Chapter-I

INTRODUCTION

Assam is one of the prominent states in the entire North-East India which is
situated on the south of the eastern Himalayas. It is surrounded by deautifull hills,
plains, valleys and major rivers like the Brahmaputra and Barak along with many of
their tributaries. The statistical figures suggest that the state covers an area of 78,438
km2 (30,285 sq mi). The state of Assam shares its boundary with Bhutan and the state
of Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Manipur and Nagaland to the east; Meghalaya,
Tripura, Mizoram and Bangladesh to the south; and West Bengal to the west via the
Siliguri Corridor, a 22 kilometres (14 mi) strip of land that connects the state to the
rest of India.

Assam is geographically a very significant state and an important geographical

aspect of the state is that it contains three of the total six physiographic divisions of
India – The Northern Himalayas (Eastern Hills), The Northern Plains (Brahmaputra
plain) and Deccan Plateau (Karbi Anglong). The climate of Assam is basically cold
and the state is also known to have highest levels of humidity and maximum level of
rainfall for almost all the months because of the presence of the river Brahmaputra in
the state. Geomorphic studies conclude that the Brahmaputra, the life-line and the
prime catalyst in transforming the lands of Assam into fertile zones, is an antecedent
river older than the Himalayas. The river with steep gorges and rapids in Arunachal
Pradesh enters Assam and becomes a braided river (at times 10 mi/16 km wide) and
with tributaries, creates a large scale natural disaster like flood plain in its plain areas
(Brahmaputra Valley: 50–60 mi/80–100 km wide, 600 mi/1000 km long). The, hills
of Karbi Anglong, North Cachar and those near to Guwahati (also Khasi-Garo Hills)
which are now dissected and eroded away are originally parts of the South Indian
Plateau system. In the south, the another important river of Assam i.e the Barak,
originating in the Barail Range (Assam-Nagaland border), flows through the Cachar

1
district with a 25–30 miles (40–50 km) wide valley and enters Bangladesh with the
name of Surma river.

The speciality of Assam‘s temperature is its high level of humidity. The state
experiences excessive humid weather and the temperarute of the state is basically
moderate and it never goes beyond the standard 35 degrees to 38 degrees. The
temperate of the state in the summer is max. 95–100 °F or 35–38 °C and in the winter
the temperatue goes down to min. 43–46 °F or 6–8 °C. The climate of Assam is
characterized by heavy monsoon downpours reducing summer temperatures and
creating foggy nights and mornings in winters. Autumn (Sept–Oct) and spring (Mar–
Apr) are usually the most pleasant seasons in the state with moderate rainfall and
temperature. The agriculture of Assam usually depends on the south-west monsoon
rains. As it has been mentioned that earlier that Assam receives more rainfall than
most parts of India; this rain feeds the Brahmaputra river, whose tributaries and lakes
provide the region with a hydro-geomorphic environment.

Assam is inhabited by different groups of people and it it is basically an abode

of different tribes, sub-tribes, communities, groups, castes etc. The indigenous
Assamese people can be traditionally divided into tribal and non-tribal groups. The
ethnic groups like Assamese Brahmins (including Ganaks), Chutias, Kalitas, Keot
(Kaibarta), Tiwa, Mech, Kachari, Thengal Kachari, Dimasa, Tai- Phake and other Tai
groups, Ahom, Koch Rajbongshi, Rabha, Karbi, Sonowal Kachari, indigenous ethnic
groups of other neighboring North-East states, Deori, Dom/ Nadiyal, Assamese
Muslims (particularly Goria, Moria, Deshi communities), Assamese Sikhs, Assamese
Christians speaking Assamese or any other tribal dialect of Assam as their mother
tongue can be considered as Assamese.

Assam is rich in natural resources and it has abundant mineral resources

including coal, petroleum, limestone and natural gas. Assam is considered as the
largest producer of crude oil in India. Assam‘s silk and tea is globally well known.
Varieties of precious flora and fauna are commonly found in the state. The state has
conserved the one-horned Indian Rihnoceros from near extinction, along with the wild
water buffallo, pigmy hog, tiger and various species of Asiatic birds, and provides one
of the last wild habitats for the Asian elephant. The economy of the state is boosted by
the wildlife tourism to its different national parks including the Kaziranga National
2
Park, the Manas National Park and other such parks and sanctuaries which are
considered as World Heritage Sites. A large part of the state is covered with dense
tropical forests. The Sal tree forests are found in the state as a result of abundant
rainfall. The land of the state also produces some other important trees like Agar,
Segun, Bon Chom etc. which contribute to the economic development of the state.

The total population of Assam in 2001 was 26.66 million with 4.91 million
households. The higher population concentration was recorded in the districts
of Kamrup, Nagaon, Sonitpur, Barpeta, Dhubri, Darrang and Cachar. The population
of Assam was estimated at 28.67 million in 2006 and at 30.57 million in 2011 and is
expected to reach 34.18 million by 2021 and 35.60 million by 2026. As per the 2011
census report, the total population of Assam is 31,169,272. The total population of the
state has increased from 26,638,407 to 31,169,272 in the last ten years with a growth
rate of 16.93%1.

There are some districts in Assam which have shown more decadal population
growth compared to other districts. There are eight such districts which are mainly
Religious minority-dominated districts. According to the census report of 2011, there
are 9 districts including Dhubri, Goalpara, Barpeta, Morigaon, Nagaon, Karimganj,
Hailakandi, Darrang and Bongaigaon where the Muslim population is majority in
numbers. Districts like Dhubri, Goalpara, Barpeta, Morigaon, Nagaon, and Hailakandi
recorded growth rates ranging from 20 percent to 24 percent during the last decade.
The Eastern Assam districts, including Sivasagar and Jorhat which have not any
international border registered around 9 per cent population growth.

As per the 2011 census report, the literacy rate of Assam is 73.18%. The male
literacy rate is 78.81% and the female literacy rate is 67.27%. In 2001, the census had
recorded literacy rate in Assam as 63.3% with male literacy as 71.3% and female as
54.6%. The urbanization rate was recorded as 12.9%2.

As per the 2011 census report, among the total population of Assam 61.47%
are Hindus, 34.22% are Muslims, 3.7% are Christian (found among the Schedule
Tribe population), Jainism (0.1%), Buddhism (0.2%), Sikhism (0.1%). A tiny group
of people of the state also follows Animism which is found amongst communities

1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/assam (accessed on 23-05-2016)
2
https://www.censusindia.co.in/states/assam (accessed on 17-03-2015)
3
like Khamti, Phake, Aiton etc. A large section of the Hindus in Assam are the
followers of the Eksarana Dharma sect of Hinduism propagated by Srimanta
Sankardev, who designed Namghar as a simpler place of worship rather than
traditional Hindu temples.

