Hopes have been raised among the votaries of regionalism in Assam of a third force taking on both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Such hopes have been kindled by the current efforts at rejuvenation of the leadership of the Asom Gana Parishad and of its unification. The present coalition of the Congress and the Bodoland People’s Progressive Front continues to be seen by large sections of the Assamese middle class as being in office only because of splits in the AGP, the “true representative of the region’s aspirations.” Hence a rejuvenated AGP, it is hoped, will be the perfect vehicle for carrying forward these aspirations.

The need for such a force in Assam had been felt since the days of the anti-foreigner agitation. Despite all its aberrations, the popular support which the agitation, as also the United Liberation Front of Asom in its early days, enjoyed, was evidence enough of a need for a cohesive regional force. It was this feeling that saw the AGP having a massive electoral triumph, but it failed the people. But regionalism was not given a farewell and a new AGP may once again catch the people’s imagination.

But if it is not to let down the people again, the AGP must give priority to inclusive politics. It must draw to it forces like the Assam United Democratic Front and the minorities — ethnic, linguistic and religious. A regional party becomes successful when it represents society in almost its entirety, as did the Telugu Desam Party under N.T. Rama Rao in Andhra Pradesh or the Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu. In Assam, unfortunately, the experience so far has been that regionalism has been allowed to lapse into parochialism, to nobody’s gain. It was because of this that the AGP, in its earlier avatar, could not win the confidence of such unrepresented forces as the Ahoms, the Rabhas, the Koch-Rajbansis and others.

True spirit

As also Barak Valley. The Bengalis there have always felt, and not without reason, that they are the victims of the parochialism of the upper caste Assamese. The language riot in the Fifties had led to deaths and now sections of the Assamese intelligentsia get jittery when Barak Valley demands rightful recognition of Bengali. The Brahmaputra Valley refuses to recognize that the Minorities Language Forum came into existence purely as a reaction to its intransigence and displayed nothing but parochialism when the demand was voiced that the entire Barak Valley be thrown out of Assam. Neither the Congress nor the BJP has been able to do anything in this regard and even the AGP earlier had danced to the tune of populism. But if it is to be guided by the true spirit of regionalism, the AGP must recognize that minorities of all hues also have their aspirations.

Such a truly regional force may also help it in dealing with the Ulfa. So far, security measures have not been able to tackle the menace and perhaps the only way out is to make people believe that there exists a political force that is truly Assamese without being divisive.

Does the AGP have the courage and conviction to emerge as such a force? The party was born out of an agitation that was, to a large measure, parochial. Making a clean break with the past is not easy, particularly for politicians who for so long have been wedded to the wrong slogans. Yet, adopting a wholly new course is a must if regional aspiration is to be held up in its totality. At the national level, the AGP wants to play a role as a part of the proposed third front. To perform that role with any measure of success, it must emerge as a truly representative third force within the whole of Assam and not just in the Brahmaputra Valley. It is not a tall order, given that people themselves want a change from the present status quo, and not just in terms of electoral gains.