With shadows of NRC & CAA, will Assam subsist on age-old ethnic dissonance?

“A Prophet is without honour in his own country. Substitute ‘Citizen’ for ‘Prophet’ and you will get the gist of the various writ petitions filed under Article 32 of the constitution of India assailing Section 6A of the Citizenship Act.” This has been the beginning line of one of the very early judgements (17.12.2014) passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court on the NRC-update process for Assam. 

Undoubtedly, the scenario is immaculately portrayed by the hon’ble supreme court. The situation ran into by the two major linguistic groups in Assam, the Assamese and the Bengali, during last one-and-a-half century has always demanded a resolution towards a cohesive coalition.

Unfortunately enough, starting from the formation of the province in 1874 to the Partition of 1947, from the formulation of Assam Accord up to the initiatives towards implementation of the clauses therein and recent initiatives towards implementation of CAA – all have only added volatility to the socio-political domain of the state, creating a shadow of disbelief, malice and chaos in the region.