Assam in the 1960s and the Birth of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU)

Abstract

The students’ activism in Assam inherits the legacy of India’s struggle against the British Colonialism. During the post-colonial Assam, the student community as a whole played a significant role behind the outbreak of the Refinery Movement in 1956, the Language Movement in the 1960s and even in the movement against the food crisis in the 1960s and it's afterward. But, the birth of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) in 1967 had brought some significant changes and the trend of independent students’ movement in Assam was started. Eventually, AASU becomes one of the strongest leaders of social and democratic movements in post-colonial Assam. Instances of two major movements in this regard are the Movement for Medium of Instruction in 1973, the Assam Movement of 1979-85. The question of citizenship, the issue of illegal immigrants and the apprehension to the question of identity among the diverse ethnic groups of Assam are deeply rooted in these movements of post-colonial Assam. Besides, they have been also playing a major role in the electoral politics of the state.

Thus, understanding the nature and character of AASU in a way would help us to contextualize those highly contemplated issues of the state. But, before that, the atmosphere or the context under which the AASU was formed is found important to be investigated. Hence, this study is an attempt to understand the causes behind the formation of AASU in 1967 through the broad frame of time and context. Indeed, understanding a historical event through the frame of time and context is also a part of the study of the political economy. Therefore, the study intends to understand the political economy of Assam in the 1960s, under which the All Assam Students’ Union was formed.