Now Reading: Assam CM urges settlers to list Assamese as mother tongue in Census
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Assam CM urges settlers to list Assamese as mother tongue in Census
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday appealed to people from other parts of India who have settled in Assam to list 'Assamese' as their mother tongue during the ongoing Census.…
The Story in Brief
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday appealed to people from other parts of India who have settled in Assam to list 'Assamese' as their mother tongue during the ongoing Census. He made the call amid concern over a decline in Assamese speakers, which fell from 59.53% in 1971 to 48.38% in 2011. The Census began in Assam on August 2 and will run until September 15, except in flood-hit Sivasagar and Charaideo districts.
Sarma said Bengali-speaking residents of Barak Valley and members of tribal communities like Bodos and Misings should use their own discretion and mention their own languages. The share of Bengali speakers in Assam rose from 27.53% in 2001 to 28.91% in 2011, while Hindi speakers increased from 5.89% to 6.73%, according to Census data.
The Indian Opinion
The Assam Census appeal feeds into the familiar narrative of a 'demographic threat' pitting Assamese against migrants. But Sarma's careful carve-out for Barak Valley and tribal languages shows the politics is more calibrated than it sounds. The real test will be when the 2026 Census data is released: will the share of Assamese speakers stabilise, or will it fall again as more indigenous groups assert their own linguistic identity? That number will settle the debate better than any speech.
Sources (2): indiatoday.in, ndtv.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
