From: dchatterjee@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: The Assamese insecurity about Bengalies, the History
Date: 5 Jan 93 16:28:48 CST
Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services

In article <1993Jan5.133924.27714@oracle.us.oracle.com>, 
achoudhu@us.oracle.com (Akhil Choudhury) writes:
>...... (deleted) ......

 I agree with what you wrote in the above (deleted) paragraph.
>
> As a result, for about twenty years, Bengali was introduced in schools and
> colleges of Assam as the primary medium of instruction. In their
> remarkable fight, Assamese writers along with the help of radical
> English writers reversed that decree by showing concrete evidence that
> Assamese was a language in its own right. These writers were called
> Assamese chauvinists then. Even today, very few people know that
> Assamese is a sibling, rather than a descendant, language of Bengali.
> 
>                           Sanskrit
>                               |
>                               |
>                 -----------------------------
>                 |             |             |
>             Assamese       Bengali        Oriya
> 

  Beyond this point your true bias "begins ?" to surface. You see the above
  "tree" depicting the language tree, is quite incomplete. Hindi (as is being
 spoken in Utta Pradesh), probably *all* South Indian languages like say
 Telegu - have a lot of Sanksrit roots. Go to Mysore and see what the level
 of "corruption" is by the dead language Sanksrit. Moreover, you assert that
 Bengalees for a long time cajoled the ignorant British into beleiving that
 Assamese was a "by-product" of Bengali. This is absolutely false. 

 FYI, Swami Vivekananda in his letters to Dr.Bhupendranath Dutta (his youngest
 sibling) describes Assamese as a *distinct* language which has similarities
 with Bengali. Moreover, even to a popular level, Saradindu Bandhyopadhyay
 has written a long fictional historical novel called "Pragjoytish". (See his
 collected works - dated 1950-1960). This area is proper Assam. The story is
 quite explicit in describing that Pragjoytishpur (Assam) had an important
 language - called Ahamiya. If you are stating about the awareness of the
 Bengalis, then  the Bengalees were aware that Assam had a distinct language.

> 
> The Assamese started to regard the Bengalis in Assam as intruding
> guests who always wanted to overshadow the host culture and language.
> The Assamese fear of losing their identity was bolstered by what
> happened in Tripura. The original people of Tripura (the Tripuri) are a
> minority now, thanks to mostly illegal migration of Bengali speaking
> people from Bangaladesh.
>

  The issue of language really sucks. This is because Bhadraloks (Bengalees)
  are themselves guilty of this. When you go to Calcutta what do you see ?
  How many people will accept that Bengali should be the National Language ?
  (However, I am not implying that a poor farmer who does not get a square
   meal a day, should be forced to speak English. I am not that kinda of
   a meat-head 8-)).

  BTW, migration to Assam by BD hindus was out of utter strife and grief. 
  Since you are callous to other people's agony, you shan't understand 
  the desire to survive. I am *not* absolving all the Hindu Bengalis of
  their efforts to vociferously exert their existence. My father's cousin from
  Shylet moved finally to Guwahati - after loss of property. Nobody wants
  to be uprooted. Thus, while admitting that infiltration has been illegal,
  the situation was desparate. BTW, a similar heartless bankrupt argument
  is given by "ghotis" from W.B towards "Bangals" - East Pakistan refugees.
 (I am trying to point out the flip/ hollow side of your arguments.)
  
> Today I have more Bengali friends than I had in Assam.  And I keep
> telling them to take something from us rather than expecting us to take
> everything.
> 
> Akhil Choudhury
> 
> P.S. I speak for neither Assam nor Oracle