"No meaning in declaring Assamese as majority language if not spoken or written at home": Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday, June 13, said linguistic identity should be reflected through actual usage at home rather than through declarations made during the Census, while asserting that the Assamese language does not require numerical majorities to ensure its continued existence.

Addressing the media on the issue of the Assamese language and concerns over its future, Sarma alleged that some infiltrators may attempt to alter their identities during the Census process and said the government remains alert to such possibilities.

“Under the pretext of the Census, some infiltrators will try to change their identities. We have a sharp eye on their modus operandi,” the Chief Minister said.

Referring to concerns over language demographics, Sarma said there was little value in artificially projecting a language as dominant if it was not being spoken in households.

He stated that individuals who do not use Assamese at home but declare Assamese as their language in Census records merely to avoid being identified as foreigners would not contribute meaningfully to the language’s growth or preservation.

The Chief Minister also noted that he differed in opinion from the President of the Asom Sahitya Sabha on the issue. According to Sarma, debates surrounding the survival of Assamese based on percentage calculations reflected outdated thinking.

He rejected the idea that Assamese must remain above a particular demographic threshold to survive and questioned whether any legal provision mandates such a benchmark.

Sarma asserted that Assamese would continue to flourish in Assam irrespective of Census percentages and emphasised that linguistic diversity should be viewed as a strength of the state.

He said Bengali would continue to flourish in the Barak Valley, Bodo in the Bodoland Territorial Council areas, while indigenous languages such as Karbi, Mising and Rabha would also continue to grow alongside Assamese.

Describing Assam’s linguistic future as one of coexistence, Sarma said the state’s language ecosystem would develop like a garden with multiple languages flourishing together.

At the same time, he reiterated that his preference was for Assamese to be both spoken at home and reflected in Census declarations rather than existing only as a statistical identity.