Silchar
Silchar is a city in the Barak Valley of Assam, India, and the administrative headquarters of Cachar district. As per the 2011 census, the Silchar municipal area had a population of 172,830, with projections estimating around 250,000 residents by 2025, positioning it as one of the major urban centers in southern Assam.[1][2]
The city functions as a vital commercial hub, supporting trade, tea-related industries, and regional connectivity via its railway station and airport, while also serving as an educational focal point with institutions like the National Institute of Technology, Silchar, founded in 1967 as a regional engineering college.[2][3] Predominantly Bengali-speaking, Silchar's demographic composition underscores the linguistic and cultural divergence of Barak Valley from the Assamese-majority areas of Assam, with Bengalis forming the core population amid a mix of Hindu and Muslim communities.[2]
Historically, Silchar is defined by the 1961 Bengali Language Movement, a campaign against the Assam government's policy of enforcing Assamese as the sole official language, which excluded Bengali speakers in the valley; on May 19, eleven protesters were killed by police gunfire during a non-violent satyagraha at the railway station, marking the event as a pivotal assertion of linguistic rights and leading to eventual concessions for Bengali's official use in Cachar and neighboring districts.[4][5]