Assam is a hub for different linguistic groups and it is one of the significant
multi-lingual states of entire North east India. The distribution of languages in Assam
can be argued in terms of the language families that are found in Assam. The people
of Assam use various languages as their mother tongue. The classification of
languages in Assam can be mentioned in the following family groups:

1. Indo-Aryan (Indo-European Language family)

2. Tibeto-Burman (Sub family of Sino-Tibetan language family)

3. Siamese-Chinese (Sub family of Sino-Tibetan language family)

4. Mon-Khmer ( Austro-Asiatic Language family)

5. Tea Tribes (Includes languages belonging to the Dravidian, Indo-Aryan and the
Austro-Asiatic language families)3

3
www.yourarticlelibrary.com (accessed on 20-02-2015)
4
The Language Map of Assam

Source: iitg.ernet.in

5
The nature of population growth in Assam from 1951 to 2011 is given below as per
the census report of India.

Census Population %+
1951 8,029,000 ---
1961 10,837,000 35.0%
1971 14,625,000 35.0%
1981 18,041,000 23.4%
1991 22,414,000 24.2%
2001 26,656,000 18.9%
2011 31,169,272 16.9%
Source: Census of India (The 1981 Census could not be held in Assam. Total
population for 1981 has been worked out by interpolation)

Assam is a multicultural state of the India‘s North East region. It witnesses the
existence of different tribal and non-tribal groups. Prof. Manirul Hussain in his work
―The Assam Movement: Class, Idelogy and Identity‖ has divided the social groups of
pre colonial as follows ---

6
 Table: 1.01

The Social Groups of Pre-Colonial Assam

Racial Hindu Assamese Brahman, Goswami, Keot, Ganak,

Kalita etc.

Non racial Hindu Assamese Koch Rajbanshi, Ahom, Chutia,

Hindu
Mutak etc.

Assamese exploited class Koiborta, Mali, Hira, Bania,

Kumar etc.

Bodo, Missing, Deuri, Kachari,

Mongolian tribes Mech etc.

Muslim Assamese Muslim Saiyd, Seikh, Julhas, Moria

Buddha Aiton, Faakial etc ------------------------------------------

Sikh A very few Assamese Sikh group ------------------------------------------

Source: Hussain, M.4

In his book, Prof. Hussain has mentioned that Brahman, Goswami, Keot,
Ganak, Kalita, etc. are the Racial Hindu Assamese. On the other hand, Koch
Rajbanshi, Ahom, Chutia, Mutak, etc. are the Non racial Hindu Assamese of pre
colonial Assam. The Assamese exploited classes are Koiborta, Mali, Hira, Bania,
Kumar, etc. whereas Bodo, Mishing, Deuri, Kachari, Mech etc. are the Mongolian
tribes. The Saiyds, Seikhs, Julhas and the Morias represent the Assamese Muslim
population in the pre-colonial Assam. Apart from this, he has opined that both the
Buddhists and Sikhs were also the social groups in pre-colonial Assam.

4
Hussain, M. ―The Assam movement: Class, Ideology and Identity‖, Manak publication Pvt.Ltd,
Delhi, 1993

7
 In connection with this, Dr. Anuradha Dutta in her book ―Assam in the Freedom
Movement‘‘ has mentioned about the migration into colonial Assam. This is
mentioned below -

(a) Migration to tea garden.

(b) Immigration of Eastern Bengal colonists.
(c) Immigration of Nepalese.5

Besides these, Dr. Manirul Hussain6 has also discussed about the new migrated
groups of colonial Assam which are discussed below—

Table: 1.02

The New Migrated Groups in Colonial Assam

Nationality/ Community Main Occupation Size and Social

Position in Assam
(1) Britishers Colonial administrator: Small but very
Dewani and military powerful
Owners of tea garden Small and powerful

Members of Christian
mission Small and leading full
(2) Americans Members of Christian Small and foremost
Mission
(3) Marwari people Business Small and wealthy
(4) Hindu Bengali people Middle class service Bigger than 1,2,3
in colonial groups and work as a
administration supportive
(5) Nepali people Soldier, milk Small, hard labourer
production and making and majority are
oriented work exploited
(6) Bihari people Labour Small, poverty and
exploited

5
Dutta, Anuradha, ―Assam in the freedom movement‘‘
6
Hussain, M., ibid.
8
 (7) Muslim Farmer Large in size, poverty
and exploited
(8) Black tribes people Tea labour Large in size, poverty
and exploited
Source: Hussain, M., „The Assam Movement: Class, Ideology and Identity‟

In his book ―The Assam movement: Class, Ideology and Identity‖, Prof.
Hussain has discussed about the newly migrated groups to colonial Assam such as
the Britishers, the Americans, the Marwaris, the Hindu Bengalis, the Nepalis, the
Biharis, the Muslims and Black tribes etc.

Concept of Identity Politics:

Identity politics has become a significant field of discussion in social science

in the recent times. Identity politics is basically regarded as the politics of group based
movements which claim to represent the interests and identity of a particular group. It
is a conscious-raising process among the members of a specific group based on
ethnicity, class, religion or other criteria. When a group feels oppressed, then it seeks
either to end that oppression, or to justify their actions in other spheres through the
means of identity politics. Even the members of majority groups may want to see
themselves as oppressed in order to use such justification. Sense of injustice, feeling
of deprivation, disregard, oppression and marginalization are some important factors
that primarily contribute to the rise of identity politics among the groups.

Merriam Webster dictionary defines identity politics as the politics in which

groups of people having a particular racial, religious, ethnic, social, or cultural
identity tend to promote their own specific interests or concerns without regard to
the interests or concerns of any larger political group.

Identity politics is contemporary shorthand for a group's assertion that it is a

meaningful group; that it differs significantly from other groups; that its members
share a history of injustice and grievance; and that its psychological and political

9
mission is to explore, act out, act on and act up its group identity. (Catharine R.
Stimpson)7

Thus it can be defined that when members of a specific group get united in
order to bring some political or social change, the result is called as identity politics.
Identity politics is that concept which focuses upon the self interest and perspectives
of self identified social interest groups. It provides some ways in which people‘s
politics may be shaped by aspects of their identity through race, class, religion,
gender, ethnicity, ideology, profession, hobby, sexual orientation or any other criteria.
The scope of political movements that may be described as identity politics is broad.
There is no straightforward or standard criterion that makes a political struggle into an
example of 'identity politics'. Thus, the term ‗identity politics‘ can be defined as a
term which signifies a wide range of political activity and a loose collection of
political projects undertaken for ending deprivation, oppression or marginalization.

Identity politics took its modern form during the second half of the last
century. It emerged as an emancipatory mode of political action and thinking based
on the shared experience of injustice by particular groups—notably blacks, women,
gays, Latinos and American Indians (Orlando Patterson).8

Though the term ‗identity politics‘ is a newly developed concept, it has long
history that can be traced back to the seventeenth century. The Thirty Years‘ War,
fought throughout central Europe from 1618 to 1648 between Protestants and
Catholics, laid the legal foundation for the nation-state. After the war, legal status to
the sovereign nation-states was granted on the basis of religious identity by the Treaty
of Westphalia in 1648. Again, after the First World War, new nation-states were
emerged from the fall of large empires by the Treaty of Versailles, 1919 on the
principle of national self-determination.

