Barak Valley

Baroduwar Dimasa Kachari Palace, Khaspur in Cachar dist

Ruins of Kachari fort near Nayagram

The Cachar district (Cachar plains) and Dima Hasao (Cachar hills) were both parts of the Kachari kingdom. The Kacharis/Dimasas appear in historical accounts in the 13th century, when Sukaphaa encountered them in the Brahmaputra valley. They had their capital in Dimapur, but due to the pressure from the Ahom kingdom, they moved their capital twice—once to Maibong in Dima Hasao, and then to Khaspur in the Cachar plains close to present-day Silchar.

In the 16th century, the Tripura kingdom was in control of the Cachar plains, when in 1562 the Koch general Chilarai annexed the Cachar region to the Koch kingdom and it came to be administered from Khaspur (or Kochpur) by his half-brother Kamalnarayan.[16] After the death of the Koch ruler Nara Narayan, the region became independent and was ruled by the descendants of Kamalnarayan and his group, and they became known as the Dehans (after Dewan). Between 1745 and 1755, the last Koch ruler's daughter married the king of the Kachari kingdom, and the rule of Khaspur passed into the hands of the Kachari rulers who adopted the title Lord of Hedamba.[17][18][19]

The Kachari kings at Khaspur appointed Brahmins as rajpandits and rajgurus and provided land grants to Muslims from Sylhet for cultivation.[20] Some people from Manipur and the Ahom kingdom too moved to the Cachar plains following disturbances in those lands.[21] In 1835 Pemberton reported that the population of the Cachar plains was around 50,000 dominated by the Dimasa people, followed by Muslim immigrants from Sylhet and their descendants; a third group was Bengali and Assamese immigrants and their descendants and Naga, Kuki and Manipuris forming the smallest groups.[22][23]

Hailakandi, claimed by both the Tripura and Kachari kingdoms, was a market town on the banks of the Dalasuri river which connected the resource-rich southern hills with the markets in the north along the Barak river.[24] In 1821-22 when Thomas Fischer surveyed the area,[25] he found that Hailakandi was controlled by the Kacharis, though it was surrounded by villages of the Kuki Tanghum community that owed allegiance to the Tripura kingdom.[26] In this region a past Tripura king received a princess from Manipur.[27] It was uncertain which of the three kingdoms the communities paid their tributes to and it effectively formed a boundary zone, a concept that differed significantly from the idea of clearly defined borders between kingdoms.[28]

Karimganj was with the colonial Sylhet district—despite a referendum result it was split from Sylhet, which was included with Pakistan during partition of India in 1947, and attached to India.[29] East India Company had pushed into the region east of Sylhet town slowly after it won the right to collect land revenue under the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765.[30]

The Barak river today splits into the northern Surma and the southern Kushiara between the towns of Badarpur in the east and Karimganj in the west. Inscriptions suggest that in the 10th century the region around Surma and Kushiara formed frontier settlements called Srihatta and Khanda Kamarupa established by Kamarupa kings in the 7th century.[31] Till 1787, when Brahmaputra changed its course to meet the Meghna a hundred miles farther south, the land between Netrokona in the west and Sylhet in the east was inundated for half of each year forming haors which made the higher plains of the upper Surma-Kushiara basin not as easily accessible from the west as it was from the Cachar plains in the east.[32]

Sylhet is farther to the west of Karimganj, also on the Surma. No state control existed in the Sylhet region till the establishment of Sarkar Sylhet when the Mughals established a Faujdar at Sylhet in 1612.[33][34] In 1303, Shah Jalal had established rule around Sylhet; and during Ibn Battuta's visit in 1346, the region was inhabited by Khasi, Garo, Hindus, Muslims, and others.[35] The Mughals began the practice of settling cultivators in the region around Sylhet, which picked up significantly only after 1719 and lasted till the beginning of East India Company rule in 1765.[36] The expansion of Mughal domains in Sylhet was part of an ancient process of Gangetic territorialism that displaced or assimilated extant populations consisting of Munda, Khasi and other peoples.[37] The Mughal administration granted land in Sarkar Sylhet to talukdars, called Chaudhuri, in smaller land parcels called taluks, as opposed to larger zamindars in the rest of Bengal.[38] Sylhet was itself a borderland when the EIC acquired the Mughal Sarkar Sylhet in 1765.[39]

