As Amartya Sen has argued that the roots of many social and political conflict in the world lies

in the odd presumption that the people of the world can be uniquely categorized according to some singular and overarching system of partitioning.1 Ignoring the plurality of identities of each individual and assuming that one identity out of several is of utmost importance can often lead to untoward consequences. In fact, the roots of various ethnic conflicts in Assam can be located in this insistence on singular identity. Recurring acts of violence in the state against the Biharis, Bengalis and other ethnic communities is the consequence of In order to probe deeper into this problem it is important to examine the historical construction of the Assamese identity and how it is perceived. It is difficult to identify the earliest autochthones of Assam as most of the regional communities have their own tradition of migration to the region. Being a frontier region, the area was subjected to incessant demographic changes which in turn led to the widening of the parameter of the Assamese nationality. As a result of all these factors it is difficult to the define the Assamese identity
In 1960 Assam Official Language Bill followed by the Assam (Official) Language Act (ALA) which stated that Assamese was to be then and thereafter the sole official language of Assam. The Assamese language suddenly became one of the important markers of the Assamese identity in the multilingual state which gave rise to severe discontent in many quarters of the society in Given Assams historically multilingual character, the launch of the ALA however, only added to the often violent conflict-like situationbetween Assamese (with nearly 150 per cent rise in their population following the census of 1951) and non-Assamese speakersalready prevalent in the State.