Sandipan Talukdar 
Guwahati: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attempted to tie up with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) ahead of the 1985 assembly polls in Assam. Former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha allegedly visited the Dibrugarh house of Basanta Deka, a key figure in the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and a driving force behind the Assam Movement against foreigners from 1979 to 1985, and tried to convince him that the AGP and the BJP should form an alliance to fight the polls.
“Yashwant Sinha conversed with me for hours and I kept on arguing that AGP cannot ally with BJP. I told Sinha that the BJP’s ideology stands quite deviant from the very idea Assam Movement was based on. When I said that ours is an inclusive nationalism and BJP’s is divisive, Sinha was angry, and finally the proposal didn’t work out,” Deka told The Wire recently.
This interesting revelation dates back to 1985 when the Assam Accord was signed with the Rajiv Gandhi government and the elections were declared in the north-eastern state, marking an end of the movement. The AGP was formed the same year in October, just before the elections, and came to power with a massive victory.
Deka underlined that though the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) tried to infiltrate the movement, they could not get hold over the main leadership and the Assam Accord didn’t accommodate their ideas. “That’s the reason the RSS and therefore the BJP don’t find it comfortable to accept the Accord in its essence.”
Also read: Constitutional Black Hole: Himanta Biswa Sarma’s Assam, Where Muslim Rights Disappear
Amidst the turmoil of protests, state brutalities, massacres, and widespread stagnation that gripped Assam during that era, the movement was paradoxically marked by vibrant scholarly and intellectual discourse. The public sentiment, for instance, was overtly in favour of the movement figuring out who were the ‘bohiragoto (outsiders)’ while a majority of the Left parties were seen positioning themselves almost in the opposite direction. Left intellectuals like Hiren Gohain were attacked for questioning the leadership of the movement.
What Deka said about the RSS’s attempt to get involved in the Assam Movement has been well-recognised by others including Gohain, not only during 80s but even now.
“At that time, though RSS/BJP had inveigled itself into the driver’s seat of the movement it was covert. Some genuine Assamese patriots were therefore honestly deceived and confused. Now it is blatant and brazen,” Gohain told The Wire.
Gohain, being a staunch critic of the movement, especially its leadership, once termed it as the “Cudgel of Chauvinism (EPW, February 1980)” which initiated a series of scholarly debate published in EPW during 1980-81.
But why are we talking about these episodes of history now? Do these hold an importance in the present political context of Assam? Well, there remains ample space to draw analogies from the pages of history with the recent turn of events that left people discombobulated, all of which started in Sivasagar, considered the heart of Upper Assam.
The Sivasagar episode
The assault and molestation of a young girl, Jimmy Das, who is also a national level gold medalist in arm wrestling, triggered a movement at Sivasagar in a rather unusual way — it appeared primarily against outsiders, precisely the Hindi speaking businesspersons. Notwithstanding, frail demands of security for women and immediate justice could also be heard in the slogans. On August 13, Das was assaulted and molested at Babu Patty a locality in Sivasagar town, which is predominantly inhabited by Hindi speakers, especially the ‘Marwari’ community.
Following the incident, thirty ‘nationalist’ organisations (locally known as Jatiya Sangathan) called for a protest rally, hundreds of people thronged the streets of Sivasagar town, resulting in the closure of shops and outlets owned by non-Assamese businesspersons.
In the rally, self-proclaimed custodians of Assamese people and Assamese nationalism including Bir Lachit Sena leader Shrinkhal Chaliha and All Tai Ahom Students’ Union (ATASU) leader Basanta Gogoi, Chitu Baruah of Jatiya Sangrami Sena and Manirul Islam Bora of Ujoni Asom Muslim Kalyan Parishad, among others enthusiastically laid out conditions for the business communities, specifically stating that the movement would not subside until the Marwaris issued a public apology.
Chaliha also threatened that all non-Assamese organisations like Marwari Yuva Manch, Bhojpuri students’ body and Bengali federation can’t function in Sivasagar like before.
