GUWAHATI, Feb 6 - As tradition has it, vermillion (sindoor) is the first thing they buy during marriage shopping and some married women still sport on their foreheads. They also use the turmeric-green gram (mah-halodhi) paste when the bride and the bridegroom take the traditional bath on the eve of the marriage. During weddings, use of horse carts was common and the Assamese gamosa and dhoti were customary outfits.
Caught between the conflict of tradition and religion, the Deshi or Goalpariya Muslims are today grappling with an identity crisis, much of it stemming from the illegal migration problem in the State. Over the years, the ethnic identity of the Deshis, one of the oldest indigenous groups of lower Assam, is diminishing and the religious identity becoming the sole determinant.
For the first time, the Deshi community of Goalpara showcased their way of life, customs and traditions at the recently-concluded Rongali Festival in an attempt to establish a separate identity. And plenty of people understood the community for the first time.
�It hurts when we are bracketed with the Miyas (Bangladeshi migrants). We are more indigenous than many other ethnic groups. Just because our religion is Islam does not mean that we are not from this land,� advocate Anisur Rehman told The Assam Tribune.
Rehman�s group had set up a traditional hut at the Khanapara field venue of Rongali Festival, depicting the traditional lifestyle of the community.
Visitors were given a taste of traditional delicacies like bohni, which resembles the traditional rice beer, sidol (dry fish and elephant ear plant), chotkini and nali pata (a dish made from jute) at the pavilion.
Lecturer Mujibur Rehman said women play a vital role in decision making in the community, particularly during marriages. �We also don�t use the word Nikah for wedding. The word (Nikah) is used only for second marriage,� Rehman said.
Following fatwas from clerics, many people from the community have stopped using sindoor during marriages. �As an alternative, we now use maloti (a cosmetic used for lip treatment) which is of similar colour, but that too symbolically. However, some married women in the interior villages still sport sindoor on their foreheads,� Rehman said.
Deshis are basically Muslim converts from Koch-Rajbongshis, though they trace their history to Ali Mech, the Mech King who converted to Islam in 1204 AD, a quarter century before the Ahom dynasty was established in Assam.
Speaking the Goalpariya dialect, the Deshis still follow many social customs and practices similar to those of the Rajbongshis, like celebration of �Beshoma� (Rongali Bihu), �Puishne� (Bhogali Bihu) and �Amaati� during Ambubachi at the Kamakhya Temple.
The West Bengal government has recognised the Deshis of North Bengal as an indigenous ethnic group.
�The population of the Deshi community should be around 25 lakh in Assam, but if we include those in Meghalaya and Bengal, it could be around 35 lakh,� Shafi Alam, a teacher from Goalpara said.