Basu Challenged in Bengal

Guwahati: In Assam, there is a chance of the Assamese – speakers turning into a minority if all the national minorities of Assam assert their identity during the current census operations which began on Feb. 7. The census is being conducted in Assam for the first time in two decades. It could not be undertaken in 1981 following stiff opposition from the All-Assam Students’ Union which was then spearheading the “anti-foreigner” agitation. Some sections of the population may not list Assamese as their mother longue, making a break with the past. A senior leader of the United Reservation Movement Council of Assam said that the Assamese-speakers will be reduced to a minority in the coming census as many communities, including the tea tribes, will not identify themselves as Assamese because of the AGP govt’s failure to deal with their alienation. A number of Bodo’s, besides many other tribal groups, are bound to assert their Identity. Large chunks of the immigrant population, who had always listed themselves as Assamese-speaking, are now said to be wary of doing so, bitter from their experiences over the past few years.