Moreover, as a result of freedom movements against imperialism, large parts

of colonial countries gained political independence after the Second World War. We
can witness identity politics almost everywhere around the world either among
indigenous people in Latin America, or religious minorities in South Asia, or ethnic

7
https://www.medium.com/Mrinquisitor1 (accessed on 16-05-2016)
8
https://www.nytimes.com (accessed on 25-04-2016)
10
minorities in the Balkans and Africa, or immigrants in Western Europe. In most of the
times, the scope and length was limited in achieving rights or certain other demands,
but sometimes it ultimately led to securing the state power also.

The second half of the twentieth century saw the emergence of large scale
political movements such as Second Wave Feminism, Black Civil Rights in the
U.S.A., Gay and Lesbian Liberation, and the American-Indian Movements, for
example, based on claims about the injustices done to particular social groups. All
these movements around the world prepared the ground for development of the laden
phrase ‗identity politics‘. L. A. Kauffman first described briefly about class identity in
an article and he traced its origin to the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC), an organization of civil rights movement in the United States of America
(U.S.A.), in the early and mid 1960s. Although SNCC invented many of the
fundamental practices of identity politics, they did not apply the term. Rather the term
emerged when the race and ethnic specific movements, such as Black Feminism
began to adopt the practice in the late 1960s.

Traces of identity politics can also be found in the early writings of the
modern gay movement such as Dennis Altman‘s „Homosexual: Liberation/
Oppression‟ (1971). The oldest written example of identity politics can be found in
the Combahee River Collective (a Black Feminist Lesbian organization) Statement of
April 1977. Barbara Smith, a Black Feminist and Combahee River Collective have
been credited with coining the term. They defined identity politics as “a politics that
grew out of our objective material experience as Black women”. All these phenomena
primarily appeared during the politically turbulent years following the passage of
Civil Rights Act in 1965 referred to as identity politics. The success of the
marginalized African-Americans in overcoming barriers of legal rights to vote
through this Act encouraged other groups for political activism9. Thus, identity
politics as a field of study gained intellectual legitimacy since the second half of the
twentieth century.

India is a multicultural and heterogeneous society having unique caste system,

different religions, diverse ethnic groups with various culture and languages. As

9
https://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/identity_politics (accessed on 20-05-2014)
11
Indian society is not a uniform one, diversity is a part of Indian way of life. The
diverse social structure makes India as a breeding ground for rise of identity politics.
Politics of identity in India have been gaining ground since pre-independence around
caste, religion, language and ethnicity.

Caste system that has been prevailing for some 3000 years ago is the stratified
social hierarchy that distinguishes Indian social structure from other nations. Caste
possesses some common characteristics of being evidently connected with social,
economic or political differentiations where individual‘s status is fixed by birth rooted
in the idea of racial purity. The upper caste-groups enjoy more privileges while the
lower caste-groups are underprivileged characterized by extreme poverty, illiteracy or
some other kind of backwardness.

The victims of caste system looked at it as most oppressive and brutal whereas
the privileged looked at it as an order of the heaven. Caste-based discrimination led to
the rise of many religious, social and political movements throughout the history.
During the colonial period, division between Brahmins and non-Brahmins continued
to prevail and caste prejudices led to the formation of some political parties like
Justice Party (also known as South Indian Liberal Federation) in the Madras
Presidency in 1917 aiming political representation of the non-Brahmins. Independent
India also has witnessed influence of caste in emergence of caste-based political
parties or mobilization of caste-identities.

Partition of India at the time of independence into Pakistan and India on

religious basis reveals presence of identity politics. Politics of linguistic identity also
has its origin in the pre-independence period when in 1920 members of Indian
National Congress (INC) had agreed on linguistic reorganization of Indian states as
one of the party‘s political goals. In 1927, the INC declared that it was committed to
―the redistribution of provinces on a linguistic basis‖ and reaffirmed its stance several
times. After agitation and demand, the Telugu-majority Andhra State was formed in
1953 out of the erstwhile Madras State. This sparked of agitations all over the country
with linguistic groups demanded separate statehoods. In order to reorganize the states,
the Government of India constituted the State Re-organization Commission (SRC) in

12
1953 and some of its recommendations were implemented in the State Re-
organization Act of 1956.10

The struggle for re-organization of state dominated Indian politics from 1953
to 1956 and federal units were created on the basis of linguistic identity. Even today
the claims for separate state continue to threaten the territorial limits of existing states
as they are not mono-ethnic in composition. The recently curved out state of
Telengana is a classic example of linguistic identity politics. As per protective
measure of the Constitution, some ethnic groups have gained autonomous
administrative bodies within the state legislature to function under the Sixth Schedule.

These provisions have encouraged some other groups to revolt seeking similar
benefits. The issue of identity politics is more complex in the North East India as the
region is composed of many different language speaking ethnic groups and this
diversity makes the North East India a home of multidimensional nature.

Beginning of Tea Industry and the Tea Tribes of Assam:

‘Tea‘- the three letters magical commodity has the power to drive millions of
people all over the world in diverse forms. Tea plantation industry, the vital export-
oriented, labour-intensive and agro-based industry occupies the most important place
in the economy of Assam. As the plant is native to Assam, it was found in the wild
and before tea plantation industry appeared in an organized way, the brew had been
used by the Singpho tribes. During the colonial period, it was presented to Colonel
Sergeant C. A. Bruce by the Singphos in 1823. In 1835 the first tea garden was
established by the British colonial government and tea cultivation was expanded
rapidly when plantation was opened to private enterprises in 1859. The Assam
Company started production of tea on a commercial basis in 1840. By 1872 the tea
gardens of Brahmaputra Valley covered 27,000 acres of land with an output of five
million pound of tea per year. By 1910 the number of tea gardens had grown to 730
covering an area of 400,000 acres and a yearly output of 175 million pounds of tea for
the market. The number of tea gardens as well as production has been growing day by
day. Thus, tea as industry in Assam was the result of discoveries of colonial rule.

10
Sarangi, A., Interrogating Reorganisation of States: Culture, Identity and Politics in India, pp. 29-46
13
British had started tea plantation in Assam to challenge the monopoly of China in tea
production. Initially, they used the Chinese tea samples but later on they found out
that tea could be planted in the native land of Assam. That was the starting of the
journey which still goes on. It was the British who opened the gates of Assam for
some tribes and sub-tribes from the Central Indian States like Jharkhand, Orissa,
Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and like to work as labours in the tea plantation process.

At first, British tea planters appointed the locals but as most of them were
irregular and revolutionary and proved to be inefficient, the authority had to search for
new efficient labours. Their search ended when they came across the Adivasis of
Central India who were hard working enough to prove themselves as efficient labour
for the tea plantation. Management became very happy to know that these labours
were cheap too. Thereby, the continuous process of importing induced labour began,
though most of which was illegal in nature. In the initial stage, large portion of such
migrated labours died due to change in their atmosphere and several diseases but
gradually they adapted themselves in the changing environment. From that time till
date, they have been struggling hard to mark their existence in the prevailing society.

