Controversy over Assamese subject: Sushmita Dev writes to CM Sonowal for Action

SEBA brought out a notification stating that one has to study Assamese till Class 10, but can opt for Assamese paper as the seventh subject

Time8 Webdesk
April 20, 2021
6:08 pm

GUWAHATI: Former MP and Assam Congress leader Sushmita Dev has asked the state chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal to take action against Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) Dayananda Borgohai for allegedly asking the people of Barak valley to create a separate state if not willing to learn the Assamese language.

In a letter to Sonowal, the leader said that Borgohin’s remarks were unacceptable and discriminatory.

I hope @sarbanandsonwal ji will not only take appropriate action but condemn this statement. An officer tells barak valley to separate from Assam. We respect all languages & cultures but an officer threatening people is unacceptable.

https://t.co/KTok6muoIC via @YouTube pic.twitter.com/qcgRzqdaSC
— Sushmita Dev সুস্মিতা দেব (@SushmitaDevAITC) April 20, 2021

Earlier, Borgohai while commenting on the Board of Secondary Education, Assam’s (SEBA) latest notification in which students were allowed to for the Assamese paper as the seventh subject, allegedly said that in Barak valley people were not willing to learn the Assamese language despite living in the state.

He reportedly said that if the people in Barak valley don’t want to learn Assamese then they must live in a separate state.

Forwarding a video of Borgohain’s statement, Dev told the CM, “It is shocking that an officer issues a threat to the people of Barak Valley to learn the Assamese language or else separate from Assam. It reeks of chauvinism.”

Her letter added, “This comment is in complete ignorance of our history and comes as an insult to the people of Barak Valley. To say the least it alienates us and is discriminatory. Mutual respect for each other’s language and culture is the idea of India. People speak different languages in Assam and have peacefully coexisted and comments like these are against the interest of Assam. The government must take action immediately failing which it will only prove to me that it condones the comment and shares the same views.”

Earlier, SEBA brought out the notification stating that one has to study Assamese till Class 10, but if the student wants, he or she can opt for the Assamese paper as the seventh subject. The marks of the seventh subject, however, won’t be counted in the overall percentage of the examinees, as per the notification.

Leading organizations like the All Assam Students’ Union (Aasu) and Asam Sahitya Sabha were up in arms against the notification, which they said have given scope to a student with Assamese mother tongue to qualify for the Class 10 boards even without passing in the Assamese subject.

SEBA, however, later kept the notification in abeyance.