THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY July 30, 1960

Assamese are only about 55 per cent of the total popu la t ion . A State, according to the States Reorganisa­t ion Commission, can be regarded as un i l ingua l i f 70 per cent or more of the popula t ion speak one language. Accord ing to this p r inc ip le , Assam cannot be unl ingual .

To impose Assamese on the people of Cachar or of the four H i l l Distr icts where, except fo r State Government employees no Assamese lives, w i l l be

an insul t and an ac t of force w h i c h w i l l be vehemently opposed. The Bengalis of Cachar may be ignored but not the h i l l tribes. The Naga H i l l s Di s t r i c t fo rmed par t of Assam but the people there have felt pro­voked to rise in revol t . There is no doubt that i f s imi la r ly roused, the remain ing fou r H i l l Dis t r ic ts too w i l l fol low suit.

The Assamese feel ing f o r their language is, however, extremely

strong, and they w i l l not stop t i l l they have made Assamese the official language, whatever the cost or con­sequence. In that case the Assamese who number some for ty lakhs in a l l , and who live only in the six distr icts of the Brahmaput ra or Assam Valley, w i l l have to seek a separate State o f their own,

Silchar,

Ju ly 7.

Assam Disturbances: II

Tragedy of Political Tactlessness P C Goswami

IN the present t e r r i to ry of Assam (exc lud ing the Naga H i l l s )

Assamese is the mother, tongue of about 57 per cent of the popula­t ion . Among the m i n o r i t y language groups, the Bengalis account for about 19 per cent of the total popu­la t ion . B a r r i n g Cachar dis t r ic t , the Bengalis constitute only a small p ropor t ion of the popula­t ion . Spoken Bengali of the Cachar dis t r ic t is as different f r o m Bengali as it is f r o m Assamese. There are scores of d iss imi lar t r i b a l languages or dialects, but none of these is spoken by more than 5 per cent of the popula t ion . In certain h i l l dis­tr icts , inc lud ing the Naga H i l l s and the NEFA, Assamese is the p r i n c i ­pal o r on ly med ium of in te r - t r iba l or inter-regional communica t ion .

M u c h has been said about the r e l i ab i l i t y of the census figures of 1951. It is possible that the census figures of 1931 were cooked up under the guidance and active co­operat ion of Bengali officers who were at the helm of affairs at the d is t r ic t level at that t ime. If Ben­galis outnumber the Assamese even in the Brahmaput ra Val ley , i t is surpr i s ing that they are subject to violence f r o m the Assamese! The question of the accuracy of the 1931 and 1951 census figures was considered by the States Reorgani­sation Commission, and more re-liance was placed by it on the 1951 figures,

Bengali has been declared as the State Language for the Dar j ee l ing Dis t r ic t of West Bengal where it is spoken on ly by about 16 per cent of the popula t ion . So there should be no hesitation in dec lar ing Assamese

as the State Language of Assam for fear of offending the people of Cachar and H i l l Ditsricts , par t icu­l a r ly when adequate safeguards are p rov ided for the minor i t ies . I f the present boundary of Assam stands in the way of g i v i n g the Assamese language its r i g h t f u l status, i t would be proper to change the boundary as has been done in other parts of Ind i a .

Al though there has been a persis­tent demand f r o m the Assamese pub-lie for recognit ion of Assamese as the State Language since 1950. those in au thor i ty t r ied to shelve the issue. The Congress Party tended to ignore the demand and others, to explo i t the s i tuat ion. Delay in deciding the issue caused f rus t ra t ion and anger among the Assamese and encouraged opposi t ion f r o m the non-Assamese, pa r t i cu la r ly Bengalis.

UNWISE STATEMENT

The leader of the Opposi t ion in the Assam Assembly moved a reso­lu t ion in the last budget session for declar ing Assamese as the State Lan­guage. M a n y Congressmen favoured the move. The resolution was talked out. Chief Min i s t e r Chaliha declared on the floor of the House on March 15, 1960 that the demand to make Assamese the State Language must come f r o m the non-Assamese. This imprac t ica l and unwise statement was the cause of all the subsequent hap­penings in connection w i t h the lan­guage agi ta t ion. Meetings and de­monstrations were held al l over the State either to support or oppose the claims of the Assamese language. Non-Assamese residents ( i n c l u d i n g Bengalis) of the Brahmaput ra Valley, where they are greatly outnumbered

by the Assamese, openly supported the cause of the Assamese. But in areas where the non-Assamese are in ma jo r i ty , (e.g. the H i l l Distr ic ts , Cachar Distr ict and few r a i lway towns l ike L u m d i n g , M a r i a n i ) or­ganised efforts were made to thwar t the move. At al l places students took the most active part .

