Forcing Assamese language resulted in separation of states, says Assam minister
Assam minister Jayanta Malla Baruah said the recognition of Assamese and Bengali as classical languages has ended the conflicts between these major linguistic communities in Assam
Forcibly imposing Assamese as sole official language in undivided Assam was a historic blunder, which triggered a sense of separation and resulted in the creation of multiple states in Northeast, Assam minister Jayanta Malla Baruah said on Saturday during the closing ceremony of week-long Bhasha Gourab Saptah in Silchar in Cachar district on Saturday.
“Our ancestors tried to impose Assamese on everyone, and it started when Shillong was the Capital of the undivided Assam. That forced different communities to demand separate states. It even continued with Bodo and other communities but thankfully Assam was not divided further,” said the minister for public health engineering, entrepreneurship and tourism.
The Saptah was celebrated across the state honouring the classical language recognition for Assamese and Bengali by the central government. The event was organised by the Bangla Sahitya Sabha and was supported by the state government.
Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma last month declared that all the government and non-government institutes would celebrate Bhasha Gaurav Saptah from November 3 to 9. He also appealed to the common people and all socio-cultural organisations to celebrate it. The celebration officially began in Guwahati and ended in Silchar.
Mallabaruah, who is also the Guardian Minister for Cachar district, said that nearly two lakh events were organised across the state during Bhasha Gourab Saptah and people from different communities celebrated the existence of each language and not only Assamese.
He said the recognition of Assamese and Bengali as classical languages has ended the conflicts between these major linguistic communities in Assam.
“This brought people from different communities closer, and we now intend to create a future where there’ll be no conflict on the basis of language, rather we’ll celebrate each other’s existence,” he said.
He said that nearly a hundred years ago, a literary society, Assam Sahitya Sabha, was formed to strengthen the culture of this region and one of its goals was to bring each and every linguistic community to one platform but post independence, it failed.
“The Assam Sahitya Sabha became the Assamese Sahitya Sabha which resulted in the creation of multiple sahitya sabhas later. Similarly, All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) confined itself to only Assamese and other communities had to form their own students’ organisations. These issues kept us separated in our own state,” he added.
During the event, eight researchers and scholars, including senior folk researcher Amalendu Bhattacharjee, Sahitya Academy winning poet Sutapa Chakraborty and others, were felicitated by the Bangla Sahitya Sabha.
Bangla Sahitya Sabha president Professor Prasanta Chakraborty said that the demand for separate states in Assam started in Shillong and the reason was forcing Assamese as the only official language of such a diverse state.
He said that Assam saw conflicts in 1961 and many other times. In Silchar, 11 youths laid their lives for protecting their mother tongue and it continued further.
“People love their mother tongue so much that they prefer sacrificing their lives. We love Assamese language, and I suggest everyone learn it, but forcefully imposing it on anyone doesn’t go well,” he said.
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