"Violence and Social Response in Assam: From Folklore to the Assam Movement"

This paper explores the concept of violence within Assamese society, tracing its evolution both synchronically and diachronically. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from thinkers like Frantz Fanon and Hannah Arendt, it examines violence as a form of domination, where one group or individual asserts control over another. Assam, a northeastern state of India, has witnessed violence in various forms since the medieval period, with memories of these events preserved in folklore and popular narratives. However, the nature of violence in Assam underwent significant transformation during the Assam Movement (1979-1985), a period marked by widespread agitation over issues such as illegal immigration and indigenous rights.

During this six-year movement, the violence took on more brutal and systematic forms, leaving Assamese society as a passive observer in many instances. The paper discusses documented cases of this violence and the societal response, emphasizing how public consciousness both absorbed and distanced itself from these traumatic events. The post-Assam Movement period, marked by insurgency and political instability, also witnessed continued violence, albeit in different manifestations.

By analyzing these periods, the paper aims to understand the broader idea of violence in Assamese society, not merely as an event but as a social and political process. The study delves into how society has responded to violence, whether through passivity, participation, or resistance, offering insight into the underlying structures that perpetuate cycles of domination and aggression.