Goalpariya people

The Goalpariya people inhabit a multi-religious, multi-ethnic and muti-linguistic region. There is some amount of tension between communities, that led to the 2012 Assam violence.

Groups

The languages spoken in the Goalpara region fall into two different groups—the Indo-Aryan (Goalpariya dialect) and Tibeto-Burman (Garo, Bodo, Rabha). Many of the Tibeto-Burman speakers are bilingual, with the Indo-Aryan language as the second language. Many Tibeto-Burman speakers have given up their ethnic language and adopted the Indo-Aryan language.

Many of the ethnic groups speak their own languages. The Bodos (historicalled called Mech in the north bank of the Brahmaputra Valley and Kachari in the south), speak the Bodo language.^[1] The Bodo community has been assertive of their ethnic identity, and has successfully carved out their domain in the districts of Kokrajhar and Chirang districts, part of the Bodoland Territorial Council.

The Muslims population are dominant in the south, and consist of two groups---the deshi (local) who are early settlers or converts; and bhatiya ("down stream") who are from East Bengal.^[2]

Notes

References