THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY July 30, 1960

Assamese are only about 55 per cent an insult and an act of force which strong, and they will not stop till of the total population. A State, will be vehemently opposed. The they have made Assamese the official according to the States Reorganisa­ Bengalis of Cachar may be ignored language, whatever the cost or con­ tion Commission, can be regarded as but not the hill tribes. The Naga sequence. In that case the Assamese unilingual if 70 per cent or more of Hills District formed part of Assam who number some forty lakhs in all, the population speak one language. but the people there have felt pro­ and who live only in the six districts According to this principle, Assam voked to rise in revolt. There is no of the Brahmaputra or Assam Valley, cannot be unlingual. doubt that if similarly roused, the will have to seek a separate State of To impose Assamese on the people remaining four Hill Districts too will their own, of Cachar or of the four Hill Districts follow suit. Silchar, where, except for State Government The Assamese feeling for their employees no Assamese lives, will be language is, however, extremely July 7. Assam Disturbances: II Tragedy of Political Tactlessness P C Goswami IN the present territory of Assam as the State Language of Assam for by the Assamese, openly supported (excluding the Naga Hills) fear of offending the people of the cause of the Assamese. But in Assamese is the mother, tongue of Cachar and Hill Ditsricts, particu­ areas where the non-Assamese are in about 57 per cent of the popula­ larly when adequate safeguards are majority, (e.g. the Hill Districts, tion. Among the minority language provided for the minorities. If the Cachar District and few railway groups, the Bengalis account for present boundary of Assam stands towns like Lumding, Mariani) or­ about 19 per cent of the total popu­ in the way of giving the Assamese ganised efforts were made to thwart lation. Barring Cachar district, language its rightful status, it would the move. At all places students took the Bengalis constitute only a be proper to change the boundary as the most active part. small proportion of the popula­ has been done in other parts of The opposition to Assamese came tion. Spoken Bengali of the Cachar India. mostly from the Bengalis who con­ district is as different from Bengali Although there has been a persis­ stitute the most vocal and educated as it is from Assamese. There are tent demand from the Assamese pub- section among the non,-Assamese. scores of dissimilar tribal languages lie for recognition of Assamese as Although most of the Hill Districts or dialects, but none of these is the State Language since 1950. those (except Mikir Hills) opposed Assa­ spoken by more than 5 per cent of in authority tried to shelve the issue. mese and favoured English, their the population. In certain hill dis­ The Congress Party tended to ignore opposition was not so bitter. The tricts, including the Naga Hills and the demand and others, to exploit Hill people, in general, did not or­ the NEFA, Assamese is the princi­ the situation. Delay in deciding the ganise any meetings or demonstra­ pal or only medium of inter-tribal issue caused frustration and anger tions to oppose the move, mainly or inter-regional communication. among the Assamese and encouraged because of the fact that they were Much has been said about the opposition from the non-Assamese, more interested in achieving a se­ reliability of the census figures of particularly Bengalis. parate hill state of their own than 1951. It is possible that the census in frittering away their energies on UNWISE STATEMENT figures of 1931 were cooked up the language controversy. under the guidance and active co­ The leader of the Opposition in CONCESSION TO MINORITY GROUPS operation of Bengali officers who the Assam Assembly moved a reso­ Owing to the pressure of public were at the helm of affairs at the lution in the last budget session for opinion, the Assam Pradesh Con­ district level at that time. If Ben­ declaring Assamese as the State Lan­ gress Committee had to adopt a re­ galis outnumber the Assamese even guage. Many Congressmen favoured solution defining its polity. The in the Brahmaputra Valley, it is the move. The resolution was talked Pradesh Congress Executive met in surprising that they are subject to out. Chief Minister Chaliha declared April last and decided that Assamese violence from the Assamese! The on the floor of the House on March should be adopted as the State Lan­ question of the accuracy of the 15, 1960 that the demand to make guage in the Brahmaputra Valley 1931 and 1951 census figures was Assamese the State Language must forthwith and that the status quo considered by the States Reorgani­ come from the non-Assamese. This should be maintained in the rest of sation Commission, and more re- impractical and unwise statement was Assam. Assamese was to be adopted liance was placed by it on the the cause of all the subsequent hap­ in Cachar and the Hill Districts only 1951 figures, penings in connection with the lan­ guage agitation. Meetings and de­ when the people there were pre­ Bengali has been declared as the monstrations were held all over the pared for it. The APCC resolution State Language for the Darjeeling State either to support or oppose the thus gave the maximum possible District of West Bengal where it is claims of the Assamese language. concession to the minority language spoken only by about 16 per cent of Non-Assamese residents (including groups. the population. So there should be Bengalis) of the Brahmaputra Valley, In May 1960. Chief Minister no hesitation in declaring Assamese where they are greatly outnumbered Chaliha indicated that Government 1195

THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY July 30, 1960 would introduce a Bill at the suc- BENGALIS AGITATE sense of proportion is lost. With ceeding session of the Assembly on. When tension was mounting at violence breaking out all over the the lines of the APCC resolution. Gauhati and other places as a result State, people belonging to minority This, however, did not satisfy the of the language and other types of language groups began leaving their Bengalis, and efforts were made by agitation, the Bengalis with the help homes. Thus Bengalis from the them to exert pressure on the Assa­ of a few Khasis, organised a big pro­ Brahmaputra Valley started going to mese Congress and Assam Govern­ cession in Shillong on May 21. The West Bengal, Cachar, Shillong and ment through the powerful Calcutta participants used very derogatory Government camps; and the Assamese press and West Bengal leaders. Pre­ words against the Assamese language from Shillong, Cachar, Lumding and parations were also made to hold a (e.g. Assamese is a "donkeys' lan­ even West Bengal to their homes in the Brahmaputra Valley. The move­ Bengali Conference at Silchar (head­ guage', etc), smeared Assamese sign- ment of displaced persons gave rise quarters of the Cachar District) to hoards and assaulted Assamese peo­ to fresh tension and aggravated the oppose the move of the Assamese ple. The police did not take any situation. Trouble started at Jorhat Government. steps to check this rowdyism. When news of this attack on the Assamese on July 8, with the arrival of Assa­ NON-ASSAMESE PREFERRED FOR JOBS language at the State capital spread mese refugees from Lumding. Though the people of Assam have been called Although not related to the lan­ in the Brahmaputra Valley, the Assa­ names, it may be noted that, consider­ guage agitation, certain other inci­ mese people launched counter demon­ ing how wide-spread the agitation was, dents during this period at Gauhati strations and in a few cases tried to the loss of life has been negligible. tended to heighten the tension. pay the Bengalis back in their own Destruction of property was due When the Central Government, fol­ coin. Trouble soon erupted all over mainly to acts of arson, committed in lowing the strong agitation in Assam, the State, and both the Assamese and ninety per cent of cases in vacant decided to locate the oil refinery at Bengali (i.e. Assamese in Cachar, houses. A few cases of arson were Gauhati. the people of Assam na­ Shillong, Lumding, etc, and Bengalis committed by the owners of houses turally hoped to get a due share of in Brahmaputra Valley) minority (perhaps with the hope of getting big the employment opportunities creat­ groups became panicky. compensation). There was no dis­ ed. Most thoughtlessly the authority In this tense atmosphere, the All- respect shown to women at all. of the refinery selected a Bengali Assam Bengali Convention was held civil servant as General Manager of Lawlessness, whatever its form at Silchar under the presidentship of the refinery even when Assamese and wherever it emerges, should be Sri Chapala Kanta Bhattacharya. candidates of equal or even better condemned by all. During the sad Editor of the Anand Bazar Patrika qualifications were easily available. days of Partition, the present writer of Calcutta, on July 2. Resolutions was in Calcutta, and saw there to were passed demanding that Bengali It is true that there is a dearth of what lengths mob frenzy could go. should be declared as the second technical personnel in Assam. Never­ He also knows what happened in State Language of Assam. Congress theless, in non-technical spheres, the Calcutta during the I N A agitation MLAs and MPs of Cachar threaten­ Assamese expected to get some pre­ when a student was killed in police ed to resign if this demand was not ference. But the management of the firing. Even last year, when the met. refinery appeared to prefer non- Food agitation was launched in West- Assarnese candidates even when Assa­ POLICE FIRING SPARKS TROUBLE Bengal and a general strike called, mese with equal qualifications were many innocent non-Bengalis lost their Even with all this, the situation available. To prevent the entry of properties and even their lives. did not take a serious turn. On July Assamese, long-term experience was Leaders in West Bengal, knowing 4, an armed police party. led by a laid down as an essential qualifica­ this aspect of mass hysteria, should non - Assamese Superintendent of tion. have tried to improve the situation Polic. opened fire on students inside in Assam through persuasion rather POLICE GIVEN FREE HAND the Cotton College Hostel, killing than bitter criticism of the Assamese one and causing serious injuries to Because of the unsympathetic at­ people, distortion of facts and demand six. This deplorable action inside a titude of the refinery management, for Central intervention. Along with college hostel should have normally the frustrated, unemployed, qualified, their condemnation of the lawlessness directed the students' anger to the angry young men of the State began in Assam, they should have also con­ police. But wrongly or rightly, many to assert themselves. A section of demned the high-handedness of police Assamese thought that this attack these frustrated young men started officers, the killing of an Assamese and the subsequent lawlessness had using abusive and threatening lan­ youth at Siliguri (West Bengal), been planned by the top Bengali guage to employees of the refinery. the assault on Shri Hareshwar Co- Police officers in the hope of securing swami and his wife and intimidation In the last week of May, the Ben­ Central intervention and getting the of Assamese residents in areas where gali Inspector-General of Police went language issue shelved for the pre­ they are in minority. This would to Gauhati. Incidentally, it may be sent. It is significant to note that have created mutual confidence and noted that the District Magistrate and the Calcutta newspapers completely respect instead of haired and dis­ D I G of Police in Gauhati at that blacked out this incident and gave trust. time were Bengalis and the Superin­ wide publicity to the assault on the tendent of Police, a Punjabi. The Bengali District Magistrate and D I G non-Assamese custodians of law and by an infuriated crowd. AGAINST BENGALIS order tried to teach a lesson to the People outside Assam should know young men on the plea that the Chief When people are greatly agitated, the following facts regarding the sad Minister had given them a free hand. mob frenzy reigns supreme and all incidents: 1197 July 30, 1960 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

