Food for Thought

The falling percentage of Assamese speakers in the successive Census reports vis-a-vis the official language status in Assam needs a cautious handling. The ground reality is that the number of Assamese speakers increases with the increase in the population of the State.

This is because the member of almost every community in Assam that has its own mother tongue can speak Assamese since it is the lingua franca (communication medium) in the State. When viewed from that angle, the number of people who can speak Assamese is almost the same as the population of the State. However, this is not the case with the other languages in the State. Barring exceptional cases, a Karbi is not supposed to be able to speak the Mising language. However, the Karbis and the Mising or people belonging to any other community can speak Assamese. It’s good that the Axam Xahitya Xabha (AXX) is exploring all avenues to keep the official language status of Assamese intact in Assam. However, the rising number of Assamese speakers in the State, as mother tongue or otherwise, can also be used as the key factor for keeping intact the official language status of Assamese in the State, apart from Bodo and Bengali in their respective areas. Can’t the State government conduct a survey on its own to ascertain the number of people who can speak Assamese as their mother tongue or otherwise in the State? Such a survey can also be conducted by organizations like the AXX, the AASU (All Assam Students’ Union) or the AJYCP (Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva-Chatra Parishad) or any other indigenous organization of the State with government funds. Nearly the entire population of Assam being able to speak Assamese is indeed a virtue, but as of now there has been no effort from any quarters to avail this virtue for keeping the Assamese language alive as the official language of the State, forever.

The outcome of such a survey can do wonders for any claim to permanently make Assamese the official language of the State, be it by bringing in a new legislation for the purpose or by amending the existing Act on the official language of the State.

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