Silchar: The Barak Banga has denounced Dimasa Writers’ Forum President Mukteswar Kemprai for calling the 1961 Language Movement martyrs “Bangladeshis” and referring to Bengalis in the Barak Valley as “outsiders.”

In a statement released on Monday, the organization described Kemprai’s comments as “unfortunate, baseless, deeply insulting, and a sign of a calculated attempt to erase Bengali identity from Barak Valley.”

Barak Banga’s General Secretary Gautam Prasad Dutta said Kemprai, as a writer, should have known the historical and cultural reality of the region. “His ignorance of Barak’s history is astonishing,” Dutta said, urging him to revisit the facts before making inflammatory statements.

Dutta outlined that Bengali culture and language have been rooted in the Barak Valley for centuries. Even during the Dimasa kingdom’s rule from Maibong, Bengali was used for official purposes because of the community’s long presence in the area. Renowned Bengali poet Bhubaneswar Bachaspati served in the Dimasa royal court, where Sanskrit texts like Naradiya Rasamrita and Brahma Purana were translated into Bengali.

When the Dimasa capital shifted to Khaspur, kings Krishnachandra and Gobind Chandra actively promoted Bengali literature and music. Dimasa poet Chandramohan Barman’s Bengali compositions were also popular then. Historical records show that King Kirtichandra issued royal decrees in Bengali in 1776, and King Tamradhwaj Narayan wrote the first legal code in Bengali.

Citing historian Suryakumar Bhuyan, Dutta noted that the Kachari Buranji records correspondence between the Dimasa and Ahom courts conducted in Bengali. Bhuyan’s Tripura Desher Katha also confirms that Bengalis had settled permanently in Cachar long before 1710. “The historical record clearly proves Bengalis are not outsiders here,” Dutta asserted.

He said attempts to paint Bengalis as foreigners have persisted for years. “We’ve been called infiltrators, termites—even by people in power,” Dutta remarked. He recalled how BJP leader Amit Malviya once claimed Bengali was “not even a language,” despite the central government officially granting classical language status to both Bengali and Assamese.

Rejecting Kemprai’s labeling of the 1961 martyrs as “Bangladeshis,” Dutta said, “These martyrs were born in undivided India or in newly independent India. Bangladesh didn’t even exist at that time.” He added that even the Assam Legislative Assembly once debated the status of the 1961 victims as language martyrs—records of which still exist.

According to Dutta, Kemprai’s remarks are not isolated but part of a “deliberate, ongoing campaign” to question Bengali identity in Barak Valley. He called for a strong and united public response and demanded that those influencing such divisive narratives be exposed.

At the same time, Dutta appealed to both Bengalis and Dimasas to safeguard the centuries-old bond of harmony between the two communities of southern Assam and ensure that it remains unbroken.