Assam is a multi-ethnic multi-lingual, multi-caste, multi-religious society where

different communities have been living peacefully together for a long period of
history. Among these, some communities were outsiders who migrated to Assam
during colonial regime contributing significantly towards expanding the number and
size of the population of Assam. The question of Assamese nationality formation has
started under colonialism and in this process some groups living in the bottom of the
larger Assamese society were excluded by not giving due share and dignity. These
ethnic groups find no way but to subject themselves to the hegemony of the dominant
groups of the region they live. One such marginalised group is the tea-garden
labourers of Assam, branded as the ‗Tea-Tribes‘, generally prefer to be called as
‗Adivasis‘ who are experiencing difficulties in their very existence in the Assamese
society. They were forced migrants of colonialism who were driven out from
Chotanagpur region during second half of nineteenth century and the first decade of
the twentieth century by the colonial state. It has been observed that the plantation
labourers and ex-tea labourers including the ordinary peasants have been living in the

14
Assamese society since late 19th century colonial Assam, but there exists a gap
between the larger Assamese society and the Tea Tribes. Socio-economically they
stand far behind the larger Assamese society.

Education is the most important way through which one can achieve success
in life. Education not only helps in building up individual‘s personality, character and
intelligence, but also his productive capacity and his ability to perform his share of
work more efficiently. However, tea garden labourers are deprived of education by
and large and a greater section of this labour force has not still received the proper
light of education. The lack of educational facility for the various reasons has kept
them in Dark Age as education is a powerful instrument through which one can solve
all sorts of problems. Lack of education had led to serious underdevelopment in this
community. The percentage of literate people among tea garden labours is much
lower in comparison to the state percentage which has pushed them in a state of
misery and backwardness.

With the establishment of tea gardens in Assam, a need of plantation labour was
felt to engage in production. As the local people were not really hard working and not
actually familiar or habitual to such type of physical work, the management had no
choice, but to import them from different parts of India. Today Assam's tea industry is
totally dependent on about two million such tea labourers. Almost all of these labours
are the descendents of those who were brought to Assam as slaves first by the East
India Company and later by the British rulers and entrepreneurs from 1830‘s through
1920‘s, mostly from the Santhal Parganas district of Bihar (now in Jharkhand state).
There is a long history of recruitment of labourers to tea gardens of Assam. When tea
plantation was started in the early part of the nineteenth century, the procurement or
obtainment of labourers was a really difficult task for the planters. Though due to
various reasons, labourers had to be recruited from outside the state, however, in
reality the recruitment process from outside Assam was not an easy process.

It was natural that people from outside would not like to leave their own
places to work in a place which was really so far from their homeland, that too in a
very remote part of the country. Moreover, it was a time where there was dearth of

15
convenient transport and communication facilities. Therefore, planters took the policy
to recruit people from places where there were frequent famines. As a result, the
planters started to search for the poor, ignorant and hard working people of famine
affected areas and also backward areas. Thus people of tribal communities like
Santals, Mundas, Khouds, Orangs, Lohars, Ghases, Turies, and Barris etc. were
recruited for tea plantation. More than 100 castes and tribal groups were there from
places like Ranchi, Hazaribag, Santhal Pargana and Gaya of Bihar, Mayurbhanj,
Ganjam, Sambalpur of Madhya Pradesh, Daltanganj of Uttar Pradesh, Vigianagram of
Andhra Pradesh, Nasik of Maharastra etc. who were recruited by the planters as
labourers.

The most significant characteristic of these tea tribes is that though they are
from different places, of different tribes, of different castes, inside the tea garden they
have one identity i.e. the tea garden labour and inside the tea garden they have the
same living condition and status. They had to give up many of their traditional beliefs
and customs due to different circumstances. It was seen that a new society was
emerged when a complex interactions underook among the different castes and tribes
of tea labourers. Though all these different groups possess their own dialect, but in the
tea estates they share a common lingua franca. This was called ―Chah Bagichar
Asomia‖ which means a form of Assamese language spoken by the labourers of the
tea gardens. This language is a mixture of Hindi, Bengali and Assamese language.
This lingua franca is also called as ―Sadni‖. Now these tea garden labourers call
themselves as ―Tea Tribes‖ and form a separate demographic group in the population
structure and constitute about 20 percent of the total population of Assam.

The Tea-tribes of Assam are one of the most backward and most exploited
tribes in India, though their newer generation is comparatively educated and is aware
of their deprivation, exploitation and rights. Now they have intellectuals and
professionals in various fields. The Tea tribes, who are basically labourers, live in
villages, inside tea-estates (established by tea-planters). These estates are located in
interior places and this contributes to the backwardness and exploitation of them by
the tea-planters. The workers, on the other had, have no choice but to live with the
basic facilities provided by the tea-planters. The tea tribes are usually exploited by the

16
tea-planters in every possible way. Therefore, violence and agitation of these labours
against the management is commonly seen, where the tea-planters are normally
protected by the state machinery. Lack of education, poverty, addiction of their males
to alchohol or drugs, poor standard of living and poor health-sanitary conditions or
facilities are some of the major problems of their lives. There are instances when the
labours are not even provided the basic life-saving drugs when workers are dying out
of epidemics. The 'welfare officer' that are appointed in every tea-estate due to
compulsion from Government of India, can be mostly regarded show-pieces than of
any good.

The economic picture of the workers of the tea garden has been characterized
differently from their outside counterpart. The tea garden labours are primarily
dependent on their wages. The wages of the casual labourer and child labour,
however, vary from garden to garden and are dependent on the wishes and good will
of the management. In the present price hike situation the wages of the tea labourer
are very low, through which they cannot even afford the minimum need of the
livelihood. Sometimes it is also noticed that in a joint family of such a labour, the
unemployed labours use their labour force in the field of agriculture to earn secondary
source of income for that family. Despite such hard living condition, those people try
to preserve their own special socio economic and cultural identity.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Assam is a multi–ethnic state, which is popularly described as the mosaic of

various ethnic groups. The Tea Tribes which constitutes around 20% of the total
population in Assam is considered to be one of the marginalized and oppressed
groups in the state. In the recent years, they have been trying to fulfill their demands
by exerting influence on the government through different activities of identity
politics. However, the history of these people shows that they were brought as
indentured labourers by the colonial masters during the 19th and 20th century from
different parts of mainland India viz. Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bengal, Bihar, Odisha,
Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh for a fixed period of time. However, this
community did not return to their home even after the expiry of the contractual
period. Instead, they slowly embraced the socio-cultural practices of the indigenous

17
community, particularly the Assamese culture, to assimilate themselves as its
indigenous people. Thus, many of them continued to live inside the garden while
some others decided to settle outside the garden and became part of the greater
Assamese society. During the early days of tea plantations, labour scarcity was an
immediate cause for the extension of plantation. The scarcity (of labourers) continued
despite the deployment of indigenous groups such as Kacharis, Mataks, Kukis, Nagas,
Singphos and Apatanis among others. While looking through the prism of reality, it
can be understood that the rapid increase of tea garden demanded large-scale
labourers for generating maximum production.

