On Wednesday ‘Bhasha Shahid Divas ‘ (Language Martyrs Day) celebrated in the three districts of South Assam, namely Cachar, Karimganj & Hailakandi. It is on this day on 19th May 1961 that eleven brave souls gave their lives when Assam police fired upon the peaceful protesters who came out in protest against the Government’s decision to make Assamese the only official language in the state.

This meant that the Bengali-speaking majority of the Barak Valley would be forced to use a non-mother tongue language thereby depriving the freedom of expressing in one’s own mother tongue. 95 percent of the population in Barak Valley is Bengali speaking, be it the Hindus or Muslims. And both the communities were living together and co-existed for centuries.

The strength of the mother tongue is eternal and it is very difficult to take it off as this gives you an identity, an identity of who you are – the eternal question the human race keep searching for at a spiritual level.

Today after 60 years people of Barak Valley have not forgotten their heroes and the emotion were as much high as could be even in this difficult time. Be it old, or the intellectual, be it the young, the emotion in every house was the same, more so that now people are able to connect universally through digital connectivity. Even the invasion of English and Hindi in our lives has not taken off the emotion from a young mind. Mother tongue connects and it matters.

The Government of the day, in fact, any Government across the globe would do good to itself if they stay aside from identity politics. All religion, caste, colour, language should be respected and evolve in their own course. No one should try to tweak these but let it flow its natural course. Time will make its own decision and civilisation will have its own history…