In a press address, the representatives of the 30 organisations appealed to the indigenous people to not sell their lands to any non-Assamese, even if they get an elevated price for it. Further, they underlined that such an action will “invite social boycott”.
Notably, shops owned by Marwaris, Bengalis, and Biharis in Sivasagar remained closed for several days, whereas those owned by Assamese individuals were allowed to remain open.
A bizarre settlement
State education minister and guardian minister of Sivasagar Ranoj Pegu rushed to the town and acted like a mediator between the organisations and representatives of Marwari business community, where they apologised to the people of Sivasagar offering paan tamul (betel nut and betel leaves) in a xorai (a traditional Assamese bell metal tray used during rituals and ceremonies) in the presence of the public. In Assamese culture, this is a symbolic act of humility and surrender.
Meanwhile, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had something else in his mind. In a press address, he stated that the incident should not be escalated and turned into an Assamese versus non-Assamese issue, adding that instead of targeting Marwaris or Biharis, “we should speak on miyas (East-Bengal origin Muslim migrants), and no land should be sold to them”.
Shifting the blame
Days after the Sivasagar incident, a minor was raped in Dhing in Muslim majority Nagaon district on August 22. The victim was Hindu and the alleged perpetrators were Muslims..
What started in Sivasagar against the non-Assamese business class, soon turned towards the Muslims, especially the East-Bengal origin Muslim migrants.
In his usual strenuous tone, Bir Lachit Sena leader Chaliha said in a television show that the non-Assamese businessmen (especially the Marwaris) are backed by the RSS and the BJP. Further, he pointed that their activities have lately become atrocious only due to backing of the RSS and the BJP, hinting that the state government and chief minister Sarma function according to the dictation of the RSS.
After the Dhing rape case, however, the entire focus swung towards Muslims. Even Chaliha changed his stance. Miya labourers were made to flee Sivasagar.
Speaking on these recent developments, Gohain told The Wire:
“As for Shrinkhal [Chaliha] it seems he capitalised on hurt Assamese pride and attempted to alleviate that pride with vociferous protests and violent gestures. Can’t say he has a deep and thorough understanding of the predicament of the Assamese, who are on the brink of turning into pauperised strangers in their own land.”
Basanta Deka also opposed using the term “miya” and instead emphasised that “illegal immigrants” (from Bangladesh) would be a more suitable term to describe both Hindus and Muslims..
“Thinking of Assamese barring the Assamese Muslims will be catastrophic. Himanta [Biswa Sarma] speaks about Muslim population rising to 40%, which may be based on the 2011 census and this includes immigrants. He says it to deliberately muddy the water,” Deka told The Wire.
Later, Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi levelled an allegation against BJP district president Mayur Borgohain, claiming he assaulted 15 Muslim labourers to evade paying their wages of Rs 15 lakh.
However, the chief minister aggravated the matter further and declared in the assembly that he would take a side, implicitly suggesting his opposition to the Muslim (miya) community.
The pressing questions
Examining the recent events in Assam raises several questions about the underlying dynamics, particularly against the backdrop of a complex history. Is the widespread anger among the people fueled by chauvinism, or are there legitimate grievances? Has the sentiment of injured Assamese pride been exploited by certain leaders? Moreover, how far have things strayed from the original ideals of the Assam Movement?
Also read: As Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes Become the Norm, Combating Islamophobia is a Task Long Overdue
The Assam movement in the 80s was initially centred around the outsiders and the illegal immigrants. The root of the anxiety amongst the natives can be traced to the colonial period when economic expansion of the British rule found home for forced migration from the then East Bengal, especially since the later part of the 19th and early 20th century.
The Muslim migrants under the colonial patronage thronged Assam, as to “turn hundreds of acres of fallow land into smiling and luxuriant fields of jute and paddy” (Hiren Gohain, EPW, 1980). Gohain also said that the unusual spurt of population growth in Assam, outstripping the all-India growth rate can be ascertained to a good extent to the continuous immigration from Bangladesh and Nepal.
Professor Sanjib Baruah, in his book India Against Itself while arguing in the same line (Chapter 3) provided some statistics of population growth in Assam.
