ci t rai se d t he
t ot al for t he fi rst hal f of 1980 t o $ 76.6
bi l l i on, compare d wi t h a $ 85 bi l l i on
de fi ci t for al l of 1979. Among t he major
t radi ng nat i ons, Ge rmany re gi st e re d
a
t rade surpl us (+ $ 2.5 bi l l i on) i n t he
fi rst hal f of t he ye ar, whe re asJapanhad
a de fi ci t of $ 10.9 bi l l i on, agai nst a t ot al
de fi ci t of $ 7.5 bi l l i on i n 1979. The
Uni t e d Ki ngdom's fi rst -hal f de fi ci t of
$ 6.15 bi l l i on compare d wi t h $ 11.9 bi l -
l i on for al l of 1979. France 's fi rst -hal f
de fi ci t was $ 10.1 bi l l i on, agai nst a
t ot al 1979 t rade de fi ci t of $ 6.3 bi l l i on.
Among unde rde ve l ope d count ri e s, t he oi l
.e xport e rshad a t rade surpl usof $ 43.14
bi l l i oni n t he fi rst quart e r of 1980, com-
pare d wi t h $ 16.40 bi l l i on i n t he fi rst
quart e r of 1979. The non-oi l count ri e s
had a de fi ci t of $ 19.20 bi l l i on i n t he
same pe ri od, agai nst $13.12 bi l l i on i n
t he fi rst quart e r of 1979.
1720