Politicians, activists and scholars have documented the origins and development of the language, spoken primarily by the tribal population, while the local government went so far as to close schools that used Assamese. Since colonial times, the language has struggled to establish itself due to “rivalry” with Bengali, an issue that still worries Assamese nationalists today.
New Delhi () – The northeastern state of Assam is preparing to celebrate the recognition of the Assamese language as a “classical language”, an achievement that the local government, led by the BJP, a Hindu ultra-nationalist party, has described as “historic”. The Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, announced that during the week of November 3 to 9, there will also be a tribute in recognition of the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and tribute will be paid to the personalities who have contributed to the upliftment of the language. However, several citizens and activists have been critical of the Government, which in recent years has closed more than 160 schools that use Assamese, mainly due to low enrollment numbers.
The official recognition of Assamese as a classical language was approved by the central government on October 3, including it in the list along with other ancient languages such as Pali, Prakrit, Marathi and Bengali. But it was the Assamese Sahitya Sabha (ASS) organization that documented the historical use of Assamese to meet the criteria set by the Ministry of Culture for recognition.
Lurinjyoti Gogoi, leader of the Assam Jatiya Parishad political party, criticized the government for boasting about merits that were not its own: “The government is busy gathering political support, while the truth is that it had no idea how to carry out the task of granting Assamese the status of a classical language. “It was the ASS and especially Kuladhar Saikia, the mastermind of the entire operation, who made this recognition possible.”
Gogoi pointed the finger at government policies. In addition to the closure of dozens of schools, he recalled how Chief Minister Sarma himself declared that “it is difficult to become a doctor or engineer by studying in the Assamese language” (spoken mainly by the indigenous tribal population) and then tried to introduce English as a language. of teaching, a measure that was later revoked due to a wave of protests. “Do these actions reflect love and respect for the language?” added Gogoi, when asked about The Wire. “Furthermore, Vandya International School, a prominent institute in Assam run by the chief minister’s wife, offers only English as the language of instruction.”
Kuladhar Saikia, former president of the ASS, assembled a committee of experts in 2021 to study the origin of the Assamese language through a multidisciplinary approach. “Our main objective was to involve experts from various disciplines such as archaeology, music, art, literature and linguistics to determine the roots of the Assamese language,” explained Saikia, recounting the work done on the rock inscriptions of Nagajari Khanikar , in the Golaghat district, dating back to the 4th century, and about folk songs and ancient manuscripts that prove the presence of the Assamese language.
Following this, on March 19, 2021, the ASS submitted the report “Memorandum for Granting Classical Status to the Assamese Language” to the Indian Ministry of Culture, which was examined by the Sahitya Academy. To obtain the status, the language in question must have a history of at least 1,500-2,000 years and the literary corpus must represent a valuable heritage for several generations.
“The inscriptions contain the history of the dynasties during whose reign they were written,” explains archaeologist Manjil Hazarika. “For example, the Nagajari Khanikar inscription, which speaks of the land grant system, could hint at the initial formation of the State and the development of a certain economic system.”
However, the history of Assamese has been marked by obstacles and battles, both in the colonial era and after independence. The Assamese people are stunned at the declaration of classical language status as for over a century there have been obstacles to the development and continuity of the identity-bearing language,” Saikia continued.
During British rule, Bengali was the lingua franca of the region, used in courts, schools and government offices, at least until local intellectuals and missionaries began to fight for the recognition of Assamese as an official language, an achievement achieved between 1872 and 1873.
The rivalry with Bengali continued even after independence and has recently resurfaced with the enactment of the Citizenship Act (CAA), which many, including the Assam Jatiya Parishad, which is a nationalist party, see as a threat, because they fear that The arrival of Bengali-speaking immigrants disturbs the balance in the region.
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