EIC acquired Sarkar Sylhet, primarily the frontier town, bounded by regions that were not in their control—Mughal holdouts moved freely in the lowlands controlled by the highland rulers out of Company reach; Khasi chiefs held most of the land north of the Surma; the land north and east of Sylhet town belonged to the Jaintia kingdom; and Tripura kingdom held most of the southern highlands and the adjoining lowlands.[40] The EIC, an erstwhile mercantile company, got into the revenue-farming and judiciary business with the diwani grant of 1765 and developed a keen interest in monopolizing traditional trade routes and expanding settled farming for revenue.[41] This was achieved by marking boundaries—company officers served the EIC interests in generating more revenue and confronting Ava militarily, but they also served their own private commercial interests.[42]

According to David R. Syiemlieh, up to 1837 A.D. the plains of Cachar Valley were sparsely populated and were dominated by the Dimasa Cachari, a Tibeto Burmese tribe, under the rule of the Kachari Raja, who have established his kingdom's capital at Khaspur, Cachar plains. He had a good number of Bengali advisers (mostly Brahmins) around him and gave grants of land to some of them, but the population resembled that of the North Cachar Hills of today as evident from various historical chronicles and sources. Bengali settlers from neighbouring East Bengal poured into the Cachar plains after the British annexation of the region in 1832 A.D., turning iit into a Bengali-majority region.[43] Once, Barak Valley from (1832-1874) A.D. was a part of the Bengal Presidency under the British Empire.[44] The British Annexation of Cachar transformed the demographic patterns of the valley overnight. There was a sudden phenomenal growth in population, while the plains of Cachar had about 50 thousands inhabitants in all in 1837 A.D. that is five years after its annexation, which eventually indicates that there was a large-scale immigration. The population rose to more than five lakhs a few years later.[45] The population of Muslims in the colonial era Barak Valley decreased in the late 19th century largely because the fertile lands were occupied by earlier settlers of the region and later they immigrated to the present Hojai of Assam which was also a part of Kachari Kingdom up to 1832 AD.[17] A population 85,522 of diverse backgrounds including hill tribes, in the 1851 Census, Muslims and Hindus, 30,708 and 30,573, respectively, mostly Bengalis, constituted 70% of the total population of Cachar Valley, followed by 10,723 Manipuris, 6,320 Kukis, 5,645 Naga and 2,213 Cacharis.[17] Karimganj district, which have become a part of Cachar Valley plains after 1947, was a part of Sylhet before the Partition of Bengal (1947).[46] The region of Karimganj was under the rule of Pratapgarh Kingdom from 1489-1700s.[47]

Map of Sylhet District showing subdivisions and majority voting. Green represents area in favor of joining East Bengal (Pakistan) and Orange represents area in favor of remaining part of Assam and joining India

In 1947, when a plebiscite was held in Sylhet of then Assam Province with majority voting for incorporation with Pakistan. The Sylhet district was divided into two; the easternmost subdivision of Sylhet which is known as Karimganj joined with India, and now is a district of Assam, whereas the rest of Sylhet joined East Bengal. Geographically the region is surrounded by hills from all three sides except its western plain boundary with Bangladesh. Nihar Ranjan Roy, author of Bangalir Itihash, claims that "South Assam / Northeastern Bengal or Barak Valley is the extension of the Greater Surma/Meghna Valley of Bengal in every aspect from culture to geography".[48]

Assam's Surma Valley (now partly in Bangladesh) had Muslim-majority population. On the eve of partition, hectic activities intensified by the Muslim League as well Congress with the former having an edge. A referendum had been proposed for Sylhet District. Abdul Matlib Mazumdar along with Basanta Kumar Das (then Home Minister of Assam) travelled throughout the valley organising the Congress and addressing meetings educating the masses about the outcome of partition on the basis of religion.[49] On 20 February 1947 Moulvi Mazumdar inaugurated a convention – Assam Nationalist Muslim's Convention at Silchar. Thereafter another big meeting was held at Silchar on 8 June 1947.[50] Both the meetings, which were attended by a large section of Muslims paid dividend. He was also among the few who were instrumental in retaining the Barak Valley region of Assam, especially Karimganj with India.[51][52] Mazumdar was the leader of the delegation that pleaded before the Radcliffe Commission that ensured that a part of Sylhet (now in Bangladesh) join with India despite being Muslim-majority (present Karimganj district).[53][54] In return of that, Moulvibazar the only Hindu-majority district of Sylhet Division was given to East Pakistan during partition.[55]

