Assamese letters on a signage ignoring Bengali defaced again in Cachar; Barak Banga Unit condemns act

Barak Valley witnesses another controversial moment as signage installed next to the Fullertal Block Development Office has been defaced. The signages in the Lakhipur constituency have been under the spotlight for a couple of weeks now. Installed by the Government of Assam, these signages violate the constitutionally amended Languages (Amendment) Act. 1961 as all of them ignore Bengali and contain only English and Assamese language on them.

According to the Lakhipur Police, they got the report about damage to the public property in the afternoon and are now identifying the miscreants involved in the act. Some unidentified individuals have defaced the Assamese letters on the signage next to Fulertal Block Development Office using red paint.

It is worth mentioning here that Barak Banga’s Lakhipur Samiti had shed light on the inconsistency. Since April 12, the committee members have submitted memorandums to all the key offices informing them about the ignorance of the Official Language of Barak Valley. “We cordially informed the offices that we do not have any problems with using English and Assamese, however, we requested them to add Bangla text as well. We went to the residence of the honourable MLA of Lakhipur (Kaushik Rai) and submitted a memorandum at his home office as he wasn’t available. From all corners and all top officials, we got a positive response and all of them assured to look into the matter,” says Kartik Roy, Secretary of Barak Banga’s Lakhipur Samiti.

Upon learning about reddening the Assamese letters on the signage, Roy, on behalf of the unit, condemned the act, “At no stage should we insult another mother tongue, it is as good as insulting our own mother tongue. We condemn the act.”

While Police chase the miscreants for damaging the public property built using taxpayers’ money, what remains an astonishment is why the top officials who are well-read civil servants, ignore the Language (Amendment) Act. 1961. The act has sentiments associated with it as it came into being after 11 individuals were martyred in Silchar while peacefully protesting against the decision to make Assamsese the official language throughout the state.

Click here to Also read the story as it unfolded last time something similar occurred in Cachar.

Following the shootout by Police, the death of 11 martyrs, and a thorough constitutional and democratic process, the Cabinet passed the bill to make it the Language Amendment Act 1961, Government of Assam, which states, “Without prejudice to the provisions contained in section 3, the Bengali Language shall be used for the administrative and other official purposes up to and including the district level in the district of Cachar (now Barak Valley).

The last time a similar act was carried out in Cachar, it sparked a state-wide controversy resulting in many arrests and court cases. What unfolds now, remains to be seen.