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Assam has been the fastest-growing region of the Indian sub-continent throughout the twentieth century due to the enormous influx of migrants from various part of the country, transforming the ethnic composition of the state into minority and gradually diminising the political and economic prerogatives of the native Assamese.
Following Indian independence in 1947, the Assamese won control of their state assembly and launched a campaign to reassert the preeminence of Assamese culture in the region and improve employment opportunities for native Assamese. This led to the alienation of some tribal districts. Thinking of satisfying the tribals, the then Indian Government parititioned former Assamese territories into the tribal states of Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh over the next twenty years.
In 1979, Assam flared into Assam Agitation (or Assam Movement) against illegal immigration. The movement, led All Assam Students Union (AASU) and All Assam Gana Sangram Parisad (AAGSP), set up an agitational program to compel the government to identify and expel illegal immigrants and prevent new immigration. The agitational programs were largely non-violent, but there were incidents of acute violence, like the Nellie Massacre. It ended in 1985 following the Assam Accord that was signed by the agitation leaders and the Government of India.
The year 1979 also saw the birth of United Libearation Front of Assam (ULFA) a separatist armed opposition group which considers itself as a "revolutionary political organization" engaged in a "liberation struggle" against India for the establishment of a sovereign and independent Assam.
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Year | Post Indian Independence Assam
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1979 | Assam Agitation begins
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1985 | Assam Accord signed. End of Assam Agitation
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Source: Wikipedia
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