As per (2011) language census report, Bengali is the official as well as the most spoken language of the region with approximately 2,930,378 native speakers.[61] Hindi, Manipuri, Bishnupriya and Dimasa are the next most widely spoken languages with 362,459, 126,498, 50,019 and 21,747 native speakers, respectively. Tripuri, Khasi, Odia, Nepali and Marwari are also spoken by a considerable minority, while 1.84% of the total population speaks other tribal languages.[61] Sylheti, a language that is considered to be a dialect of Bengali, or a separate language,[62][63] is spoken by a large population of the Barak Valley.[64]

According to census 2011, the major languages of Cachar district are Bengali, Hindi, Manipuri, Bhojpuri, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Dimasa, Khasi, Hmar and Odia in descending order of population. In the Hailakandi district, the major languages are Bengali, Hindi, Tripuri language, Manipuri and Bhojpuri. In the Karimganj district, the major languages are Bengali and Hindi.[61][lower-alpha 1]

Barak's Religious diversity as of the 2011 census[56]

Religion	Population
Hindus ()	1,812,141
Muslims ()	1,744,958
Christians ()	58,105
Others	9,395
Total	3,624,599

Hinduism, by a sliver, is the slight majority religion, while Islam is the second-largest religion in the Valley.[56][65] The religious composition of the valley population is as follows: Hindus 50%, Muslims 48.1%, Christians 1.6%, and others 0.3%. Hindus are the majority in Cachar district (59.83%) with having (86.31%) Hindu in the district headquarter ; Silchar (which is also the main city of the valley). While Muslims are the majority in Hailakandi district (60.31%) and Karimganj district (56.36%), but Hailakandi town have (67.26%) Hindu majority, Karimganj town have also a Hindu Majority of (86.57%) as of 2011 census.[56][66]

Hinduism is mainly practiced by Bengalis, Dimasas, Tripuris, Meiteis, Odias, Nepalis, Biharis and Marwaris living in the Valley.[65] While Islam is overwhelmingly practiced by Bengalis, with some small populace of Meitei Pangals, Kacharis and Biharis.[65][67][68] Christianity is mainly practiced by Tea-garden community, tribals such as Khasis, Mizos, Hmars, Kukis and Nagas living in the Valley.[69][70]

In Barak valley, the two districts of Karimganj and Cachar adjoining Bangladesh have noted a 30 per cent rise in Muslim population during the period between (2011–21). In 2011, the Muslim population in those bordering districts of the bordering areas was 395,659 and this has jumped up to 513,126 in 2021. Assam Police officials while conducting demographic survey have said that infiltration of Bangladeshis into Assam have created a huge demographic change in last 10 years.[71] On 29 July 2023, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Assam's Barak Valley have became a hotspot for Rohingya infiltrators and insurgency activities and have further commented that "the people of Barak Valley should stay cautious to prevent the illegal Immigration and some recent activities have been noticed along the Indo-Bangla border specially in Karimganj district".[72][73][74]

The below are population by district tehsils in 2011:[56][75]

1. Cachar district total – 1,736,617
   1. Sonai circle – 324,315
   2. Katigora circle – 291,875
   3. Udharbond circle – 124,090
   4. Lakhipur circle – 291,872
   5. Silchar circle – 704,465
2. Hailakandi district total – 659,296
   1. Algapur circle – 121,379
   2. Hailakandi circle – 166,897
   3. Katlichara circle – 168,077
   4. Lala circle – 202,943
3. Karimganj district total – 1,228,686
   1. Badarpur circle – 164,703
   2. Karimganj circle – 278,300
   3. Nilambazar circle – 242,451
   4. Patharkandi circle – 261,368
   5. Ramkrishna Nagar circle – 281,864

Hindus are majority in three tehsils of Cachar district namely Silchar, Lakhipur and Udharbond, while Muslims are majority in Katigora and Sonai circle according to 2011 census.