Thus, the recruitment of large number of workers from outside the state began
directly or indirectly from 1841 and continued till 1953. The conditions of those
people were very much deplorable, intolerable and pitiable in their home states. Harsh
realities prevailing around these people‘s lives forced them to leave their home states
when they saw the ray of hope in Assam in order to escape from the persecution,
oppression and different types of catastrophes. At such circumstances, they were also
attracted by the recruiters with the offers of secure employment, good wages and
healthy habitation.

Justification for using the term ‘Tea Tribes’:

The tea garden labourers of Assam do not primarily belong to one ethnic
group but differ from one another. There are sixty one tribes and forty castes engaging
in tea plantations in various parts of Assam. Some of the early recruits to name are:
Oraons, Mundas, Santhals, Kharias and other Chotanagpur tribals (Pulloppillil,
1999)11. These diverse groups of the tea labourers are clustered and, then, generally
called as tea and ex-tea tribes. At the same time, they are also known as Adivasi along
with their professional names such as: Coolie, Mazdoor, Baganiya etc. But as they
dislike to be known by their profession or some terminologies are considered to be
derogatory now-a-days, the term ―tea tribes‖ is commonly used after the unanimous
decision of the conference of Assam Chah Mazdoor Students‘ Association held at
Bindukuri Tea Estate near Tezpur (Kurmi,2008)12. Hence, though they have come
from different regions of India and though they belong to different ethnic groups of

11
Pulloppillil, T. (1999), Identity of Adivasis in Assam, pp. 1-8
12
Kurmi, S.(2008), Chah Gosor Maje Maje, pp.94-95
18
castes and tribes they are now-a-days commonly known as ‗Tea Tribes‘. The
Government of Assam also created Tea Tribes Welfare Department in 2004 as
administrative department vide notification No. AR.32/2004/34, dated 31-09-2004.13

In spite of separate identity of their own sub-group, their common identity in

Assam is ‗Tea Tribes‘ mainly due to the fact that they have come to Assam to work in
the tea gardens with a common profession. After the conference, the name of the
student organization also came to be known as ―Assam Tea Tribe Students‘
Association (ATTSA)‖ instead of erstwhile ―Assam Chah Mazdoor Students‘
Association‖. In Assam, the tea tribes played a very active role during the freedom
movement, besides working in tea gardens. Their involvement in the freedom
movement was rather not based on individual interest, but a mass participation to
achieve collective goal i.e., India‘s independence.

During the national movement against the colonial power, along with the
indigenous community, many from the tea-tribes community have selflessly sacrificed
their lives in the hands of ruthless British soldiers. As a tribute to their relentless
participation, four seats were allotted in the 108 members Assam Legislative
Assembly which started functioning in 1937 under the Government of India Act 1935.
This marked the beginning of their political representation in the state assembly.
Accordingly, a number of politicians (in Assam) have always been advocated to
maintain cordial relations between the indigenous groups and tea tribes, ever since the
arrival of huge labourers to work in various tea gardens in Assam. For example, Sir
Md. Saadulla, then Prime Minister of Assam Province for five times after Diarchy,
had always sought the locals to maintain amicable relations with the tea garden
people. In fact, it was the tea-votes, which had kept him in office. (Tanmay Kumar
Bhattacharjee, 2003)14.

In the post independence period, several tea tribe candidates have found place
in the state Assembly as well as parliamentary elections. Thus, they have been playing
an important role in the state politics of Assam and many of them enjoyed the cabinet

13
Dawn in the Green Horizon, published by Tea Tribes Welfare Department, Govt. of Assam
14
Bhattacharjee, T. K. (2003), Political Economy of North East India, pp. 196-197
19
rank in different ministries of Assam Government by wisely involving themselves
through alliance in one or other political parties. Thus, they find a platform to ask the
government about the poor conditions of the labourers and to take measures for their
welfare. Moreover, there are a number of trade union organizations relating to the
welfare of tea labourers. Some of the few to name are: All India Trade Union
Congress (AITUC), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), Assam Chah
Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) and Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) etc.

These unions are very much connected with national or regional political
parties. For instance, the INTUC had been connected to the Indian National Congress.
This relation continues for long period ispite of the protest across the labourers
against the misappropriation of funds by the congress government. The congress,
whatsoever, tried to pacify the tea tribes since the latter were the major vote banks for
the former to maintain their power in the ministry. It is said that as long as there is
‗Coolie‘ in one pocket of Congress and the ‗Ali‘ in the other, nobody can defeat
Congress in the elections. So, Congress always tries to woo the voters of tea tribes.
The trade unions affiliated to Congress also maintain a good linkage between the
party and the tea tribes. Presently, other parties also have increased their influence
upon the tea tribes and they no longer remain the unharmed vote bank of the
Congress.

Despite the efforts of the trade unions and government agencies such as Tea
Board of India, Directorate for Welfare of Tea Garden Tribes, Assam Tea Labour
Welfare Board and implementation of various developmental schemes, socio-
economic condition of the tea tribes remains unchanged even after 72 years of Indian
independence. Absence of proper health facility, drinking water, sanitation and
electricity connection in majority of the tea gardens reveal the prevailed pathetic
conditions and failure of the development schemes adopted by different governments
for the development tea tribes. This has led to the growth of dissatisfaction among the
trade unions and paved the way for the formation of different student organizations
such as Assam Tea Tribes Students‘ Association (ATTSA) and All Adivasi Students'

20
Association of Assam (AASAA) which have been dealing with the vital issues
relating to the welfare of the tea tribes since the 1990s.15

These tea-tribes student organizations give pressures to the state government

for the faster development of the community. This formation of such student
organisations is actually a signpost for the identity of tea tribes of Assam. The rise of
identity politics among the tea tribes of Assam is mainly due to their backwardness,
oppression and marginalization. Their major demands include ST status to the tea
tribes, annual bonus, and separate department for the tea tribes in the government,
electricity provision in labour lines, drinking water, housing and amendment of the
Plantation Labour Act, 1951. In order to fulfill their demands the student bodies have
been organizing rallies, demonstrations, dharnas and calling bandhs from time to
time.

Sonitpur district is the second largest district with an area of 5,324 sq. km
which is next to Karbi Anglong in Assam. Presently, there are sixty three tea gardens
in the district of Sonitpur. According to 2011 census total population of Sonitpur is
1925,975 and it is the third populous district in Assam after Nagaon and Dhubri.16
The approximate number of tea tribe population in the Sonitpur district is 12% of the
districts‘s total population. As per the record received from the Regional Office of the
Tea Board situated at Tezpur, the number of total permanent labour in those 63 tea
gardens of Sonitpur is 55,144 of which total male population is 28,046 and female
population is 27,098. The number of non-permanent labour fluctuates from time to
time.