The opposi t ion to Assamese came mostly f r o m the Bengalis who con­stitute the most vocal and educated section among the non,-Assamese. Al though most of the H i l l Distr icts (except M i k i r Hil ls) opposed Assa­mese and favoured English, thei r opposi t ion was not so bi t ter . The H i l l people, in general, d i d not or­ganise any meetings or demonstra­tions to oppose the move, m a i n l y because of the fact that they were more interested in achieving a se­parate h i l l state of their own than in f r i t t e r ing away their energies on the language controversy.

CONCESSION TO M I N O R I T Y GROUPS

O w i n g to the pressure of publ ic op in ion , the Assam Pradesh Con­gress Committee had to adopt a re­solution defining its po l i t y . The Pradesh Congress Executive met in A p r i l last and decided that Assamese should be adopted as the State Lan­guage in the Brahmaputra Val ley f o r t h w i t h and that the status quo should be maintained in the rest of Assam. Assamese was to be adopted in Cachar and the H i l l Districts o n l y when the people there were pre­pared for i t . The APCC resolution thus gave the m a x i m u m possible concession to the mino r i t y language groups.

In May 1960. Chief Min is te r Chaliha indicated that Government

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w o u l d introduce a B i l l at the suc-ceeding session of the Assembly on. the lines of the A P C C resolution. This , however, d i d not satisfy the Bengalis, and efforts were made by them to exert pressure on the Assa­mese Congress and Assam Govern­ment through the powerfu l Calcutta press and West Bengal leaders. Pre­parations were also made to hold a Bengali Conference at Silchar (head­quarters of the Cachar Dis t r i c t ) to oppose the move of the Assamese Government.

NON-ASSAMESE PREFERRED FOR JOBS

A l t h o u g h not related to the lan­guage agi ta t ion, certain other inc i ­dents d u r i n g this per iod at Gauhati tended to heighten the tension. When the Central Government, fo l ­lowing the strong agi tat ion in Assam, decided to locate the o i l refinery at Gauhati . the people of Assam na­tura l ly hoped to get a due share of the employment opportuni t ies creat­ed. Most thoughtlessly the author i ty of the refinery selected a Bengali c iv i l servant as General Manager of the refinery even when Assamese candidates of equal or even better qualifications were easily available.

It is true that there is a dearth of technical personnel in Assam. Never­theless, in non-technical spheres, the Assamese expected to get some pre­ference. But the management of the refinery appeared to prefer non-Assarnese candidates even when Assa­mese w i t h equal qualifications were available. To prevent the entry of Assamese, long-term experience was la id down as an essential qualifica­t i on .

POLICE GIVEN FREE H A N D

Because of the unsympathetic at­t i tude of the refinery management, the frustrated, unemployed, qual if ied, angry young men of the State began to assert themselves. A section of these frustrated young men started using abusive and threatening lan­guage to employees of the refinery.

In the last week of M a y , the Ben­gal i Inspector-General of Police went to Gauhat i . Incidental ly , i t may be noted that the Dis t r i c t Magistrate and D I G of Police in Gauhat i at that t ime were Bengalis and the Superin­tendent of Police, a Pun jab i . The non-Assamese custodians of law and order t r ied to teach a lesson to the young men on the plea that the Chief Min is te r had given them a free hand.

BENGALIS AGITATE

W h e n tension was moun t ing at Gauhat i and other places as a result of the language and other types of agi ta t ion, the Bengalis w i t h the help of a few Khasis, organised a b i g pro­cession in Shi l long on M a y 2 1 . The part icipants used very derogatory words against the Assamese language (e.g. Assamese is a "donkeys ' lan­guage ' , etc), smeared Assamese sign-hoards and assaulted Assamese peo­ple. The police d id not take any steps to check this rowdyi sm. When news of this attack on the Assamese language at the State capital spread in the Brahmaputra Va l ley , the Assa­mese people launched counter demon­strations and in a few cases t r ied to pay the Bengalis back in their own coin. Troub le soon erupted all over the State, and both the Assamese and Bengali (i .e. Assamese in Cachar, Shi l long, L u m d i n g , etc, and Bengalis in Brahmaputra Val ley) m i n o r i t y groups became panicky.

