Aami akhomiya??

A thought provoking, timely article posted on misingonline by Abutani Pegu.

Excerpt from the article:

The Prime Minister’s office recently asked the Assam government to define the term Assamese. This was in response to the All Assam Students Union’s (AASU) demand for tripartite talks, involving the AASU, the Government of India (GOI) and the Assam government on the implementation of the accord which was signed between the Centre and the leaders of the famous Assam Agitation of late Seventies and early Eighties.

The Assamese-speaking middle class leaders of the movement took it for granted that the non-Assamese speaking indigenous smaller communities would at one level identify themselves with the Asomiya. But sadly, the history of ethnic clashes in Assam and the other northeastern states proved otherwise.

Such an effort will rake up the issue of the cut-off date and length of residence to determine indigenity. However it is not possible to avoid the issue any longer. The need of the hour is to call for a convention of leaders and organisations of all significant communities living in Assam along with tolerant sections of the intelligentsia in the state to arrive at an acceptable cut-off date. Impractical assertions will only create more ethnic violence, converting Assam into another Bosnia.

Read the full article here.