The Tea Tribes of Sonitpur have been playing a significant role in the politics
of Assam since the pre-independence period. The Tea Tribes people of Sonbitpur
district had participated in the freedom struggle actively along with the other people
of Assam. In the course of protest movement against the colonial power, along with
the indigenous community, many from the tea tribes have also selflessly sacrificed

15
Saikia, Biswajit, ‗Development of Tea Garden Community and Adivasi Identity Politics in Assam‘,
DIALOGUE, Volume-10 No. 3
16
http://census2011.co.in>Assam>Sonitpurand http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonitpur_district

21
their lives in the hands of ruthless British sepoy. The verbatim report of Omiya
Kumar Das brought to light that Moongri alias Malatimen from Lalmati T.E. near
Tezpur was the first martyr of the movement who sacrificed her life during the non-
cooperation movement in 1921.17 Tea tribes from the various parts of the district like
Halem, Behali, Biswanath, Dhekiajuli, Rangapara and Tezpur regions played a very
significant role throughout the different phases of the freedom struggle.

After independence, the tea tribes have become very effective in the electoral
politics after the application of the principle of universal adult franchise. The past
statistics show that about 35 and 9 Legislative Assembly Constituencies in the
Brahmaputra and Barak valley respectively, Tea Tribe voters played decisive role due
to their large concentration in those areas. Among them, six Assembly constituencies
fall in Sonitpur district under the Tezpur Lok Sabha constituency. These six Assembly
constituencies are Gohpur, Behali, Biswanath, Rangapara, Dhekiajuli and Borsola.18
Out of 36 Congress MLAs (in 1996 elections) in the Legislative Assembly, 8 belongs
to the ‗tea tribes‘, revealing the extent to which the party‘s state unit was dependent
on the support of this backward community.19 Considering their importance, the
political parties both national and regional try to woo the tea tribes by nominating
candidates from this community in the elections and to maintain affiliation of trade
union organizations. However, in spite of the existence of trade union originations and
their importance in the electoral politics, they are still the victim of under-
development and their socio-economic conditions remain almost unchanged.
Therefore, their consolidation has been started in order to overcome their problems
through assertion of identity.

It is to be noted here that along with other demands, their struggle for ST
status under the constitution of India has become acute and intensified in the recent
years under the leadership of the students‘ bodies like ATTSA and AASAA. These
organizations have a strong base in Sonitpur and thus it has become an important

17
Kurmi, Ganesh Chandra (2001), ‗Chah Shramik Aru Swadhinatar Gana Andolan‘ in ―Scah
Janagusthir Cinta Cetana‖, Asom Sahitya Sabha, pp. 254
18
Ahmed et al, (206), Electoral Politics in Assam: Issues, Trends and People‘s Mandate, Akansha
Publishing House, New Delhi, pp. 105-217
19
Sharma, D. P., (2010) ―Role of ‗Tea Tribes‘ in Electoral Politics in the Brahmaputra Valley‖, in
Journal of Political Science, G.U., p. 124

22
ground for them to resort to different types of activities to fulfill their demands.
Laxmi Orang is an example from Sonitpur district that has become a prominent name
in the struggle for her indomitable spirit for the cause of the community after the
Beltola incidence of 24 November 2007 which is a glaring instance of identity
politics.20

Thus, the Tea Tribes of Sonitpur district have been playing a pivotal role in
their struggle for ST status and other demands, for ending the oppression or
marginalization on them, for organizing the community under a common umbrella
through student bodies or other organizations and for their representation in the state
politics. Therefore, a specific study of the role of the tea tribes of Sonitpur district for
the cause of the community bears utmost significance.

To know the Status of the Tea Tribes, one has to keep these cleavages in mind
because though they have been in Assam for more than a century now, their identity
remains as fluid as it used to be in the colonial era. This fact ought to raise several
fundamental questions in the work and policy formulation of the churches and other
agencies involved with their communities.

The difference in their assertion of community identity is visible also in

relation to other tribes in every day actions. For example, development workers state
that while communities such as Bodo engaged in farming have a fair amount of self
assurance with regard to their identity, despite severe economic hardships, the same is
hard to say about the Adivasi.

The Tea Tribes constitutes around 20 percent (70,00,000) of the total

population of Assam. In derogatory terms they are called ―coolies‖. The Assam
government has strategically leveled them as ―Tea garden tribes‖ so that their identity
is hidden and they do not get their constitutional rights. But the elite groups of the
community proudly identify themselves as Adivasis. They are known as Adivasis in
other parts of India. The Tea Tribes movement came to light because of the
opposition of the proposal of scheduling the Tea Tribes in Assam. The Register
20
Saikia, Biswajit, ‗Development of Tea Garden Community and Adivasi Identity Politics in Assam‘,
DIALOGUE, Volume-10 No. 3
23
General of India (RGI) has stated that they have furnished their comments four times
– in the years of 1978, 1981, 1995 and 2005, but he did not support the proposal
because Assam government sent a wrong and inappropriate report. The Central
government was about to give ST status to 9 Adivasi tribes of Assam. But labour
minister Barki Prasad Telenga and the then ATTSA leader opposed to it and sent a
resolution to Assam government to oppose the central government‘s move.

The Tea Tribes of Assam have been deprived of their constitutional right of
being recognized as ST since independence. This is the prime reason which has left
the Adivasis as the most backward and underdeveloped ethnic group in the entire
North-East India. Unfortunately they have been so neglected by both the state and
central governments that their culture and languages are yet to develop like the other
tribal groups of the region. This negligence of the government continues although the
Tea Tribes contribute enormously towards the peace, progress, political stability and
economic growth of the state.

OBJECTIVES

The main objectives of the present study are as follows:

(i) To understand the identity of the Tea Tribes in Assam.

(ii) To analyze the identity politics of the Tea Tribes.

(iii) To know the impact of identity politics on the Tea Tribes.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Michael Dusche (2010) in his work ‘Identity Politics in India and Europe’
highlights the present perceptions of the East and the West on identity politics. In this
volume, the author makes historical and philosophical analysis of the concept of
identity politics. While the first part of the book discusses the history of perceptions
between the Europe of Latin Christianity and the so-called Muslim world, starting
from the 7th century onwards, the second and third parts are devoted to the role of
modernity in changing identity politics and the role of intellectual elites to play in

24
identity politics respectively. The author observes that identity politics in the name of
the emancipation of disadvantaged groups with respect to gender, race, class, ethnicity
or religion runs the risk of perpetuating the same pattern that is responsible for the
exclusion of these groups. Moreover, the solution attempted by the discriminated
minority often involves its own form of identity politics towards an even smaller
minority.

E. H. Erikson (1970) in an article ‘Reflections on the Dissent of

Contemporary Youth‟ describes identity as a subjective sense as well as an
observable quality of personal sameness and continuity, paired with some belief in the
sameness and continuity of some shared world image. He says as a quality of self-
conscious living this can be gloriously obvious in a young person who has found
himself as he has found his communality.

A. R. Momin (2009) in his work „Diversity, Ethnicity and Identity in South

Asia’ observes that the question of identity has acquired an extraordinary salience in
the contemporary social science literature. Recent researches have not only taken
cognizance of the universal valorization of identity but have also focused on the
dynamics of identity formation and on the role and functions of identity in different
social, political and cultural contexts.

