GUWAHATI, Jan 22 - The Assamese middle class was a creation of the capitalistic growth in Assam introduced by the British for their own benefit. That section of Assamese society finally developed from a social stratum into a social class during the period, which was also the period of Bishnu Prasad Rabha�s early life.
Educationist Udayaditya Bharali has made this observation in the foreword to a book titled Bishnu Prasad Rabha and The Contemporary Assamese Society released here today.
The book, published by Bandhav, has been written by Dr Amiya Kumar Das, Associate Professor, Dept of History, DKD College, Golaghat.
Bharali states that with the emergence of the Assamese middle class, like all other nationalities the Assamese nationalism also started flowering. The Assamese nationalism developed in two streams � Right and Left. Rabha�s admirers who initiated the tradition of observing Rabha Divas are divided into two camps on the basis of ideology. For the Leftist camp, he is �Sainik Shilpi� and for the non-Leftist camp he is �Kalaguru�, Bharali states in the foreword.
According to him, Rabha was a product of the social assimilation that created the greater Assamese nationality.
Prithviraj Rabha, son of Bishnu Rabha, said, �My father was a revolutionist and also an anthropologist. Everything he had written can be the topic of academic research. But, in many cases, we have seen misinterpretation of Bishnu Rabha. Books have been written even with some distorted facts about him.