On Friday, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal called for "stringent action as per law" against Garga Chatterjee, an assistant professor with the Indian Statistical Institute in West Bengal.
As per a tweet posted by the CMO's office, Chatterjee had made "derogatory remarks" against Chaolung Sukapha, the first Ahom king in Assam.
A quick perusal of Chatterjee's Twitter handle throws up comments pertaining to the Ahom king who is revered for uniting the various indigenous ethnic groups within the area. He had called Sukapha a "Chinese invader" and had even wondered why the king and his "invading army" were celebrated.
"Why does Sarbananda Sonowal regularly celebrate a Chinese invader and his invading army? Why does banned separatist group ULFA also celebrate the Chinese invader? Do real Indians know that Indian tax money is being used by BJP in Assam to put up statues of a Chinese invader?" he had written in one tweet.
But while the Assam government may take legal action against Chatterjee, how accurate are his comments? And who exactly is Chaolung Sukapha? We took a look to find out.
To discover who Sukapha is, one has to go back to the year 1215 CE, when the Ahoms migrated from Mong-Mao or Mong-Mao-Lung, crossing the Patkai hills to enter upper Assam. As per an article published on the website of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Guwahati Circle, Assam, the Ahoms were led by "a Mao-Shan Prince, named Chau-lung Siu-ka-pha". As the ASI report corroborates, he became the first king of the Ahom dynasty, establishing his capital at Charaideo.
If one focuses on geography, Mong Mao is at present the Dehong Dai Jingpho autonomous prefecture of the south-western Yunan province of the People's Republic of China.
Thus, in the strictest of geographical senses, Chatterjee is not wholly incorrect about the "Chinese" origin of the king. But these are the country boundaries of today. In the 13th century, the map looked rather different, with India being composed of various kingdoms with very different perimeters. Additionally, it must be noted, that even today, the area that was Mong-Mao lies along what is now the frontier of Myanmar, China and India (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh etc).
Another point to note, Chatterjee's comment about Sukapha being an "invader" does not seem to quite ring true. While in many cases foreign invaders have focused on plundering the wealth of a country -- with Mahmud of Ghazni being a great example -- the Ahoms seem to have operated differently. As the Assam government writes on its official website, "the Ahom’s entered Assam fully assimilated and ruled Assam for nearly six hundred years". It also goes on to call the Ahom era a "glorious chapter in the history of Assam".
As many articles and reports note, it is the Ahoms that brought together several tribal communities in the region. Reports suggest that Sukapha began his reign on a conciliatory note, establishing cordial relations with local leaders.
Chatterjee's comments come at a time when people have been calling for a ban on Chinese products and urging the Indian Army to give a "befitting" response to the recent border clash that saw 20 Indian Army officials killed.
This is a time when one should ideally avoid fanning the flames of xenophobia. His comments thus seem a tad bit suspect when one wonder whether it was truly necessary at this time.
