The vibrancy of a language in a heterogenous country like India lie not only in the number of its speakers or copious volumes of literature on it, but also on its status among its peers. It is in this sense that the awarding of classical status to Assamese language should be looked into and judged. The permanency of the status has not only put to rest all Doubting Thomases, who had been very vocal against it during the language movement in the State but also those who may have considered it as a less important one vis-à-vis its more illustrious and historical cousins.
However, this is just one part of the story. The status does not in any way mean an immediate jump in the number of people who speak it, or for that matter the importance that its literature derives in the literary terra firma of the world. However, it will certainly mean an additional sense of responsibility among its custodians to preserve it, promote it, and elevate it. The importance of research into its history, focus on its teaching among the people starting at the primary level, comparative studies in institutions of importance must now be undertaken by the Government and the private sector. It must be counted as an achievement of sorts; but what is important for all will be to ensure that we are not sitting on its laurels and past glories.
