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Decline in Assamese-speaking population in 7 districts

Sushanta Talukdar

2001 census data on district and tehsil-wise language break-up announced
Four districts have sizable population of immigrants from East Bengal

Guwahati: The population of Assamese speaking people in seven districts of the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam declined while that of Bengali speakers there increased over a 10-year period from 1991 to 2001.

The latest 2001 census data on district and tehsil-wise language break-up has revealed that the population of Assamese speakers has declined in Barpeta, Darrang, Sonitpur, Morigaon, Bongaigaon, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji. Of these, Barpeta, Darrang, Sonitpur and Morigaon have a sizable population of immigrant settlers, including indigenous Bengali-speaking Muslims from East Bengal — who settled in Assam during pre-Partition days — and Bengali-speaking Muslims who migrated from the erstwhile East Pakistan. Most of them mentioned Assamese as their mother tongue during successive censuses.

In the three districts of the Barak valley — Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi — the Assamese population is much less than Bengali and Hindi speakers.

In Barpeta district, the number of Assamese speakers in 2001 was 7,74,229, down from 8,68,199 recorded during the 1991 census. The number of Bengali speakers increased to 7,35,845 from 3,95,063.

In Darrang district, the number of Assamese speakers declined to 5,89,006 from 8,69,477. It recorded a substantial increase in the number of Bengali speakers — from 1,82,007 to 4,62,676.

In Sonitpur district also, the number of Assamese speakers decreased from 7,79,521 to 5,62,048. The number of Bengali speakers rose from 1,87,438 to 3,15,840.

In Morigaon district, the Assamese population declined from 5,29,239 to 5,15,274. The Bengali population recorded a huge increase from 67,001 to 2,19,039.

In the upper Assam district of Lakhimpur, the population of Assamese speakers decreased to 4,73,427 from 4,88,070. The Bengali population increased to 1,34,616 from 73,829. In 2001, the Bengali population became almost equal to the indigenous Mishings, whose number increased marginally from 1,08,871 in 1991 to 1,50,873. The district has been witnessing a huge inflow of settlers from lower Assam districts.

Another upper Assam district, Dhemaji, also saw a decrease in Assamese population — from 2,34,517 to 2,29,792. The Bengali population increased from 38,845 to 59,730.

In lower Assam’s Bongaigaon district, the number of Assamese speaking people decreased to 3,85,516 from 3,94,059, while the number of Bengali speakers increased to 3,50,928 from 2,24,167.

Marginal increase

In several other districts, the increase in the Assamese speaking population was marginal, while the Bengali population recorded a substantial increase. For instance, in Nagaon, the Assamese population increased to 13,93,837 from 12,91,703, while the Bengali population recorded a substantial increase from 4,70,051 to 7,22,963.

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