ASSAM-Cudgel of Chauvinism

It is the function of social science to penetrate the fog of ideology and discern the true shape and sequence of events. The recent disturbances in Assam have once again brought home this lesson to us. The agitation over the presence of so-called 'foreign nationals' has grown into a massive movement, bringing out into the streets hundreds of thousands of ordinary men and women passionately committed to defending Assam from an alleged 'silent invasion' by foreigners, sowing seeds of deep suspicion and mistrust among different communities who have been living as peaceable neighbours for generations, and causing outbreaks of mob violence in which hundreds have lost their lives and thousands have been uprooted from their homes.