Assam: Literacy and minority politics

As Tarun Gogoi gets set to fight for a fourth term as Assam chief minister, he will be remembered for undermining his own government's achievements on literacy.

In 2012, Gogoi asserted that Muslims outnumbered Hindus in the state not because of illegal Bangladeshi immigration but because they were illiterate, and as a result, bore more children. "Most Muslims are illiterate. Every family has six to 10 children," said Gogoi.

But, in fact, the literacy rate is going up in Assam, including in Muslim majority areas. For instance, the rate in Hailakandi, which, according to the 2001 Census, has the third highest Muslim population of 57.6 per cent in the state, rose from 59.6 per cent in 2001 to 75.3 per cent in 2011.

Literacy in the state also increased 8.9 per cent to 72.2 per cent in 2011, from 63.3 per cent in 2001 but it has failed to touch the national average of 73 per cent. According to the Census, a person aged seven and above is considered literate if he or she can read and write, with understanding in any language. Assam has also succeeded in lowering it's the gender gap in literacy rate (literacy rate of male minus that of female). It is 11.5 per cent in Assam, compared to the national average of 16.3 per cent.