Source: India Against Itself by Sanjib Baruah
The Assamese resentment and frustration during the colonial period grew sharper in the 1930s not only against the Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh (then East Bengal), but also against those from other parts of India who steadily migrated to Assam when the need of skilled labour and professions like technicians, clerks, barbers, mechanics etc. grew. The collective perception of ‘bohiragoto’ shaped up at this backdrop, which was essentially not in terms of religion.
However, the communal pressure during the movement was quite in place, which over decades got more organised around the crux of Assam’s politics, that is immigrants and insecurity of the indigenous people.
‘Marwari businessmen have links with the RSS’
A perceptive insight into the Sivasagar incident reveals that the sentiment against the non-Assamese business class was simmering amongst the masses for some time. Without that a strong protest called specifically against the Marwaris and including other lingual communities wouldn’t have been possible to mobilise so quickly.
However, people have divided opinions on the culmination of the row — apologies from a few Marwari individuals — in the presence of a minister of the Sarma government accompanied by the superintendent of police and the district commissioner.
“The dominance of Hindustani (Hindi speaking) baniyas (traders) have increased in recent times. Importantly, this dominance comes through religious activities and business in combination. The Ganesh puja, bol bom (Kanwar yatra) etc. are some of the examples that have intruded into our society. During the bol bom, nuisances on the street make the atmosphere filthy,” an assistant professor of Gargaon College told The Wire on the conditions of anonymity.
“Earlier the Marwaris used to come to the Shiva Dol but lately they have built their own, which turned to be a place of not only worshipping but meeting and decision making. The Assamese villagers, who are not fluent in Hindi are ill-treated. These became quite obvious for the people and the sentiment of dominance and insult simmered in their minds, which outburst in the recent incident,” he added.
Siva Dol is a Shiv temple which was constructed during the period of Ahom King Siva Singha in the 18th century.
Similarly, Deepjyoti Gogoi, a Sivasagar-based entrepreneur and social activist said:
“Majority of the Marwari businessmen have links with the RSS and thus they have a covert political backing. They appear to remain clung to the Hindi-Hindu ideology and have vociferously practiced it in recent times, especially when the BJP regime started in Assam (in 2016).”
“The outburst of the people actually goes against the BJP rather than the community and that is the reason we see the proactive action by a BJP minister. The way it ended with his interference was avoidable,” Gogoi added.
However, Ananta Smith, a local journalist has reservations about the whole set of demands put forth by the 30 organisations as well as the way one community (Marwari) became the main target.
“Everyone has the right to stay anywhere in the country. Division in the society has become rampant in recent times, be it religion or economics. The division will not lead us anywhere,” Smith said.
“It is true that during the BJP’s regime, the presence of non-Assamese businessmen has grown significantly. But the way the members of the community were forced to apologise was wrong. Ranoj Pegu was probably sent by the chief minister and the way the movement ended doesn’t give a healthy message,” he said, adding, “During the BJP’s regime, economic inequality has also escalated.”
Samsul Barik, general secretary of Bagh Hazarika Jagoron Mancha told The Wire:
“It was not a sudden or a sporadic movement and it was not big either. The sentiment of the Assamese people in Sivasagar is a little different from the rest of Assam. It’s about Assamese nobility and the 30 organisations took the advantage of it. However, I must say that targeting a community is not at all good and especially how it ended. The civil society of Sivasagar is not pleased either.”
“There has to be constitutional safeguard of the indigenous people and hence Clause 6 of Assam Accord should be implemented properly. This will also stop such incidences in Assam. Why don’t those 30 organisations create a mass movement for the implementation of the Assam Accord in place of creating such episodes?” Barik asked.
One prominent civil society activist of Sivasagar told The Wire on the condition of anonymity that he doesn’t wish to live in the town after this “drama of apology seeking”.
Gauhati University students and activists like Raju Chetia Phukan and Madhurjyo Borgohain underlined that the movement was about securing the future of the Assamese; however, they showed their resentment with how it all ended.
