PRESENT ASPECTS OF SANKERDEV:

For the growth of unnecessary egotism among some apparently monotheistic communities, some imaginary thoughts and rituals are tried to impose on other people on behalf of Sankerdev, which has no trustworthy evidence that Sankerdev ever preached or practised these rules. Sankerdev’s main disciples are from all communities of Assam with different socio-religious backgrounds. Although animosity between Sankerdev and some Brahmins is well known, he clearly understood one thing: without the effort of Brahmins, lakhs of tribes and some non-religious people wouldn’t have been converted into Hinduism as idol worshippers, tantricism, or shaktism (as a whole, like magical mysticism). And without their previous conversion, Sankerdev wouldn’t have had a platform to preach his ideology to the masses. During the time of Sankerdev and afterwards, of course, many Brahmins lost religious sincerity to a greater extent. Later, the Islamic Sufi saint Azan Fakir came to Assam from Bagdad in 1630. He preached reformed Islam along the lines of the Bhakti movement and unified many people; Hindus even converted. Due to the rise of his popularity, Azan Fakir had earned the wrath of the Ahom monarch and was punished, but later the king apologised to him. He is popular for his devotional songs, Zikir and Zari, created from Assamese musical tradition. Moreover, Fakir’s songs have notable similarities with Borgeet (a devotional song) by Sankerdev.

SANKERDEV IN REALITY: Sankerdev’s spiritual leadership image or religious reformation he initiated was only one part of his multiple missions, contrary to the thinking of the majority Assamese. Being the father of the Assamese Renaissance, he was an Assamese polymath like the heroes of the European Renaissance: Francesco Petraca, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci. Sankerdev is a playwright, sportsman, music maestro, and whatnot. Therefore, organisations created in his memory should be classified as sports or drama training institutes, musical enterprises, etc., removing the religious tag. The more people regard Sankerdev as a religious leader, the more Assamese will be out of harmony. Finally, the birth of the Assamese Renaissance is not in a watertight compartment; it’s like an umbrella held by Sankerdev with innumerable ethnic sticks of equal importance.