History of press in Assam: An analysis of pre and post agitation period

One of the most important events in the history of Assam was the agitation against the illegal migrants from Bangladesh then known as East Pakistan. Many people argue that the whole plot of the agitation was only an urban phenomenon as newspapers had quite limited reach in flaring up the issues in question. Language was at the center of the agitation. “Two key organizations that play a central role in the constitution of Assamese civil society are: the ‘Assam Sahitya Sabha’* and the ‘All Assam Students Union’. It was during this period of the agitation that the press took an active role in the agitation. Some of the left leaning publications also had to face the brunt of the agitators; while in general, the press supported the idea of the agitation. Press has been the cornerstone of the essence of Assamese identity. It helped formalizing the idea of a modern language system with proper grammar under the guidance of the Missionaries.