The recent political developments in Assam in the pan-Indian context parallel to the ‘Pran Pratishta’ ceremony in Ayodhya could be seen from a perspective different from the cultural integrity and the idea called India. The process of creating a new political divide and a new political religion has been very evident in the recent political discourse of the country while Assam could be seen as a battlefield. The attacks on the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in the past couple of days and the exercise of state control by the ruling government of Assam is an indirect attempt to destroy Assamese culture which in turn affects the multiple beliefs and foundational diversity of this country.
There have been multiple attempts to homogenize the diversity and create one belief i.e. the idea of Hindutva. This could be best described from the incident that occurred on January 22, 2024, by not allowing the prominent face of the opposition in India from entering Bordowa Batadrava Than, a holy pilgrimage site in Nagoan, Assam, the birthplace of Assamese saint and social reformer Srimanta Sankardeva.
Assam like many other parts of India is culturally a diverse state, where Sankardeva in the 16th century played a crucial role in uniting all the communities of Assam without losing and affecting the community’s identity. On the contrary, otherwise being a democracy the Government of Assam instructing its citizens to observe a vegan day to celebrate the auspicious occasion of ‘Pran Pratistha’ in Ayodhya is a deliberate attempt of injecting the very notion of Hindutva.
The common people of Assam are seen as worried and highly critical of the government’s decision to not allow Rahul Gandhi and the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatris to enter the Holy pilgrimage site in Nogaon. For which Rahul and the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatris had to demonstrate a protest amid their scheduled Yatra. Before this incident, there were many attacks on the Yatris where the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President encountered severe injuries on 21 January 2024. Similarly, many were found injured and admitted in Kanaklata Civil Hospital in Tezpur, Sonitpur.
According to many commoners, this beautiful state of Northeast India never had such angst and hate, massively contributing in the occurrence of bizarre series of events, which are rather seen as political vendetta triggered by top agencies or individual(s) having control of the state.
In a democracy, one has the right to participate in the political process and influence the decisions that affect their lives. Though these rights are not absolute they are subject to reasonable restrictions and responsibilities which balance the individuals and the society where democracy demands that citizens respect the rights of others and abide by the rule of law.
Looking at the success of Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Srinagar in 2023 the grand old party of this country has organized the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra connecting east to the western part of India. While the Nyay Yatra is in Assam, and the ‘Pran Pratistha’ ceremony is in Ayodhya the ruling party in Assam never wanted the major opposition party of India to capture a place in media about having immense popularity in Assam, be it the mainstream media, the new media or the social networking sites which could be seen as one of the major reasons triggering the attacks on the Yatra having serious implications towards the very nature of poised danger on democracy.
(Views expressed here by the author are their own.)
