Meaningless act

Assam has been witness to several meaning less controversies in the past few days, which have not contributed in any way towards the betterment of society. One such is about a particular so-called student body pulling down some banners in a puja pandal in an upper Assam town just because those were written in Bengali. This is not the first time that the so-called students have indulged in such an undemocratic act. In a democratic country, every citizen has the right to propagate his or her culture. There is no legal or social bar on putting up banners in different languages. In fact, as reported in the media, a puja pandal in the heart of Kolkata had on display a banner written in the Assamese language. The point made by the so-called student body is that putting up a Bengali banner was detrimental to the survival of the Assamese language. What leaders of the so-called student body should first ask themselves is: What are the initiatives they have taken in order to enrich or propagate the Assamese language? Looking back, one finds that even a prestigious organisation like Axam Xahitya Xabha had a few years ago taken to blackening sign boards and hoardings written in languages other than Assamese. The same Xabha, which is supposed to be the guardian of the Assamese language, has failed to even bring out a small booklet on how to speak Assamese correctly. Language does determine the identity of a community. But that does not mean a community’s identity is protected by blackening or pulling down a banner written in another language. Moreover, it is very important to always remember that Assamese is not the sole language of Assam. In fact, Assam is one of the most multilingual states in India. That was exactly why Assam was kept out of the purview of the state reorganisation exercise in 1956–57. Yes, there are several serious threats to the Assamese language. So is the case with Bodo, which enjoys equal status with Assamese in the Eighth Schedule. There are several better ways to protect the Assamese language. Blackening or pulling down a Bengali banner or poster is not the right way.