Indigenous Muslims

The indigenous Muslim community of Assam has attracted the attention of one and all in the past few years. There are various reasons behind this. The first and foremost reason is that this community is one of the most neglected communities of the greater Assamese family, generally having no proper representation, particularly in the decision-making and law-making forums like the State Assembly and Parliament. If one looks at the history of the Assam Legislative Assembly, one will find very few names from this community. Among them, however, one had risen to the highest office in India, being Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. It is, however, a fact that Assamese Muslims, unlike Muslims elsewhere in the country, share a common cultural and linguistic identity with other communities of the larger Assamese family. While in most other states Muslims are Muslims, the primary identity of Assam's indigenous Muslims is Assamese. That is exactly why names like Mafizuddin Ahmed Hazarika and Syed Abdul Malik – two great litterateurs of Assam – are often remembered when one discusses Assamese literature and culture. It is said that one of the most trusted lieutenants of Lachit Barphukan was a Muslim called Bagh Hazarika, while Bahadur or Bahadil Gaonburha and Formed Ali were among the most trusted persons of the great freedom fighter and martyr Maniram Dewan. The topic of indigenous Assamese Muslims has once again come to the fore after the Committee on Population Stabilization of Indigenous Muslims of Assam, headed by noted physician Prof Ilias Ali submitted its report to the Government of Assam. While the entire content of that report is yet to be made public, what has been gathered by this newspaper (as was reported as the front page lead story on Sunday), is that marriage of minor and under-age girls among families of the Assamese indigenous Muslims is a matter of concern. According to the report, the underage marriage of women among Assamese indigenous Muslims is as high as 27.67 per cent, which is said to be higher than the national average of 23.30 per cent. The district-wise break-up shown by the Committee has said that in the newly-created district of South Salmara Mankachar, the rate of marriage of minor and under-age girls stands at 68.42 per cent, which is definitely an alarming finding. Low literacy and poor economic conditions must definitely be playing a crucial role in this reality. The three districts of South Salmara Mankachar, Dhubri and Goalpara have a sizable number of indigenous Muslims who are generally referred to as 'Deshi' in order to differentiate them from the immigrants and infiltrators from erstwhile East Bengal/Pakistan and present-day Bangladesh.