Why are parties silent over identity narrative in Assam's Barak Valley?

Slichar: Announcements at Silchar Railway Station happen in three languages: Hindi, English, and Bengali. Assamese is not used here as Bengalis are dominant in this South Assam town. "Bangla please," said the tea-stall owner as he stared blankly at a question asked in Assamese. 

A brownish memorial stands a few metres outside, and there, too, Assamese is missing in the plaque below.

It names 11 "bhasha swahids" — language martyrs — who died in firing by security forces on May 19, 1961, in this railway station during the Bhasha Andolan — the movement against the "imposition" of Assamese as the official language in the valley.

Bengali was later recognised as the official language in the Bengali-dominated Barak Valley. Silchar Station has been named as Bhasha Swahid Station, but is awaiting the Assam government's approval.

The narrative around identity that dominates campaigns for the April 9 Assembly elections in the rest of Assam is different here in the Barak Valley.

While the narrative in Guwahati and Upper Assam revolves around the promises of protection of Assamese and other indigenous communities' identity and culture, the focus here is Bengalis and their identity.

"We are not against any other language, culture, or community. But the political parties here are not talking about the protection of our identity as strongly as they are talking for the Assamese and others in the rest of Assam," Silchar-based bookstall-owner Mainak Dasgupta told DH.

The valley shares a border with Bangladesh, and continues to struggle for its own identity and development.

Comprising the Cachar, Shri Bhumi (earlier Karimganj), and Hailakandi districts, it has a population of about 45 lakh, nearly 90% of whom speak Bengali. Nearly 65% are Bengali Hindus, while the rest are Muslim, Manipuri, and others. 

There are very few poll-related hoardings or banners in and around Silchar, even as just a few days are left for the elections.

The BJP hoardings that dot the town highlight development works, but don't talk strongly about the question of identity. 

The ruling BJP's narrative, targeting Bengali-speaking Muslims, according to many here, has disturbed the communal camaraderie that prevails in the Barak Valley.

The Himanta Biswa Sarma government recently changed the name of Karimganj, which has a sizeable Muslim population, to Shri Bhumi. 

"Identity crisis is still critical: Bengalis are tagged Bangladeshis just because of the language. The Citizenship Amendment Act was brought in 2020 with a promise to solve the citizenship crisis. But only five-six people have got citizenship so far. Bengali students are now being asked to submit documents of three generations in India for government jobs without any written notification," said Sanjib Deb Laskar, president of the Barak Valley Banga Sahitya Sanskriti Sammelan, a cultural and literary body.

The BJP has been dominant in the valley, winning six out of 15 Assembly seats in the 2021 Assembly polls. Badruddin Ajmal's AIUDF and the Congress won the remaining seats.

BJP candidates (Rajdip Roy and later Parimal Suklabaidya) have been elected from the Silchar Lok Sabha seat since 2019, when the Congress' Sushmita Deb lost.

The 2023 delimitation, however, reduced the Assembly constituencies in the valley to 13 from the earlier 15. "This is part of a ploy to politically weaken the Bengalis," Jyotirindra Dey, a Congress leader in Silchar, told DH.

Dey, interestingly, criticised the Congress regime as well. "Whichever party came to power, all tried to dominate and sideline the issues plaguing Bengalis and Barak Valley." 

So, why does the Barak Valley vote for the BJP? "Most Hindu residents are Partition victims, and hence support the BJP for its Hindutva ideology," said Dey. 

The other side

Silchar and the rest of Barak Valley got new roads and flyovers in the past 10 years under the BJP, but residents say connectivity, education, and employment are still neglected.

"The Barak river was declared as National Waterway-16, but not a single vessel has been introduced yet. No steps have been taken to revive the waterway route via Bangladesh that connected the Valley with the rest of India before the Partition. But the Brahmaputra water route via Bangladesh has been reopened," said Gautam Prasad Dutta, a retired college principal.

"The Barak Valley still has only one medical college (in Silchar), whereas our CM is talking about a medical college in each district. No industry has been set up, even as the government is claiming to bring in huge investments to Assam in the past five to 10 years," he added.