Hindus are significant in two tehsils of Hailakandi namely Katlichara and Lala, while Muslims are majority in all the three tehsils, but in Katlichara Muslims form a plurality according to 2011 census.

Hindus are majority in two tehsils of Karimganj namely Patharkandi and Ramkrishna Nagar, while Muslims are majority in Nilambazar, Badarpur and Karimganj circle according to 2011 census.

Eid is also a major festival of the region as the Muslims constitute half of valley's population. Just like Durga puja, every year lakhs of Muslims celebrated eid with great joy and happiness throughout the valley specially in Muslim-majority Karimganj and Hailakandi district.[126][127]

Statue dedicated to martyrs of Bengali Language movement of Barak valley, located in Udharbond, Cachar

Over 80 percent of Assam's Barak Valley are Bengali people and speak Bengali language. On 24 October, a bill was passed by Assam's late Chief Minister Mr. Bimala Prasad Chaliha in the Assam Legislative Assembly making Assamese as the only sole official language of the state.[128][129] On 5 February 1961, the Cachar Gana Sangram Parishad was formed to protest against the imposition of Assamese in the Bengali-speaking Barak Valley. Rathindranath Sen was chief person of the organisation. People soon started protesting in Silchar, Karimganj and Hailakandi.[130] On 24 April, the Parishad flagged off a fortnight-long Padayatra in the Barak Valley to raise awareness among the masses, which ended after 200 miles reaching to Silchar on 2 May.[131][129] On 18 May, the Assam police arrested three prominent leaders of the movement, namely Nalinikanta Das, Rathindranath Sen and Bidhubhushan Chowdhury, the editor of weekly Yugashakti. On 19 May, the dawn to dusk hartal started. Picketing started in the sub-divisional towns of Silchar, Karimganj and Hailakandi. A Bedford truck carrying nine arrested activists from Katigorah was fired and the truck driver and the policemen escorting the arrested fled the spot.[130] Soon after that the paramilitary forces, guarding the railway station, started beating the protesters with rifle butts and batons without any provocation from them. They fired 17 rounds into the crowd. Twelve persons received bullet wounds and were carried to hospitals. Nine of them died that day. Two more persons died later. One person, Krishna Kanta Biswas survived for another 24 hours with a bullet wound in chest.[131][132][133] Ullaskar Dutta send nine bouquets for nine martyrs. On 20 May, the people of Silchar took out a procession with the bodies of the martyrs in protest of the killings.[134] After the incident and more protests, the Assam government had to withdraw the circular and Bengali was ultimately given official status in the Barak region by Assam government.[135][136] Soon after that a circular of Section 5 of Assam Language Act XVIII, 1961, was enacted to safeguards the use of Bengali language in the Cachar district. It says, "Without prejudice to the provisions contained in Section 3, the Bengali language shall be used for administrative and other official purposes up to and including district level."[137]

Assamese language being insulted in Bengali-majority Barak Valley, 2021

On 18 October 2021, a state government hoarding which was written in Assamese language has been found smeared with black ink in Barak valley's administrative capital Silchar's Petrol Pump area. It was found that two Bengali organizations namely: Barak Democratic Yuba Front and All Bengali Students Youth Organisation have been involved in that activity and have accused that the government of Assam has been trying to impose their Assamese language on us (referring to Bengali-majority Barak Valley) through Assamese hoarding as a starting and have said that "We strictly stands against it (i.e imposition)".[138] The smearing of the government hoarding has led to condemnation from people and various regional organisations of the Brahmaputra Valley, where Assamese organizations such as All Assam Students Union and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad have severely reacted, deeply saddened and protested against it. In retaliation, several Bengali hoardings in Assamese-dominated Brahmaputra Valley have also meet the same fate.[139][140][141] The political 'language wars' and strife between the ethnic Assamese and Bengalis have led to several 'martyrs' on both sides of the administrative divisions. On 19 May 1961, 11 Bengali Protestors at Silchar railway station were killed for protesting against forceful imposition of Assamese language in Barak Valley region. Similarly, during Assam Movement of (1979-1985) or popularly known as the Assam Agitation which aims at detaining and deporting Illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from the state saw as many as 855 Assamese people gave up their lives to protect the Linguistic, ethnic and cultural identity of Assam.[142][143][144][145]

