The study of world history acquaints us with stories of many unfortunate ethnic groups. These groups, once active across various parts of the world, have ultimately vanished, as recorded in history books.

This process of vanishing into the oblivion of human civilisation continues even today with many ethnic groups, and it has become a subject of research for historians.

The Assamese-speaking ethnic group, inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent, is also moving towards a similar fate.

Since 2021, the incumbent BJP-led alliance government in Assam has been working to free government land from encroachers, especially from the clutches of the alleged illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

In this process of eviction from forest as well as government land, both support for the drive and opposition have mounted from different groups and student bodies in the State.

Meanwhile, in their opposition, certain groups representing the Bengali-origin people of the State (currently official Assamese speakers) has vowed to make the Assamese speakers a minority in their own land by choosing Bengali as their mother tongue in the upcoming census.

Due to its geographical position, Assam has long been a destination for migration by people of Bengali origin across the border.

Even before the partition of India, Bengalis had been moving to Assam, driven mostly by economic opportunities and sometimes owing to certain religious reasons from the greater Bengal region.

Despite having their own homeland, the flow of Bengali migrants continues to Assam to this day. Although the BJP-led government in Assam is actively evicting illegal encroachers from reserved forest areas, an organisation called the All Bodo Minority Students’ Union (ABMSU) has been vocal in support of these encroachers.

In a statement by the central executive president of ABMSU, it was publicly stated that, in the upcoming census process, the Bengali-origin people residing in Assam will not list Assamese as their mother tongue. Although this threat was directed at the BJP-led government, its implementation could have far-reaching consequences for Assam.

According to the State Reorganisation Act of 1956, Indian states were created based on linguistic identity. This implies that states were formed to group people with similar languages and cultural characteristics, with governance and administration based solely on language and not on religion.

In this context, it needs to be mentioned that Assamese was recognised as the official language of the State under the State Language Act in 1960.

Bengali also holds significance in certain regions of Assam and was also made the second official language for Barak Valley districts.

Meanwhile, Assam is a diverse amalgamation of various ethnic groups, each with their own languages, yet they have historically used Assamese as the primary medium of communication.

There has been tricky politics at play, aiming to make Assamese speakers a minority in their own State since independence, by some vested interests. This form of political blackmail in state politics was mitigated with the Assam Movement in the 1980s.

In the censuses held post-Assam Movement, the number of Assamese speakers showed a significant rise during the census years of 1991, 2001 and 2011.

Meanwhile, the eviction drive by the BJP-led Assam Government, aimed at eradicating 'land jihad' (the term used by the party), has ignited tensions among communities. If this tension flares up emotions and leads to embracing Bengali officially, then the alarming fact is that if Assamese speakers become a linguistic minority in Assam, it may become necessary to redefine Assam’s geographical boundaries based on linguistic majority, even if not explicitly mentioned in the State Reorganisation Act, 1956.

According to the 2011 census, out of Assam’s population of over 30 million, only about 15 million are Assamese speakers.

There is now apprehension among conscious citizens about whether this number will decrease or increase in the upcoming census, more than a decade later.

According to central census data, the first census in India began in 1872, but the first comprehensive census across British India was conducted in 1881. This census process convinced British administrators that Assam had a distinct language and a significant Assamese-speaking population. Consequently, from 1836 to 1873, when Assam was under the Bengal Province with Bengali as the official language, the British administration later separated Assam and established Assamese as the administrative language.

According to central census data, the percentage of Assamese speakers in undivided Assam from 1901 to 1931 was as follows:

SOURCE: INDIAN CENSUS

Post-independence, Greater Assam—alias Northeast India—gradually began to fragment into different states, and along with it, various political and social issues continued to impact the state of Assam. If we look at the numbers or percentages of Assamese speakers post-independence, the situation is equally concerning, as the decadal growth rate of Assamese speakers is worrisome.

SOURCE: Indian Census (No Census Was Conducted In 1981 Due To Assam Agitation) 

Thus, such concerning census statistics clearly indicate that the future of the Assamese language is bleak.

It is the only Indian state where the Assamese language is fighting for its own survival in its homeland. This is a major concern for the Assamese political fraternity as well as Assamese language lovers.

Since the Assam Agitation, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) has been actively working to protect the Assamese ethnic group and language, often travelling to Delhi for this cause.

Despite efforts, the language remains far from secure in numbers. Recently, there has been a government announcement regarding the implementation of the Justice Biplab Sharma Commission’s report on the Assam Accord.

During this time, AASU has stated that even if it requires amending the Constitution, the Assamese language must be permanently recognised as the official language for the state of Assam. However, if we become numerically weak, Assamese politicians may no longer have the opportunity to engage in language-based politics in the coming decades.

The BJP-led Assam government’s efforts to address illegal citizens and reclaim government/forest land for public welfare have been welcomed by the larger section of society.

However, if eviction politics endanger Assam’s social and linguistic harmony, the ethnic group will bear the consequences.

The question arises: if the government believes that delimitation processes can resolve certain issues, it should also understand that even today, Rohingya or Bengali people are entering India through the Assam-Bangladesh border or the India-Myanmar and India-Bangladesh borders (via other northeastern states).

This influx will not only affect delimitation but also destroy Assam’s linguistic and cultural fabric.

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