Identity Politics, Ethnic Conflict and Altruistic Sentiments: Situating Assam in 1960

Abstract

In Assam, the perennial discords between the indigenous/native Assamese and immigrant/refugee Bengalis have posed serious challenges to peaceful cohabitation and administration. The year 1960 proved tumultuous in Assam’s history as these two communities clashed with each other. This paper traces the roots of ethnic conflict in Assam to British colonial policy of encouraging Muslim Bengali immigrants from erstwhile East Bengal to clear forests and cultivate in Assam, (a flow which soon became unrestrained); the middle class educated Bengalis who threatened the livelihood of the Assamese in oil refineries, tea gardens, government services and business; the introduction of Bengali as the official language in Assam from 1826 to 1873; and the Sylhet Referendum in 1947 which ousted Sylhet from Assam and led to an unprecedented refugee influx that led to immense resentment among the Assamese. An attempt to declare Assamese as the state language fuelled Bengali discontent and led to the political radicalization of the Assamese. In 1960, violent clashes erupted, especially in the Bengali-speaking district of Cachar. The disturbances were politicized by the political parties in Assam. This article also highlights the humanitarian side of ethnic conflict, which often lies in obscurity, with an illustration of how the Assamese people helped and supported a Bengali family at the height of communal tensions, thus giving expression to altruistic sentiments.