Fact Check: Did the Congress ‘Conspire’ to Cede Assam to East Pakistan?

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (December 20) alleged that the Congress party conspired with the British and the Muslim League to merge Assam with East Pakistan before Independence.

Addressing a rally in Guwahati after inaugurating a nature-themed airport, Modi claimed that the Congress had committed a "sin" by nearly joining a pre-Independence plot to erase the identity of the state. He claimed that the first chief minister of Assam, Gopinath Bordoloi, had to "stand up against his own party" to prevent the province from being ceded to what later became East Pakistan.

The prime minister's remarks come after Bangladesh was affected by violent protests sparked by the assassination of youth leader, Sharif Osman Hadi. 

The 'grouping' crisis of 1946

Historical records indicate that the All India Congress Committee (AICC), led by Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel, initially accepted the plan in June 1946. Their objective was to maintain a United India and prevent a total Partition of the country. However, the  Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 mandated that Section C would frame the constitutions for both Bengal and Assam.

Because Bengal held 60 representatives compared to Assam’s 10, Assamese leaders feared they would be outvoted by the Muslim League, effectively forcing Assam into a future Muslim-majority sovereign state.

However, the AICC viewed "Grouping" as a temporary layer of governance to satisfy the Muslim League and prevent the creation of a sovereign Pakistan.

Nehru’s ‘sabotage’ and the July 10 statement

While the prime minister alleged a "conspiracy", archival records of Nehru’s press conference in Bombay on July 10, 1946, suggest a more complex tactical position. Nehru initially accepted the Plan to ensure the British departure, but then moved to dismantle the grouping clause from within.

Nehru stated: "The first thing is we have agreed to go into the Constituent Assembly and we have agreed to nothing else... What we do there, we are entirely and absolutely free to determine."

Specifically addressing the Northeast, Nehru predicted the collapse of the grouping scheme: "The big probability is that... there will be no grouping. It is highly likely that Assam will decide against grouping with Bengal... Assam will not tolerate it under any circumstances whatever."

Bordoloi revolts and Gandhi backs him

Six days after Nehru's statement, the Assam Legislative Assembly became the site of a historic constitutional defiance. Proceedings from July 16, 1946, show Bordoloi moving a resolution that directed Assam's representatives to frame the provincial constitution independently of any group or section.

Bordoloi told the House, "The consideration of bringing about that unity which we have already sought shall leave no stone unturned... but [grouping] seemed so far divided to an extent which none have liked."

The resolution was met with fierce opposition from the Muslim League. Saiyid Sir Muhammad Saadulla, Leader of the Opposition, argued that defying the British mandate would jeopardize Assam's economic survival. Saadulla submitted that Assam was financially bound to Bengal, noting that the State received a subvention of only ₹30 lakh from the Centre and relied on Bengal for customs revenue from tea and jute. He warned that if Assam "stands out," it would face an "economic breakdown."

Bordoloi, however, remained resolute, famously quoting Shakespeare to describe the potential surrender of autonomy: "What a fall was there, my countrymen."

When the national leadership, including Nehru and Sardar Patel, pressured Bordoloi to comply for the sake of national unity, he sought the counsel of Mahatma Gandhi. 

In December 1946, Gandhi famously backed the provincial rebellion, telling Bordoloi’s emissaries: "Assam must not lose its soul. It must uphold it against the whole world... even if Gandhi tries to discard us, we won't listen."

Was there a ‘conspiracy’?

Historical evidence suggests that the friction was less a "conspiracy" and more a fundamental disagreement over political strategy.

The AICC viewed grouping as a temporary, tactical evil necessary to prevent the total Partition of the subcontinent. The Assam Congress viewed it as an existential threat.

Records from the Viceroy’s journal indicate that the League, under Sir Muhammad Saadulla in Assam, did indeed seek to alter the State’s demography through land settlement policies to ensure its inclusion in Section C.

In his personal diary, Lord Wavell recorded his observation after a meeting in Shillong in 1943. He noted that the Muslim League's push for migration under the "Grow More Food" campaign had a hidden political motive:

"The chief political problem is the desire of the Muslim Ministers to increase the immigration into uncultivated Government lands under the slogan of 'Grow More Food' but what it really is, is 'Grow More Moslems'."

By way of conclusion

Modi's description of the friction between Bordoloi and the Congress High Command is supported by historical record. However, the characterisation of these events as a "conspiracy" remains a political interpretation. 

While Nehru and the AICC were willing to compromise temporarily on Assam's status to achieve a united central government, primary sources from the period suggest this was a tactical disagreement rather than a deliberate plot to cede territory.

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