Anthony Giddens (1991) in his work ‘Modernity and Self Identity’ points
out that there has come about an unprecedented revival and reawakening of ethnic
identities in many parts of the world in recent years. This revival has been
strengthened by the process of globalization, the worldwide salience of cultural
diversity. The accelerated pace of technological, social and cultural change, extensive
international migration and increasing contacts between different ethnic groups and
cultural communities, and the growing visibility of transnational diasporas has led to
it.

C. J. Sonowal (2009) in an edited work ‘Quest for Identity, Autonomy and

Development: The Contemporary Trends of Ethnic and Tribal Assertion in Assam’
opines that though the people concerned got assimilated to form a wider social entity
i.e. the Assamese, they felt in each step of public life a sense of deprivation in terms

25
of distribution of benefits of democracy and welfare measures sponsored or offered by
the state machinery. Following such treatments, a section of such communities
conceived that they do not represent equally in so called dominant national identity.
For them, bargaining for such benefits is only possible under a separate identity or
entity. Thus we see a series of activities among several local communities in the state.

Asha Sarangi etal (2011) in the edited volume ‘Interrogating

Reorganization of States: Culture, Identity And Politics in India’ addresses a
number of significant themes related to states‘ reorganization and its effects, question
of underdevelopment, size, political participation, cultural identities, and also
examines the demand for smaller states. It focuses on different states, their historical
and contemporary trajectory leading to the demand for territorial remapping and thus
recognizing specific political and cultural resources, and identities in the regions and
sub-regions of states in India.

Nandana Dutta (2012) in her work ‗Questions of Identity in Assam:

Location, Migration, Hybridity’ observes that the last thirty years have been a period
of interpretations, of questions, of development and underdevelopment, of continuing
large scale migration, of ―marginalization by the centre‖, of majority-minority
questions in an ethnically diverse community, and of the inclusion of migration and
hybridity as the dominant tropes in the imagination of identity. The author provides an
overview of the identity issues as reflected in the region, and encompasses the period
from the compulsion of the Assam Movement to the present.

Apurba Baruah (2005) in his work ‘Communities and Democracy: A

Northeast Indian perspective’ holds the view that the movements of various
communities to assert and protect their, what is commonly called, ‗ethnic‘ identity,
are the most significant aspect of the contemporary socio-political reality of India‘s
North East.

Sanghamitra Misra (2011) in her work „Becoming a Borderland: The

Politics of Space and identity in Colonial Northeastern India’ highlights the
negotiated character of state formation during the Mughal imperium, and the

26
interventions of the East India Company and the nineteenth century colonial state. It
underlines the contestations between colonial and local notions of space power;
explores connections between speech, political culture and economy and the
reinvention of history; and traces the cultural production of a borderland identity.

Amartya Sen (2006) in his work ‘Identity and Violence: The Illusion of
Destiny’ points out that belonging to each one of the membership groups can be quite
important, depending on the particular context. Sen argues that we are becoming
increasingly divided along the lines of religion and culture, ignoring many other ways
in which people see themselves, from class and profession to morals and politics.
When we are put into narrow categories the importance of human life gets lost. The
hope of harmony in today‘s world lies in a clearer understanding of our sheer
diversity.

U. Phukan (1984) in his work ‘The Ex-tea Garden Labour Population in

Assam’ highlights that the process of interactions and adjustment with Assamese
society had started soon the tea labourers came out of the gardens and settled outside
the plantations as ex-tea garden labourers. Despite such amalgamation with the
indigenous communities, they i.e., ex-tea tribes did not overtly embrace the social
practice of the locals. Instead, the relations were hanged distant quite sometimes
during the early days. This does not mean complete absence of inter-change of social
and cultural elements. The ex-tea garden labourers have slowly but steadily modified
many of their festivals and rituals with that of Assamese.

A. Ahmed et al (2006) in a work ‘Election Politics in Assam: Issues Trends

and People’s Mandate’ explains that the tea tribes comprising both workers and ex-
workers have a strong presence in the electoral politics of Assam for many years. This
community is the deciding force for the outcome of many elections, particularly in 27
constituencies. In the past, this community has been in cob-webbed of the congress
party. But it has been gradually dwindled from the influence of the congress in the last
few decades. The result of this shift has many factors, but its direct factor was the
augmentation of other parties like the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), and the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP). The author retrospects the past assembly elections and explains

27
comprehensively that these two parties i.e., AGP and BJP have failed to understand
the influence of INTUC upon the workers to vote for the congress. Nonetheless, they
claimed it was a historical accident, and future would be more contested as all the
parties have (now got) equal impact in the tea garden constituencies. The outcome of
this may likely bring power equation in the state‘s legislative assembly.

R. Thapa (2001) in his work ‘Politics of Identity among the Tea Tribes of
Assam’ describes that emergence of new batch of educated elite among the tea
community strikes significant impacts on the state politics of Assam. This group did
not only demand development to the government but they also became involved in the
electoral politics to find place in the ministry. Their primary goal was to make their
backward community developed and self-sufficient. Hence, they started to organize
both the Tea and Ex-Tea community that culminated in the formation of a galaxy of
students and socio-cultural organizations. However, among these organizations
ATTSA and AASAA emerged as the most articulated and organized ones.

U. C. Saharia (2005) in his work ‘Tea Labourers of Assam’ gives an

account of the tea tribes of Assam in general and Dibrugarh district in particular. In
this volume the author provides a demographic overview of the tea labourers
including their origin, migration, growth and distribution pattern. The socio-economic
profile of the tea tribes including their occupational pattern, income and expenditure
is another important aspect of the volume.

A. Guha (1981) in his work ‘Planter Raj to Swaraj: Freedom Struggle and
Electoral Politics in Assam 1826-1927’ observes that the descendents of tea garden
labourers shaped a new rural community i.e., the ex-tea tribes. These communities are
by and large landless and poor peasants. They, therefore, need substantial help from
any lighthearted organizations. In such conundrum, Indian National Trade Union
Congress (INTUC) has come forward with a promise to support their socio-economic
conditions. Thus, many have immediately become members with hope to gain both
the ends. In due process of time, the ex-tea tribes have managed to come together,
under one platform, to strive, seek and find ways for self-reliance. This consciousness
has brought a new impact in the state politics of Assam. In conclusion, he further

28
highlights that a narrow stratum of intelligentsia is slowly transpired within them in
the aftermath of India‘s independence.

Sibopada De (2001) in an article ‘Problems of the Tea Garden Labourers in

Assam- A Prospect in Retrospect’ states that the tea tribes have become part and
parcel of the Assamese citizenry due to long amalgam inhabitant, embracement of
culture, and rituals etc. This lingering attachment with the Assamese for generation-
to-generation in every aspect of life gives them a sense of oneness. Conceivably, it
was a milestone for them to participate in different welfare activities, sanctioned by
the governments, to uplift the elementary needs of their community. Some of their
leaders not only become important figure within but turn out to be active and widely
known statesman outside. The inert reason of this raise is the outcome of India‘s
following an institutionalized democratic system.

