Ruling BJP legislators in Assam have requested colleagues from the Bengali community to publicly allay fears of the anti-citizenship act brigade about Bengali language posing a threat to Assamese.

The request was made at the BJP Legislature Party meeting here on December 21 where the party MLAs urged the government to reach out to the people by ruling out any threat to Assamese language, among others. The BJP legislators, however, were asked not to reveal the discussions except for those authorised to brief the media.

A senior BJP legislator told The Telegraph that such a request was made because it was felt the Bengali community should take the lead in allaying fears about threat posed to Assamese language and identity. “We felt it would send a positive message,” he said.

There are eight BJP legislators from the Bengali community in Assam.

Following the meeting, the state cabinet decided to urge the Centre to amend Article 345 of the Constitution to make Assamese the state language except in Bengali-speaking Barak Valley, Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) and the hill districts (Dima Hasao, Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong).

Assamese is the official language of Assam, except in Barak Valley (Bengali), hill districts (mostly English) and BTAD (Bodo).

By pushing for the amendment to Article 345, which deals with language issues, the government is trying to ensure that Assamese becomes the permanent state language even if the majority of people speaking it declines in future.

The fear stems from the 2011 census data, which revealed that percentage of Assamese speakers declined to 48.38 per cent from 48.8 per cent in 2001, while Bengali speakers increased to 28.91 per cent from 27.54 per cent in 2001. The number of Hindi speakers increased to 6.73 per cent compared to 5.89 per cent in 2001. In 1991, the percentage of Assamese speakers was 57.81 per cent and that of Bengali was 21.67 per cent.

Amora Bangalee, an organisation representing the community, had responded to the development saying they are not a threat to Assam and Assamese, but will oppose imposition of any language on any community.

In a statement, Amora Bangalee general secretary Sadhan Purkayastha spoke about a meeting at chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s residence on Saturday, during which some BJP legislators advocated that Hindu Bengalis should write Assamese as their mother language in the 2021 census, according to the organisation.

Language is a sensitive issue in Assam. Eleven people were shot dead at Silchar railway station in Barak Valley on May 19, 1961, while protesting against the government’s decision of making Assamese the official language across the state. The day is observed as Bhasha Shahid Divas in Barak Valley every year since the incident.

Purkayastha said mother tongue was a fundamental right and that an intense fight was needed to stop the “forces” trying to snatch away this right of Hindu Bengalis in Assam.

A BJP legislator, referring to Saturday’s discussion, said here that there was no question of imposing anything on anybody. “What is floating around is not the truth,” he said.