1Professor, Department of Commerce, Assam University, Silchar, Dist: Cachar, Assam, India, Pin-788011
2Assistant Teacher, Department of Elementary Education, Assam C/o Dipendra Chandra Nath, Satsanga Ashram Road, Nasib Ali Lane, House No-20 Dist: Cachar, Assam, India, Pin-788007
Assam, the largest state of North East India, is situated between 8905/and 9601/East Longitude and 2403/and 27058/North Latitude. The total population of Assam as per 2011 census was 31,169,272. The state has undergone many transformations since 1951. After independence, some states like Meghalaya, Mizoram, came out from Assam in different years. However since 1972, there is no change in the geographical boundary of Assam.
In this context, the present paper highlights the changes of the population composition with special reference to religion in Assam since 1972 and its impact on the state politics. The political turmoil in Bangladesh and nearby states compelled many persons to migrate from their ancestral home and settled in Assam. This is responsible for creation of panic among the indigenous people related to their identity. The political scenario in the state of Assam has undergone a radical change due to the birth of political parties formed by the minorities.
The population structure of Assam has undergone a rapid change during the last few decades. The growth of Muslim population in some of the districts of Assam disturbs the population composition of the state to a great extent. The present paper seeks to analyze whether change of population structure is a major factor that determines the style of functioning of the government and political parties and practice of secularism in the state.
The study is descriptive and analytical. The main sources of the data are secondary comprising of books, journals, newspapers, statistical handbook and other related statistics published by different government organizations, various reports published by different commissions, websites etc. Various statistical techniques like mean, percentage, compound annual growth rate etc are used in the analysis of the data.
The main finding of the present paper is that the population composition with respect to religion, play an important role in state politics. Some of the political leaders play an unholy game by using religion in order to achieve their vested ends.
indigenous people, political turmoil, population composition, secularism