(East Pakistan's Bengali Hindus of Sylhet Division coming to Barak's Cachar district as refugees, 1947)

In 1947 during Partition of Bengal period, it has been found that from 15 August 1947 to April 1950, the Bengali Hindu refugees population in Cachar increased to 200,000 and but after Liaquat–Nehru Pact it came down to 93,177 in 1951. According to 1961 census, the number of East Bengali refugees living in Cachar alone is found to be 156,307 which is way higher than the previous census.[146] No new Hindu immigration happened in the post 1971 period in Barak valley. Bengali Hindus who landed up in Barak valley from Bangladesh in the post 1971 census have moved out of the region before the 1991 census.[147] The number of Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh in Barak Valley has varied estimates. According to the Assam government, 1.3–1.5 lakh such people residing in the Barak Valley are eligible for citizenship if the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 becomes a law.[148][149] There were reverse im-migration vice-versa trends as well. The Muslim percentage of the Cachar Valley have decreased from 42.48% to 38.49% during (1941-1951) period. On the eve of Partition of Bengal and Sylhet Referendum, most of Bengali Muslim employees hailing from Barak Valley opted for Pakistan's Sylhet and migrated there as refugees. Similarly, Bengali Hindu employees hailing from Sylhet opted for Cachar Valley and majority of them settled in the Cachar plains thereafter. Also during partition, most of the Sylhet-origin Muslim businessmen living in Cachar and Karimganj have exchanged their business, houses and residences with Hindu businessmen of Sylhet migrating to Cachar and Karimganj.[17]

In March 2020, Wasbir Hussain, the editor in chief of North East Live and member of clause 6 committee while defining who is an Assamese have stated that the original inhabitants of Barak valley are a part of greater Assamese society and he further said that illegal immigrants and migrants are of different bracket.[150] Regarding Indigenousity, Those Bengali-speaking Hindus/Muslims of Barak Valley (comprising districts of Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj) who bears surnames like Choudhury, Mazumdar/Mazumder, Laskar/Lashkar, Barlaskar, Barobhuiya, Mazarbhuiya, Talukdar and Hazari and other regular titles mostly brought and given by Kachari kings are Native.[151] The Barak Valley region is often described as a division filled with Bangladeshis. It lost its "Bangladeshi tag" after the final NRC draft results were published on 31 July 2018. Mr. Paul, a resident of Cachar district, said that the latest NRC draft had put an end to the controversy regarding the citizenship of the residents of the Valley. He further said: "It was often claimed that they are all or the majority of people of the valley are from Bangladesh. NRC draft results have shown that nearly 90% of Barak residents are Indian citizens. The Barak Valley had a population of about 37 lakh, as per last 2011 Census. NRC draft have dropped four lakh of the 37 lakh residents, majority of whom are Bengali people. As per NRC results, about 8% of the residents of Cachar, 11.82% of Karimganj and 14.2% of Hailakandi didn't feature their names on the latest final draft list. As a whole, about 11% residents of Barak could not make their name appears on the list.[152][153] The Assam Indigenous People Protection Committee has protested the exclusion of indigenous people in the final NRC list, which was published on 31 August 2019 in Assam's Barak Valley region. According to the Committee, nearly 1.5 lakh people belong to the Dimasa, Koch Rajbongshi, Meiteis, Manipuri-Muslim (Pangals), Bishnupriya Manipuri, Cachari-speaking Muslim, tea tribes, Rongmei Naga, Kuki, Khasi, Gorkha, Hmar, Das Pattni, Nath Jogi and Namasudra Bangali communities were left out of the final NRC list. The Committee further stated that, "All the Indigenous people of Barak Valley support the government stand of Implementing Clause 6 of the Assam Accord".[154] One of the early attempts to define the native people of Assam is found in the 1951 Census of Assam. It's clearly stated that "An Indigenous person of Assam means a person belonging to the State of Assam and speaking the Assamese language or any tribal languages- (Dimasa, Rabha, Koch Rajbongshi, Bodo, Mishing, Karbi etc.) of Assam, or in the case of Cachar Valley, the language of the region (Bangla)".[155][156][157]

An image representing of Assam's Barak and Mizoram border disputed land areas

Mizoram used to be a district of Assam as Lushai hills before being carved out as a separate union territory and later, becoming another separate state in 1987 by States Reorganisation Act, 1956. Because of the history, the district's borders did not really matter for local Mizos for a long time. Mizoram shares a border with the districts Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj which comes under Barak valley region of Assam.

