Why Assam Erupted the Way it Did

There are important differences between the protests against CAA in Assam and the rest of the country

- Axomiya Jajabor

The on-going protests over Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed nation-wide National Register of Citizens (NRC) may have been triggered by the spontaneous protests by students in Guwahati and elsewhere in Assam but there are important differences in understanding them in Assam and rest of India.

First, the movement in Assam could be truly considered ‘secular’ as it makes no distinction between Bangladeshis professing Hindu faith and those who have embraced Islam. In other parts, it is rightly being apprehended that the NRC could be used as a tool to segregate, or worse, exclude Muslims.

Second, while rest of India has erupted over fears of exclusion of genuine Indian citizens over the NRC, Assam was the only State to have successfully completed the exercise without any large scale violence.

The process to update the NRC was not only ordered by the Supreme Court but also had its historical roots in the Assam Accord of 1985 that has shaped the political careers of many a political leader including incumbent Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

The build up to the Assam Accord was the State of play of politics as the Congress found the migrants as a vote bank to return to power in successive elections.

The Assam Agitation, started as the anti-foreigner movement, not just provided a counter to this vote bank politics but also became the drive force of Assamese sub nationalism, with slogans like *Desh Bulile Aadesh Nalage* (We don›t need diktats in the name of the country) and *Joi Aai Axom* (Hail Motherland Assam) becoming the leitmotif of the movement.