Writing on the wall

Eighty-two years ago, three Assamese students, Lakshminath Bezbaroa, Chandra Kumar Agarwalla and Hem Chandra Goswami, who were pursuing h...

Eighty-two years ago, three Assamese students, Lakshminath Bezbaroa, Chandra Kumar Agarwalla and Hem Chandra Goswami, who were pursuing higher studies in Calcutta, set up an organisation called Assam Sahitya Sanmilan. The aim was the uplift of Assamese language and literature, which had only a few years ago survived an onslaught from neighbouring Bengali language with the British rules first introducing Bengali as the state language. But, within years of its formation, that forum not only changed its name to Asam Sahitya Sabha, but also took upon itself the arduous task of guiding the Assamese people through every crisis that has come in its way, including highly political and ethnic ones.

The Sanmilan, which held its first session in 1917 with Padmanath Gohain Barua, one of the first giants of modern Assamese literature, rechristened itself as Asam Sahitya Sabha in 1928, with founder Lakshminath Bezbaroa himself presiding over that session. 8220;The Asam Sahitya Sabha rightly enough got transformed to be thelife-giving breath of the Assamese,8221; says Chandra Prasad Saikia, who has taken over as the Sabha8217;s president in its latest session which ended at Hajo, about 45 kms from Guwahati on Saturday. The Sabha incidentally is one organisation having the highest number of members among all other organisations in the state, including the political parties, and the most interesting aspect is that one need not be a poet or a short story writer to get enrolled as its member. 8220;The Sabha is open to all who loves Assam and the Assamese language,8221; says its constitution. And probably that is why it has been able to spread Assamese literature even outside the geographical boundaries of the state, the examples being Lummer Dai and Yeshe Dorje Thongsi, both tribals of Arunachal Pradesh, who are big names in Assamese literature.

It was because of the untiring efforts of the Sabha that a large chunk of East Bengali migrants of the pre-independence period has accepted and embraced Assamese as their mother tongue, an effort,which had saved the Assamese-speaking people from being reduced to a minority way back in 1961 census. But, despite this, the Sabha has got involved in mainstream politics too. It was a major partner of the All-Assam Gana Sangram Samiti AAGSP, a platform of various political as well as non-political groups, floated by the All-Assam Students8217; Union AASU in 1979, when the agitation against the influx from Bangladesh was launched. Justifying the greatly influential role the Sabha plays, current president Chandra Prasad Saikia says: 8220;The Asam Sahitya Sabha has rightly enough got transformed to be the life-giving breath of the Assamese. In no state of our country do so many people regard literary organisations as their own and identify themselves with them. The creative force of literature and culture must provide respite to the people by providing them a beacon-light in the present dark circumstances.8221;

That the Sabha is in reality a people8217;s organisation is proved in its annual sessions, which arefour-day affairs, held in different places of the state every year. The crowd begins at around 25,000 or so on the opening day, and on the final day, when the newly-elected president is taken in a procession to the dais, it crosses the lakh mark. One recent session, held at Sibsagar, had a record attendance of 2.5 lakhs.

People hire buses from distant districts to attend the sessions, while the railways are compelled to run special trains to the Sabha venue, while the installation of its new president looks no less than the coronation of a new king. He is taken at the head of a procession, seated on a throne8217; with the common people cheering him while the Sabha8217;s anthem 8220;Chira senehi mor bhasha janani8221; rents the air.

And, for four days, everything else takes backseat in the media in Assam. It is just news of the Sabha, nothing else, that gets to page one, complete with excerpts of the speech made by the president, and the chief guest this time it was Ashok Vajpayee, the noted Hindi poet, other relatednews, and of course sidelights.

For political leaders too, the Sabha session is one occasion to boost their image. They rush to the Sabha sessions to extend all kinds of help they can offer, and often vie for a seat on the rostrum, so that they can be seen, seated alongside the Sabha president.

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This time, for instance, Asom Gana Parishad vice-president Nurul Hussain, also minister for cooperation in the Prafulla Kumar Mahanta government, by virtue of being the local MLA of Hajo, also came on the same vehicle with Sabha president Saikia, trying to maintain popularity among his voters!As for the activities, the Sabha has been engaged in publication of major works of literature since its inception, while the new president has announced his agenda for the coming two years, which includes a series of books on contemporary issues from the world over, apart from a scheme for translation of Assamese books to other languages.

The Sabha has also come out with its own perception of the current turmoil in Assamarising out of the rise of ULFA, and if the new president8217;s call is heeded by the rebels, things for Assam should move in the right direction soon.

8220;Now is the time to send this message loud and clear and in no uncertain terms to all the extremists who wish to segregate Assam from India, that we cannot ever afford to buy their line of thought. This is not out of any fear of military might of India, but simply because the spirit and soul of Assam and its people are inseparably connected with that of India and the Indians,8221; Chandra Prasad Saikia, in his presidential speech at the just-concluded Hajo session of the Sabha said.

8220;We the people of Assam appeal to the extremists to shun violence. Our lives and therefore our socio-cultural ethos have become stunted during the recent long periods of extremism and insecurity. We can never side with any form of violence. Let the first decade of the 21st century herald for Assam a peaceful period. The people of Assam will then be able to smile once again,8221;Saikia added.