Over time, the two states started having different perceptions about where the demarcation should be. While Mizoram wants it to be along an Inner Line Permit notified in 1875 to protect indigenous tribals from outside influence, which Mizos feel is part of their historical homeland, Barak valley region of Assam wants it to be demarcated according to district boundaries drawn up much later.[158][159] Conflicting territorial claims have persisted for long between Assam's Barak and Mizoram, which share a 164.6 km inter-state border. There were several clashes between the local people of the Mizoram and Barak regarding land disputes in the border areas on regular basis.[160][161] The root of the dispute is a 1,318 km² ( 509 square miles) area of hills and forests that Mizoram claims as its own. This is on the basis of an 1875 British law. But Assam insists this area is part of their as its "constitutional boundary".[161] On 17 November 2022, Mizoram Home Minister have apologized for the clashes that have occurred in Barak-Mizoram border in which six police personnel and one civilian were killed in Lailapur.[162]

Barak valley has witnessed many major communinal riots in 1968, 1990, 2017 and 2019 in Karimganj, Hailakandi, Silchar and again in Hailakandi.[163][164][165]

Lists of riots involving communalism in Barak valley region:

Karimganj 1968 riot

In the 1968 Karimganj riots, a cow belonging to a Muslim wandered into a Hindu house. When a Hindu boy tried to chase the cow, some Muslims beat him up. Soon after that clashes erupted between the two communities. The ensuing riot claimed 82 lives.[163]

Hailakandi 1990 riot

In October 1990, a wounded cow was found near a common land, which led to clashes between Hindus and Muslims. Police records reveal that the Hindus of Hailakandi had demanded that parcel of land to construct a Kali temple. In fact, Sangh Parivar had earlier organised pujas to ritually purify bricks for shilayas at Ayodhya on the common land. The appearance of an injured cow hurt their sentiments and led to a riot resulting in many casualties.[163]

Silchar 2013 riot

In 2013, rumours of beef being found in a temple in Silchar sparked Hindu Muslim clashes in which at least 30 people were injured.[166]

Silchar 2015 riot

In 2015, there was tension yet again when the head of a slaughtered cow was found in a temple in Silchar. On the same year, allegations of "love jihad" – a term used by Hindutva groups to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to marry women from other religions solely to convert them to Islam – sparked violent clashes in the city area.[166]

Silchar 2017 riot

On 7 June 2017, Clashes broke out between two communities in the Silchar city of Assam's Cachar district on Tuesday evening. The incident took place in the Janigunj area of Silchar. According to police 11 civilians and eight police officials were injured in large scale stone pelting. However, there were no casualties in the incident.[164]

Hailakandi 2019 riot

Local reports said that the tension started when motorbikes owned by Muslim devotees were vandalised while they were praying inside a mosque. The motorbike owners lodged a first information report and demanded that the police take action against the accused and said that they will offer prayers on the road if action was not taken. Mohneesh Mishra, Hailakandi's police chief, told Scroll.in that the clashes began when a group of Muslim men assembled on a public road in the town and said they will offer prayers on the street. "The Hindu community tried to stop them and that led to an argument and soon after that it turned into riot," said Mishra, while adding that heavy security had been deployed in the area. At least 14 people were injured out of which 3 were police Constables and also 1 was killed in a communal clash in Hailakandi district in Assam which have occurred on 10 July 2019.[167][165]

Hailakandi 2021 riot

Tension began at Hailakandi's Serispore Tea Garden area after an e-rickshaw driver who happened to be a Muslim and his passengers (who were all Hindus) entered into an argument. After this confrontation, people from two separate groups gathered at the site and started attacking each other. Soon after that, a curfew was imposed. As per as A.H Laskar a police of Hailakandi police station, both parties were throwing stones at each other.[168]