Days after Senior Supreme Court advocate Kapil Sibal sparked a controversy by claiming that Assam was originally a part of Myanmar, Congress leader Debabrata Saikia demanded an apology for distorting history. The leader of the opposition in Assam has written a letter to former Congress leader Kapil Sibal in this regard.
Debabrata Saikia wrote that this incorrect representation of Assam history by Sibal is very unfortunate and it has hurt the pride and prestige of Assam. “It seems the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and AAMSU might have provided you with incorrect information about Assam history and your team has failed to cross check the data before presentation,” he wrote. AAMSU stands for All Assam Minority Students’ Union.
Assam Congress Legislative Party Leader Debabrata Saikia has written a letter to Kapil Sibal to apologize publicly to people of Assam. Sibal, who was a Union Minister several times during Congress govt, had himself said in Supreme Court that Assam was under Myanmar in the past. pic.twitter.com/L3ypEAEnE7
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Debabrata Saikia is MLA from Nazira constituency and the son of former Assam chief minister late Hiteshwar Sarikia.
Explaining the contention that Assam was part of Myanmar is wrong, the Congress leader wrote, “The history of Assam is the history of a confluence of the Austroasiatic, Tibeto- Burman (Sino-Tibetan), Tai and Indo-Aryan cultures. The Ahom kingdom ruled Assam for six centuries and unified Assam. Although invaded over centuries, it was never a vassal or a colony to an external power until the third Burmese invasion in 1821, and subsequently the British ingress into Assam in 1824 during the First Anglo-Burmese War. The colonial era began with the establishment of British control after the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826.”
The Congress leader added, “Therefore, Assam was never a part of Myanmar and this comment from a senior statesman like you have hurt the pride and emotion of indigenous people of Assam.” Asking Kapil Sibal to withdraw the comments made in the Supreme Court, Debabrata Saikia also asked him to issue an apology to the people of Assam for distorting the history of Assam. “In view of this, I request you to kindly withdraw the statement and render a public apology before the public of Assam for mis-representation of Assam’s glorious history,” he wrote.
Kapil Sibal made the controversial comments on 7th September in Supreme Court while opposing petitions challenging Section 6A of the Citizenship Act. A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court is hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 provides a different cut-off date for immigrants to be considered illegal immigrants. As per this, all foreigners who entered Assam on or before 25th March 1971 will be granted Indian citizenship, against the cut-off date of 19th July 1949 for the rest of the country.
While arguing against the petitions, Kapil Sibal said that history of Assam is complicated as it was part of Myanmar which was later handed over to the British. Sibal also claimed that migration to Assam can’t be mapped, as ‘no migration can ever be mapped’.
Kapil Sibal said in the apex court, “If you look at the history of Assam, it is impossible to figure out who came when. Assam originally was a part of Myanmar, and it was way back in 1824 after the British conquered a part of it. A treaty was entered into and that is how Assam was handed over to the British.”
What Sibal said was incorrect, because while the Burmese army occupied Assam for a very brief period of time, that led to the first Anglo-Burma war that ended in 1826, Assam was never a part of Assam. The Treaty of Yandabo was signed between Myanmar and British India after Myanmar lost the war, under which Myanmar ceded control of Assam and Manipur to British government.
Before Burma occupied Assam in 1821-1822 that lasted till 1826 during the war, it was never a part of any other country in recorded history. Assam, previously known as Pragjyotishpur and Kamrup, is being ruled by local rulers for thousands of years, and the state, along with neighbouring states, are part of the greater Indian culture from pre-historic times.
Earlier Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma slammed Kapil Sibal for the comment, saying that those who do not know history should not make such statements.
