Documentary film on Assam's Islamic heritage

New Delhi, Jun 30: Key aspects of Islamic heritage in Assam, such as formation of the Muslim community, invasions and post-invasion settlements and migrations during the time of Ahom kings have been showcased in a new documentary.

Directed by Abdul Majid, the film is part of a project by Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) under its 'Aqeedat ke Rang series' administered by the Indian Institute of Technology - Guwahati.

The script written by Abu Nasar Saied Ahmed is part of his research entitled "Islamic Heritage in India's North East: Assam and Manipur."

The film looks at the life-cycle events of Sufi saints, Islamic institutions, creative heritage, folk songs and creative traditions in Assam.

Made in English, the film is a shorter version of five episodes, each about 22 minutes duration of a larger documentary which has been arranged in a thematic order.

In addition to the five episodes, a separate documentary has been made on Islamic Heritage in Manipur to cover the Manipuri Meitei Muslims, known as Pangals.

Scriptwriter Ahmed says, "There was a seminar in 2006 by IGNCA under the auspices of Aqidat Ke Rang series where I presented a paper on Azan Faqir, a 17th century Sufi saint, composer of devotional songs, zikirs, in Assamese and also stated that the Assam has a rich Islamic heritage which needed to be explored.

"The academic work was entrusted to me and a few weeks later I got a proposal to make a documentary on the subject," he says.

Ahmed roped in well known director Majid and started the twin tasks of academic project and documentary in November 2010 which was completed in October 2012.

The documentary focuses on Muslims in Assam which through interface and interaction of the community with the local non-Muslims facilitated by inter-marriage, harmonious understanding among communities, and peaceful convergence of Islamic culture added to the folk tradition of Assam.

In addition the liberal Vaishnava tradition in conjunction with the Sufi tradition offered unique opportunities to the Muslims to identify and integrate themselves into local lifestyles and build a harmonious customary and liberal Islamic heritage.

"The film depicts the rich and diverse customary Islamic heritage, which has been shaped by the interface and interaction of the Muslims with the folk tradition of Assam, where two broad streams flowed the Assamese in the Brahmaputra Valley and the Bengali in the Barak Valley.

"This a pioneering work and tells clearly about the liberal and tolerant Islam, a tradition which deserves attention, promotion and protection," says Ahmed.

The filmmaker says he now plans to make a documentary on the songs of Muslims in the Brahmaputra and the Barak Valley. "I have a plan to make a documentary film on the folk and devotional songs of the Muslims in the Brahmaputra and Barak Valley, if I get a modest grant from a funding organisation," he says.

In addition, Ahmed has also completed the screenplay of a film "Bagh Hazarika," who fought against the Mughal invasion in 1671. "I have already completed the screenplay of movie, 'Bagh Hazarika', whose actual name was Ismail Siddiqi, who fought against Mughal invasion in 1671 led by the General Ramsingh.

Bagh Hazarika was one of the trusted assistant of Lachit Barphukan, the legendary Ahom General, who defeated Ram Singh, one of the Generals of Emperor Aurangzeb, in the famous battle of Saraighat. Abdul Majid is set to direct a full-length Assamese film on the subject.

The project is likely to start in January 2016. The voiceover of the documentary has been rendered by Kapil Bora, a noted Assamese film personality while the editing has been done by Kaju, a well-known film editor, assisted by Jumi, extracting the most striking glimpses of the heritage of the Muslim community in Assam in the Barak and the Brahmaputra Valleys from a video footage of 24 hour duration.

Bibhu Ranjan Choudhury, a noted music personality, associated with the IPTA, has chanted the Azan for the documentary.

The documentary film was screened recently at the IGNCA here, IIT Guwahati, Gauhati University and in Guwahati city and have recieved accolades from film critics, experts, historians and Islamic scholars.