“The lands are gone from the Assamese people. The non-Assamese businessmen have purchased it from our people by various clever means. Our ancestors were not engaged in business but the present generation is involved in it and if the lands go from our hands then how can the future generations survive? We are not economically strong to the extent the Marwaris or others are, land is our resource, that should be protected,” Borgohain said, claiming that the affluent class dominance has increased during the BJP’s regime.
Are the Assamese becoming pauperised strangers in their own land?
Land occupied the centre stage of the clashes between the natives and the immigrants during the colonial period and it continues. The local people’s support to the Sivasagar protest also reverberates the concern for land and resources, which is reflected in the charter of appeal of the organisations (urging indigenous people not to sell land to non-Assamese even at an elevated price).
“After the NH was expanded to four lanes, large tracts of land alongside the highway were purchased in huge amounts by non-Assamese businessmen,” a person in Sivasagar told The Wire on the conditions of anonymity.
Speaking to The Wire, sociologist Sanjay Barbora said:
“Land got a renewed value under changing circumstances.”
Barbora explained:
“The Assam movement may have witnessed a political culmination, but there were struggles, sometimes armed (the ULFA or the United Liberation Front of Assam) and sometimes in other forms. One may not support armed struggle forms but the bigger issues cannot be ignored. During the 1990s, pressing issues like autonomy, self-determination rose to the peak. The ULFA was pressed to the wall but at the same time Assam witnessed killings of innocents as well as secret killings in the name of wiping out the militant groups.”
The secret killings shook Assam during AGP leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta’s second tenure as chief minister and when Lt General S.K. Sinha (retired) was the governor (1997-2003).
On the present situation, Barbora said:
“Some may term it chauvinism, some xenophobia, but some will say that it has a strong material basis. Those people who are related to the land, either by agriculture or in any other form are now thinking that without a movement, they don’t have any other option. However, there remains the fear that the issue will again go into oblivion soon. Hence, one wishes that the organisations leading this movement remain focused on the broader issue and avoid getting mired in identity politics.”
“The thesis that emerged after the Assam movement that due to some colonial relationship with India, Assam had to go for a movement against the outsiders, sadly, till 2000, became a forgotten past. Moreover, lofty words like ‘development’ surreptitiously came into the political discourse, which as we all see is like neo-colonialism,” he mentioned, adding, “The issues of 79, 80s and 90s remained unanswered and they are re-surfacing in the new political context with new complexities.”
Notably, Gohain also underlined the possibility of “Assamese being on the brink of turning into pauperised strangers in their own land.”
The Assam movement’s struggle for democratic aspirations
Speaking to The Wire, Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) (CPI(ML)) Assam secretary Bibek Das and the most probable candidate of united Opposition in the upcoming by-election in Behali assembly seat said that the anti-CAA movement could be considered as a consolidation of the democratic aspirations present in the Assam movement. Das mentioned:
“The Assam movement contained all the forces — secular, democratic and communal as well. But the Accord was accepted by everyone. The emergence of a new political party in the aftermath of [the] anti-CAA movement is a reflection that the dyspneic democratic aspirations taken from the Assam movement are getting shaped after decades. However, individuals like Lurinjyoti Gogoi and his immediate coterie were unable to maintain their affiliation with the AASU.”
“There is an allegation that the 30 organisations have [been] hobnobbing with [the] BJP and their activities may divert the dyspneic democratic aspiration taken from [the] Assam movement from getting shaped. They should avoid it,” he added.
Further, Das underlined that the “BJP, over time, hijacked the nationalist and regional ideas due to the failure of [the] AGP and [the] AASU.”
“Now, the leaders of the movement at Sivasagar should remain double cautious of not falling prey to ultra-nationalism and communalism and rather engage in broader issues of the Assamese people,” he said.
Considering everything, a question arises: Will the legitimate anxieties of the people ever escape the vortex of politics, and how effective will the collective leadership be in addressing these concerns?
To put things into perspective, Gohain remarked:
“Lack of calm rational understanding and proper socio-political plans to correct the tilt of the balance leads to sterile vertigo.”
Sandipan Talukdar is a Guwahati-based independent journalist.