Assam's unsettled legacy

In the decades since Independence, Assam's relationship with India, its neighbouring regions, and its political dynamics has been shaped by the enduring aftermath of World War II

The Quest for Modern Assam: A History (1942-2000)

Author:  Arupjyoti Saikia

Publisher: India Allen Lane

Pages: 896

Price: Rs 1,299

The redrawing of national and state boundaries on the map, starting with Partition, the painful birth of Bangladesh in 1971, and its contribution to waves of migration that precede 1947 have often been foregrounded for the alienated Assamese psyche in independent India. These added to a sense of denial of the fruits of industrialisation, as the state continues to live with economic backwardness although the British tapped into tea and oil in the 19th century. And because of the geographic location of Assam, its people have tended to look at what transpires from the west with suspicion, as reflected in its troubled relationship with the Indian nation-state.

In this context, it is most instructive to be reminded of what happened east of Assam — which is what Arupjyoti Saikia, who teaches history at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, nudges the reader towards at the start of his new book, The Quest for Modern Assam: A History (1942-2000). He chooses to “begin a chronicle of contemporary Assam” with 1944, in the middle of World War II, as a pivotal moment. The Battle of Kohima, dubbed by the National Army Museum in London as “Britain’s greatest battle ever”, took place in that year.

Dr Saikia writes, “In 1942, as Japan occupied Burma, thousands of Indians fled from the atrocities of the imperial army into British India’s North-east, and Assam became a highly vulnerable and strategic frontier province.” The first of 13 chapters in this weighty tome captures in detail the turmoil in Burma at a time when the British Empire was waning. He points out that by July 1942, 600,000 people had fled Burma, “of which Assam received nearly two-thirds”. As many as 80,000 Indians lost their lives during the exodus.

The book recounts what follows chronologically, including the humanitarian crisis of fleeing refugees and the American involvement in building infrastructure as the Allied forces prepared to fight Japan and converted Assam and Manipur into a highly militarised zone. It also documents various other aspects — from the everyday, such as a racial bias in providing relief, to bigger questions of allegiance and possible repercussions faced by a people caught in the crossfire. As Dr Saikia says, “Very few will disagree that much of this perception of Assam’s strategic vulnerability was a legacy of the trauma of World War II.”

Such patterns would repeat later, as during the Chinese aggression of 1962, which briefly posed a threat to Assam’s relationship with India and included a brief occupation of the North East Frontier Agency or present-day Arunachal Pradesh.

Earlier books authored by Dr Saikia include a biography of the Brahmaputra and historical accounts of the forests and ecology of Assam and its peasant politics. The Quest for Modern Assam is a sweeping text that shows the economic, political, and cultural developments in the state during this period and how they are intertwined. It is most valuable as a repository of historical events and facts that reveal much about a region’s past. Because it is so detailed, with notes and a bibliography together running into hundreds of pages, the book gives the assurance of a reliable material for reference.

Readers may be familiar with the territorial tussles between the Congress and the Muslim League on the cusp of Independence, or the rousing protests soon afterward in Assam over its resources or linguistic and cultural clashes. Yet, while reading a panoramic account, one is suddenly struck by the enormous impact lines on a political map can have. For instance, it’s easy to forget that the natural, shorter rail route between the oilfields and tea gardens of Assam and the commercial hub of Kolkata cut across what is now Bangladesh. The increased distance thus, and a lack of commerce with contiguous regions across international borders have only aided isolation. Similarly, it is unthinkable to now imagine that people in Assam welcomed the birth of Bangladesh and initially empathised with the rush of migrants in the wake of the liberation war. The Quest for Modern Assam allows you to do so.

It is also easy to appreciate the book for dwelling on the longstanding hills/plains and tribal/non-tribal divides in the history of Assam, especially when seen from today’s vantage point, as ethnic strife is roiling Manipur. That is expected from a book that stands out for its comprehensive look into the past. What it does not offer is any persuasive argument or criticism of existing literature. This results in an accessible writing that is laden with facts, which can feel like an overload especially if you know the outlines.

On the one hand, it leaves the reader with the scope of reimagining the past and rethinking the future, and Dr Saikia hints at the latter when he says in the epilogue that in the 21st century, Assam’s embrace of “new ways of seeing and imaging itself has led to a slow but growing retreat of social and cultural prejudices”.

On the other hand, it begs the question whether the task of a historian is to simply provide an accurate retelling of past events. It may help avoid furthering stereotypes, but also allow readers the freedom to selectively interpret history to suit one’s own biases.