In this tense atmosphere, the A l l -Assam Bengali Convention was held at Silchar under the presidentship of Sri Chapala Kanta Bhattacharya. Editor of the Anand Bazar Patrika of Calcutta, on July 2. Resolutions were passed demanding that Bengali should be declared as the second State Language of Assam. Congress M L A s and MPs of Cachar threaten­ed to resign if this demand was not met.

P O L I C E F I R I N G S P A R K S T R O U B L E

Even wi th all this, the situation d i d not take a serious tu rn . On July 4, an armed police par ty . led by a non - Assamese Superintendent of Pol ic . opened fire on students inside the Cotton College Hostel, k i l l i n g one and causing serious injuries to six. This deplorable action inside a college hostel should have normal ly directed the students' anger to the police. But wrongly or r igh t ly , many Assamese thought that this attack and the subsequent lawlessness had been planned by the top Bengali Police officers in the hope of securing Central intervention and gett ing the language issue shelved for the pre­sent. It is significant to note that the Calcutta newspapers completely blacked out this incident and gave wide pub l i c i t y to the assault on the Bengali Dis t r ic t Magistrate and D I G by an infur ia ted c rowd .

When people are greatly agitated, mob frenzy reigns supreme and a l l

sense of p r o p o r t i o n is lost. W i t h violence breaking out a l l over the State, people belonging to m i n o r i t y language groups began leaving thei r homes. Thus Bengalis f r o m the Brahmaput ra Val ley started going to West Bengal , Cachar, Shi l long and Government camps; and the Assamese f rom Shi l long, Cachar, L u m d i n g and even West Bengal to their homes in the Brahmaput ra Va l l ey . The move­ment of displaced persons gave rise to fresh tension and aggravated the s i tuat ion. Trouble started at Jorhat on Ju ly 8, w i t h the a r r i v a l of Assa­mese refugees f r o m L u m d i n g . Though the people of Assam have been called names, it may be noted that, consider­ing how wide-spread the agitat ion was, the loss of l i f e has been negligible. Destruction of p roper ty was due ma in ly to acts of arson, commit ted in ninety per cent of cases in vacant houses. A few cases of arson were committed by the owners of houses (perhaps wi th the hope of get t ing b ig compensation). There was no dis­respect shown to women at a l l .

Lawlessness, whatever its f o r m and wherever it emerges, should be condemned by a l l . D u r i n g the sad days of Par t i t ion , the present wr i t e r was in Calcutta, and saw there to what lengths mob frenzy could go. He also knows what happened in Calcutta d u r i n g the I N A agi ta t ion when a student was k i l l ed in police f i r i n g . Even last year, when the Food agi ta t ion was launched in West-Bengal and a general strike called, many innocent non-Bengalis lost their properties and even their lives. Leaders in West Bengal, k n o w i n g this aspect of mass hysteria, should have t r ied to i m p r o v e the situation in Assam th rough persuasion rather than bitter c r i t i c i sm of the Assamese people, d is tor t ion of facts and demand for Central in tervent ion . A l o n g w i t h their condemnation of the lawlessness in Assam, they should have also con­demned the high-handedness of police officers, the k i l l i n g of an Assamese youth at S i l i g u r i (West Benga l ) , the assault on Shr i Hareshwar Co-swami and his wife and i n t im ida t i on of Assamese residents in areas where they are in m i n o r i t y . Th i s would have created mutual confidence and respect instead of haired and dis­trust .

AGAINST BENGALIS

People outside Assam should know the fo l l owing facts regarding the sad incidents:

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(1 ) The agi tat ion in Assam was on ly against Bengalis and that too against H i n d u Bengalis who have been unsympathetic to other people.

(2) The immigran t Bengali Mus­lims, who had already identified themselves wi th the local people, were not affected at a l l .

(3) A l o n g w i t h the Bengali eva­cuees, f rom the Brahmaputra Val ley , there have also been Assamese eva­cuees f rom L u m d i n g , M a r i a n i , Shil-long, Cachar Dis t r ic t and a few other places ( i n c l u d i n g West Bengal) where Bengalis predominate.

