Writing Against History/Memory

Abstract

This article links linguistic nationalism and print media by inspecting narratives from four newspapers popular in Assam, a northeast Indian state, at the time when spontaneous mobilizations against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 peaked. Drawing from the vernacular and regional press, the article departs from the extant literature on the CAA, that mostly dwells on its constitutionality and legality. The present argument explores the scant studies on vernacular print media in Assam, the interplay between this media and collective memory, and the history of Assamese linguistic nationalism vis-à-vis Bengali. With the political crisis activating “memory frames” that viewed the CAA as an “event,” these narratives went far beyond just demands for repealing the law. The article argues that it rekindled colonial-era narratives of “linguistic domination” by Bengali in Assam and aroused fears, real or exaggerated, of the Assamese language and identity becoming extinct. The print media also reflected historical grievances according to which Assam is a neglected and oppressed state. The article paints a complex picture of the anti-CAA stir in Assam with language at its center harboring deep historical concerns that go beyond the recent political shifts and Hindu/Muslim or citizen/foreigner binaries.