56 SOCIAL .SCIENTIST duction of this religious dividing line—the line system by the British. The intention of the British administrators was to inject communal virus wherever possible in the interests of their Empire. May be, they wanted to keep the inhabitants of Assam divided on religious line so that the latter would not form an united front against the British during the freedom movement in the thirties. Biresh Misra predicted that "the conflict between the landless Assamese and Bengali peasants will be exploited by some ill-motivated self-seekers to inflame a Assam-Bengal national conflict for the realisation of their own interest in future."29 Immigration from Nepal Immigration from Nepal into India became frequent since the conclusion of the treaty of Sagauli in 1816 between the British government in India and the Kathmundu Darbar. Ever since 1816 Nepal has been friendly to the British. After retirement from service in the Gurkha Regiment, many Nepali people settled down in Assam permanently. Poor landless Nepali peasants too immigrated into Assam and began to eke out their livelihood through cultivation and milk production and supply. The number of Nepali immigrants in Assam was as follows: in 1901—21,00030 in 1911-47.654$ in 1921— 70,344; in 1931-88,306.31 The number of Nepali speakers in Assam in 1961 was 1,79,883.32 There is no restriction on travel between Nepal and India under the treaty of friendship concluded in 1950. Therefore, it becomes natural on the part of the poor peasants to emigrate from Negal and settle down in Assam or any other part of India. Except duriang the present movement, anti-Nepali feeling in Assam has been rare. In 1920 the British administration, while carrying out an eviction operation in the now well-known Kazi-ranga sanctuary, perpetrated barbarous atrocities on the Nepalis living there. The Assamese middle class was in the lead in raising the voice of protest against this ghastly deed of the colonial power. This brotherly feeling of the Assamese middle class was reciprocated by the Nepalis in the course of the freedom movement right from the non-cooperation days. The role played by the late Chabilal Upadhyaya was in no way inferior to that of any nationalist Assamese in this regard. This is, in a nutshell, the historical background of the immigration into Assam. That immigration into Assam was under British machinations and supported by the Assamese middle class is beyond doubt. These immigrants who settled down in Assam with their blessings have become overnight ^outsiders" or ^foreigners" and