R. N. Chakravorty (1997) in his work ‘Socio-Economic Development of

Plantation Workers of North East India’ critically analyses many clues and clichés,
surrounding the most fascinating story of the rise, growth and development of tea
industry and its workforce, specially the piteous living condition of the workers in
north-eastern region, before and after independence. The author observes that their
socio-economic conditions exhibit quite different panorama than that of the industrial
workers in other industries. Majority of the tea workers are still under the darkness of
illiteracy and ignorance, they are poverty stricken, socially and economically most
backward.

P. Kumar (2006) in his work ‘State and Society in North East India: A
study of Immigrant Tea Plantation Labourers’ observes that the tea labourers were
the victims of ignorance, illiteracy and poverty. This socio-economic deficiency
among the tea tribes community gave an opportunity for the self-aggrandize officials
to ill-treat them. They live from hand to mouth; most of them are illiterate, socio-
culturally less advanced, cut off from the main stream of life due to heavily engaged
in plantation environment. He further says that the level of political participation
among these people is far below expectation. This circumstance was due to political
flaws and lack of political awareness. On the other hand, they seldom participate in
the electoral politics to assert their fundamental rights in order to correct the political
deficiency. They are misled by their leaders and they fail to make correct assessment
29
of the situation. Labour vote is the solid vote bank in the hands of labour leaders
belonging to their own caste and community. The leaders easily convince them in
their own language, which generates emotional attachment. The tea garden labour, in
fact, forms a pressure group in the state politics as a whole.

Although a large number of studies have been done regarding identity politics
in India or world, yet there is little study on the tea tribes of Assam. There is no
specific study on the identity politics of tea tribes of Sonitpur district. Therefore, in
this respect this study is a pioneering one.

SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

This study has analysed the historical background of identity of the tea tribes
in Assam in general and Sonitpur district in particular. It has also studied the factors
which are responsible for the rise of identity politics particularly in the district of
Sonitpur. The identity assertion of the tea tribes has been developed mainly due to the
unsuccessful attempts of the trade unions which are concerned with the development
of the tea tribes that resulted in the growth of some CSOs such as ATTSA and
AASAA etc. Therefore, the present study has focused on the role of these
organizations which have intensified the movement of identity politics among the tea
tribes in Sonitpur district. The study has also analyzed the impact of identity politics
on the tea tribes in Sonitpur.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research questions of this study are as follows:

1. What is the historical background of the identity of the Tea Tribes of Assam?

2. What are the various factors that are responsible for the formation of Tea
Tribes‘ identity politics in Sonitpur district of Assam?

3. What is the overall impact of identity politics on the tea tribes in Sonitpur?

METHODOLOGY

The methodology of this study is descriptive and empirical in nature.

―Descriptive research describes and interprets what is. It is concerned with conditions

30
that exist, opinions that are held, processes that are going on, effects that are evident,
or trends that are developing. It is primarily concerned with the present though it often
considers past events and influences as they relate to current conditions‖ (John Best
and James Kahn, 2005). The study on ―the politics of identity among the tea garden
workers of Sonitpur district‖ is conducted by employing the above mentioned
methods to understand the existing conditions and the dynamics of identity politics
among them.

Area of Study and Sample:

The study has been conducted in Sonitpur district of Assam and the Tea Tribes
population of this district is the universe of the study. There are 63 tea gardens in 14
development blocks in Sonitpur district. Out of the total 14 development blocks, 3
development blocks have been selected purposively. Again, from these 3 development
blocks, 3 tea gardens have been selected purposively taking one from each block.
These three gardens are- the Behali Tea Estate from Behali Development Block,
Monabari Tea Estate from Baghmora Development Block and Baghmari Tea Estate
from Biswanath Development Block. These are some of the important gardens from
where identity politics among the Tea Tribes have gained significant momentum
during the recent past. Monabari tea garden is the largest tea garden in Asia with an
area of 1096 hectares of land. Further, from each selected tea garden, 55 respondents
have been selected randomly. This has led to a sample of 165. Male-female ratio of
the respondents is 60:40 (i.e. male 99 and female 66).

Meanwhile, these selected respondents from the tea gardens have been
interviewed using the interview schedule and questionnaire. Besides, some key
persons from the community as well as organizations like ATTSA, AASAA, ACMS,
and INTUC etc as well as the Managers of Tea Estates, Chief Inspector of Plantations
(Assam), Directorate for Welfare of Tea Garden Tribes, Labour Inspector of Sonitpur
district and officials of Tea Employees Welfare Board, Government of Assam who
can throw lights on many important issues in this regard have also been interviewed.

31
Sources of Data:

Data for this study have been collected from both the primary and secondary
sources. However, as the study is more of verbatim research, for the collection of
data, more focus has been given on the primary method with the help of interview
schedule and questionnaire from the selected respondents.

Secondary data have been collected from books, newspapers, journals,

periodicals, annual reports, relevant published and unpublished works, and internet
and so on. Moreover, records and other file materials from the offices such as
Directorate for Welfare of Tea Garden Tribes, Assam Tea Employees Welfare Board,
ABITA (Assam Branch of Indian Tea Association), ATC (Assam Tea Corporation),
Chief Inspector of Plantations (Assam), Labour Inspector of Sonitpur district etc. have
also been important sources of secondary data for this study. Some relevant internet
sources have also been used.

ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This study has been organized into the following chapters:

Chapter-I: Introduction

Introductory chapter has dealt with the historical background of identity politics. It
has also dealt with the rise of identity politics in India in general and Assam in
particular.

Chapter-II: Identity of the Tea Tribes in Assam

This chapter has provided discussion on the identity of the Tea Tribes in Assam. It has
covered the history of their migration and settlement in Assam and the formation of a
common identity despite their diverse originality. Factors leading to their identity
politics have been discussed elaborately.

Chapter-III: Tea Tribes in the Sonitpur District

This chapter has focused on the Tea Tribes in Sonitpur district.

Chapter-IV: Socio-economic and Political Background of the Respondents

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This chapter has provided the Socio-economic and Political Background of the
Respondents.

Chapter-V: Identity Politics of the Tea Tribes in Sonitpur

In this chapter, the focus has been given on the tea tribes of Sonitpur district and the
initiatives taken by them to claim their political rights vis-à-vis identity in the state.
There are large populations of Tea Tribes in the district, but they have been largely
oppressed citizens. This conundrum has led to the assertion of identity among the tea
tribes through political fight. Thus this chapter has intensively examined the process
of the beginning of their demand for political identity.

Chapter-VI: Impact of Identity Politics in Sonitpur District

This chapter has analyzed the overall impact of identity politics on the social,
economic and political lives of the tea tribes in Sonitpur district. At the same time, it
has also examined the other areas that are being affected during the course of the
demand of their identity. In this chapter the issues that create the corollary tension in
the district has also been discussed.

Chapter-VII: Summary, Findings and Conclusion

This concluding chapter is a summarization of the whole thesis and explicit

rationalization of the findings. As a brief remark, it can be said that the identity
politics have taken a new tone and these moves have created opportunity that would
benefit not only a short-term but a long-term impact.

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