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In Assam’s ‘sanskriti’ battle, the symbolism of Srimanta Sankardev’s birthplace
As the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardev, the 15th-16th century saint-scholar and socio-religious reformer, Batadroba is revered by many in Assam. The “than” is in focus as parties try to woo voters with a call to protect socio-religious-cultural identity or sanskriti of indigenous Assamese
Even as devotees continue to visit Batadroba Than in Assam’s Nagaon every day, there is a palpable undercurrent of politics, especially with the state in poll mode and the protection of Assamese “sanskriti”(culture) constituting one of the main themes of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party in power.
As the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardev, the 15th-16th century saint-scholar and socio-religious reformer, Batadroba is revered by many in Assam. The “than” (a neo-Vaishnavite residential religious institution later called “satra”) is in focus as parties try to woo voters with a call to protect socio-religious-cultural identity or sanskriti of indigenous Assamese.
Sankardev’s Birthplace and Polls
On February 25, a day ahead of announcement of poll schedule for Assam and four other states, Union home minister Amit Shah visited Batadroba and launched a development of beautification project worth around ₹180 crore at the saint-scholar’s birthplace. The project aims to develop the place as a centre of art, culture, research and spirituality in honour of Sankardev, who was the torchbearer of neo-Vaishnavite movement in the region, but also brought about socio-cultural revolution through his contribution to literature, drama, dance, music etc.
“This is the place from where Srimanta Sankardev started the ‘bhakti-sanskriti’ (religious-cultural) movement in Assam. We want to spread his message not just in Assam but all over the country. The project will keep Sankardev’s message alive for time immemorial. Our government in Assam took up this project, but despite being in power consecutively for 15 years, Congress didn’t think of doing this,” Shah said later at a public meeting.
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Besides the Batadroba project, Assam government has also launched a scheme to provide ₹2.5 lakh each to around 8,000 naamghars (neo-Vaishnavite prayer halls) in the state. Praising the scheme, Shah urged the state government to cover 25,000 “naamghars” through it so that Sankardev’s ideals with remain alive for years to come.
The BJP is not alone. The Congress, which is attempting to uproot the BJP-led coalition with a seven party alliance that includes All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and former BJP ally Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF), also reached Batadroba Than on February 13 to launch their “Axom Basaon Ahok” (Come, Let’s Save Assam) yatra for the polls.
All senior leaders of the party including state unit chief Ripun Bora, Lok Sabha MPs Pradyut Bordoloi and Gaurav Gogoi as well as former minister Rakibul Hussain offered prayers at the “than” before embarking on the yatra in which they interacted with voters from all over Assam and announced their five guarantees — non-implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act in Assam, ₹2,000 every month to housewives, free 200 units of electricity to all households, creation of 500,000 government jobs and increase in daily wage of tea garden workers to ₹365.
While Congress is accusing BJP of threatening Assam’s language and culture by “welcoming” illegal immigrants through Citizenship Amendment Act, the saffron party is accusing the former of joining hand’s with perfume baron and Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal’s “communal”AIUDF, which in turn could pose a threat to Assamese identity and culture.
Encroachment and More
As political parties flock to Batadroba to talk of culture and identity with an eye on votes, the site itself is facing its own issues. Spread across 374 bighas (around 124 acres), it has seen encroachment of its area in the past three decades.
“Around 136 big has (45 acres) of our land, which was earlier used for cultivation, started getting encroached around 1986-87. Despite several requests to the Congress governments of Tarun Gogoi between 2001 and 2016, nothing much was done. Towards the end of their tenure, they agreed to rehabilitate the encroachers in some other government land. While seven of them left, five families stayed back,” said Devananda Deva Goswami, the religious and administrative head of Batadroba Than as well as president of its management committee.
“When the BJP-led government came in 2016, they removed the rest of the encroachers. But while the land of the ‘Than’ is free of encroachment, there is rampant grabbing of nearly 900 bighas (297 acres) of government land in our periphery. People are being settled in these places, by unscrupulous government officials. We are confused what government means when it says Batadroba is encroachment free. If encroachment of government land is allowed, we would also do that,” Goswami added.
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The Batadroba management committee wants the government to remove those encroachers and use that land to develop facilities for tourists and devotees that will come to the area once the development and beautification project gets completed.
“We feel in order to protect our identity and culture we need such candidates and parties which are able to take bold decisions. As residents of Assam, in coming years we should be able to confidently assert our identity without fear of anyone,” said Goswami.
Batadroba has been a Congress stronghold for long, but in 2016 BJP’s Angoorlata Deka, an actress in Assamese films and theatre, managed to defeat sitting MLA Gautam Bora by a margin of nearly 6,000 votes in a close contest. This time BJP has given the ticket again to Deka and she will be facing Congress’s Sibamoni Bora.
“All political parties have come to Batadroba to seek blessings before the start of their campaigns. It would be another close contest this time. But Deka, who has managed to reach out and endear herself to voters and done a lot for the Than could secure another win,” said Jiban Baruah, a local resident.
Assam goes to polls in three phases-March 27, April 1 and April 6. Polling for Batadroba will take place in the first phase.
