2 arrested in Cachar for distorting hoardings written in Assamese Language
The Barak Democratic Forum clarified that it was not opposing Assamese or any other language, but was opposed to the “coercive imposition” of a particular language among Bengali speaking people.
Two members of Assam’s All Bengali Youth and Students Organization (ABYSO) have been arrested for distorting hoardings advertising the central government’s Jal Jeevan Mission written in Assamese language in Cachar district.
The arrested people have been identified as Samar Das (38) and Raju Deb (37), both residents of Silchar city. However, ABYSO secretary Ratindra Das said that both were not involved in the work of smearing the hoardings. “He only supported the protest. The police initially called him on Tuesday to get some information but later arrested him. We are moving for bail today,” Das said.
He said his organization “does not support acts of disrespect of any language” and “strongly condemns” such behaviour.
Members of the youth wing of the newly formed political party, Barak Democratic Front, are demanding that all official communications, including hoardings of the central government, be written in Bengali instead of Assamese in the Barak Valley, citing the amended Assam Official Language Act.
Front’s founder Pradeep Dutta Roy was also summoned by the Cachar police chief on Tuesday afternoon and questioned for two hours in connection with the smearing incident. Roy later issued a statement saying that the front did not plan to blur the hoardings and it was done without his consent. However, they filed an FIR against the Director of Jal Jeevan Mission and the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar district for alleged violation of the State Language Act.
Roy, a former lawyer of the Gauhati High Court, alleged that the police were harassing innocent people and misusing the law. “These two persons are innocent, they just participated in a protest and were not involved in the act of removing the hoardings. Also, the charges under IPC 425 (an act intended to destroy or cause damage to any public property) are bailable and the police could have released them from the police station itself,” he said.
The Assam Official Language Act, 1960, which made Assamese compulsory as the state’s official language, was amended in 1961 after massive protests by Bengali-speaking people, especially in the Barak Valley, which led to a protest at Silchar station on 19 May. 11 people died. , 1961. The amendment provided for the use of Bengali as an administrative language in Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts in the Bengali-majority Barak Valley.
BDF members argue that the protest against the hoardings was done to strengthen the Assam Official Language (Amendment) Act of 1961, which was repeatedly ignored by the local administration.
“Silchar station is the place where 11 people had sacrificed their lives protecting their mother tongue. Putting up Assamese posters at the railway station was a deliberate move to hurt the sentiments of Bengalis,” said Kalpana Gupta of BDF youth wing.
Asom Jatiya Parishad President, Lurin Jyoti Gogoi demanded action against the culprits and said that people from different backgrounds live peacefully in Assam.
President of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, Bhupen Kumar Bora said that 27 linguistic communities, including Bengalis, lived together in Assam and that the Assamese language was widely used as a common language.
Several regional organizations including All Assam Students Union (AASU), Assam Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP), Bir Lachit Sena criticized the deflection and called for the arrest of the accused.
2 arrested in Cachar for distorting hoardings written in Assamese Language
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