(1) The agitation in Assam was lack of leadership. This further un- to restore peace and amity in the only against Bengalis and that too derlines the danger of selecting a Slate: against Hindu Bengalis who have man as Chief Minister of a problem (1) Police officials who were tact­ State only for his qualities of honesty been unsympathetic to other people. less or guilty of excesses should be (2) The immigrant Bengali Mus­ and personal integrity. It is asto­ dealt with severely. The General lims, who had already identified nishing that not a single Assamese Manager of the oil refinery should themselves with the local people, were Congress legislator who enjoys the be replaced by a non-Bengali. not affected at all. peoples confidence and who could advise the Chief Minister and face (2) The present Cabinet should (3) Along with the Bengali eva­ the situation along with him, has be reconstituted with a new Chief cuees, from the Brahmaputra Valley, been included in Chaliha's cabinet. Minister having as his colleagues real there have also been Assamese eva­ representatives of the Assamese, Ben­ cuees from Lumding, Mariani, Shil- FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP gali and Hill people. long, Cachar District and a few other It is true that no political party (3) Assamese should be declared places (including West Bengal) in Assam could anticipate the dis­ the State Language on the lines where Bengalis predominate. content and anger of the young men. of the APCC resolution. (4) Many Bengali leaders in The Ministry was completely out of touch with the masses. When tension (4) If the people of the Cachar Assam, including those of the Con­ and Hill districts oppose this, they gress and opposition parties, are in in the student world was mounting steadily, political parties of the State should be allowed to secede from the habit of looking to West Bengal Assam and form a separate State of were engrossed in the village pan- for inspiration, guidance and pub­ their own. licity instead of talking things out chayat elections held throughout the (5) Preference should be given inside the State of Assam. State from April to June. Ministers and even top men of the State Con­ to local candidates in filling up va­ (5) When the conflict was con­ gress organisation could not spare cancies in Central services in Assam. fined to two sections of residents in any time to explain to the people If suitable candidates are not avail­ Assam, attempts were made by the Government's policy or the APCC able in Assam, applications should West Bengal political parties to in- resolution on the language issue. be invited from all parts of India fluence the situation from Calcutta. Had some attempt been made in- the and not from West Bengal alone. Would they tolerate from the people last week of May by political lead­ (6) All political parties in Assam of Assam criticism of acts of hooli­ ers to guide, advise and restrain the should try to revitalise themselves ganism and violence occurring in student agitators, many of the un­ and establish closer links with the their own State every year? fortunate incidents would have been masses. They should also try to res­ (6) The administration of Assam avoided. Because of lack of contact train their counter-parts in West is even now guided and controlled between political leaders on the our Bengal. by Bengali officers. hand, and the students and the (7) Assamese students should be PROVOCATION FROM NON-ASSAMESE masses on the other, no restraining given opportunities to visit "different ADMINISTRATORS and sobering influence could operate. places in India to get over their This led to serious deterioration in (7) Except for the recent hap­ sense of isolation. Students from all the situation. Even the students lost penings, Assam had never witnessed over India, especially from West control over it, and anti-social ele­ mob frenzy. People belonging to Bengal, should be encouraged to ments infiltrated and took the law different castes, religions, languages visit Assam. Only through cultural into their own hands. and areas were all along living peace­ exchange can the spirit of unity and fully, enjoying the confidence and Rehabilitation of the evacuees de­ oneness he fell and mutual trust and friendship of the local people even serves top priority. The guilty should goodwill developed. in remote villages. In the days of be punished. The following steps Jorhat, communal disturbances and linguis­ should also be taken immediately July 21. tic campaigns, there was no serious trouble in Assam. It is natural' to conclude, therefore, that the recent mob fury was due to provocation from non-Assamese administrators, agents of greater Bengal residing in Assam, political parties and news­ papers of West Bengal. The Central Government, through ignorance of the situation and neglect of the legi­ timate claims of the Assamese youth, has also contributed largely to the prevailing sense of frustration. Shri B P Chaliha through his tactlessness and utter lack of control over the officers, his unfriendly atti­ tude to the local Congress organisa­ tion and unsympathetic behaviour to the student community has shown 1198