(4 ) M a n y Bengali leaders in Assam, inc luding those of the Con­gress and opposi t ion parties, are in the habit of looking to West Bengal for inspirat ion, guidance and pub­l i c i ty instead of t a lk ing things out inside the State of Assam.

(5 ) When the conflict was con­fined to two sections of residents in Assam, attempts were made by the West Bengal pol i t ica l parties to in-fluence the situation f rom Calcutta. Would they tolerate f rom the people of Assam cr i t ic ism of acts of hool i ­ganism and violence occur r ing in their own State every year?

(6 ) The adminis t ra t ion of Assam is even now guided and controlled by Bengali officers.

PROVOCATION FROM N O N - A S S A M E S E

A D M I N I S T R A T O R S

(7 ) Except for the recent hap­penings, Assam had never witnessed mob frenzy. People belonging to different castes, rel igions, languages and areas were a l l along l i v i n g peace­fu l ly , en joy ing the confidence and f r iendship of the local people even in remote villages. In the days of communal disturbances and l inguis­tic campaigns, there was no serious t rouble in Assam. I t i s natural ' to conclude, therefore, that the recent mob fu ry was due to provocation f r o m non-Assamese administrators , agents of greater Bengal residing in Assam, po l i t i ca l parties and news­papers of West Bengal. The Central Government, through ignorance of the situation and neglect of the legi­timate claims of the Assamese youth , has also contr ibuted largely to the p reva i l i ng sense of f rus t ra t ion.

Sh r i B P Chaliha through his tactlessness and utter lack of control over the officers, his unfr iendly att i­tude to the local Congress organisa­t ion and unsympathetic behaviour to the student communi ty has shown

lack of leadership. This fur ther un-derlines the danger of selecting a man as Chief Minis te r of a p rob lem State only for his qualit ies of honesty and personal in tegr i ty . It is asto­nishing that not a single Assamese Congress legislator who enjoys the peoples confidence and who could advise the Chief Minis te r and face the situation along w i th h i m , has been included in Chaliha's cabinet.

FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP It is true that no pol i t ica l par ty

in Assam could anticipate the dis­content and anger of the young men. The Min i s t ry was completely out of touch w i t h the masses. When tension in the student wor ld was mount ing steadily, pol i t ica l parties of the State were engrossed in the village pan-chayat elections held throughout the State f rom A p r i l to June. Ministers and even top men of the State Con­gress organisation could not spare any t ime to explain to the people Government's policy or the APCC resolution on the language issue. H a d some attempt been made in- the last week of May by po l i t i ca l lead­ers to guide, advise and restrain the student agitators, many of the un­fortunate incidents would have been avoided. Because of lack of contact between pol i t ica l leaders on the our hand, and the students and the masses on the other, no restraining and sobering influence could operate. This led to serious deteriorat ion in the si tuat ion. Even the students lost cont ro l over i t , and anti-social ele­ments inf i l t ra ted and took the law into their own hands.

Rehabil i tat ion of the evacuees de­serves top p r i o r i t y . The gui l ty should be punished. The fo l lowing steps should also be taken immediately

to restore peace and a m i t y in the Slate:

(1) Police officials who were tact­less or gui l ty of excesses should be dealt w i t h severely. The General Manager of the o i l refinery should be replaced by a non-Bengali .

(2 ) The present Cabinet should be reconstituted wi th a new Chief Minis ter having as his colleagues real representatives of the Assamese, Ben­gali and H i l l people.

(3 ) Assamese should be declared the State Language on the lines of the APCC resolution.

(4 ) If the people of the Cachar and H i l l districts oppose this, they should be allowed to secede f rom Assam and f o r m a separate State of their own.

(5) Preference should be given to local candidates in f i l l i n g up va­cancies in Central services in Assam. If suitable candidates are not avail­able in Assam, applications should be invi ted f rom all parts of Ind ia and not f r o m West Bengal alone.

(6) A l l po l i t i ca l parties in Assam should t ry to revitalise themselves and establish closer l inks wi th the masses. They should also try to res­t ra in their counter-parts in West Bengal.

(7 ) Assamese students should be given opportuni t ies to vis i t "different places in Ind ia to get over their sense of isolat ion. Students f rom all over India , especially f rom West Bengal, should be encouraged to visit Assam. Only through cul tural exchange can the spi r i t of uni ty and oneness he fel l and mutual trust and goodwil l developed.

Jorhat, J u l y 2 1 .

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