Hi Mr Mahanta Da Thanks for intensifying the academic orientation of the debate. Whether you accept it or not, academic discussion sometimes gets stifled under the weight of its high sounding words. The first weakness indicated earlier is nothing but a testimony of my deeply ingrained belief that whatever is observed in the relationship between the Assamese speakers and other tribal groups is grossly unjust and unacceptable. So there can't be any question of any conscious effort to perpetuate the hegemony of the 'mainstream' over the 'sub streams'. The fact that it was indicated by someone belonging to the so called 'mainstream' as one of the weaknesses is proof enough that the person does now want any perpetuation, rather what he craves for is ruthless dismantling of that pernicious tendency.
I failed to understand how Ram's analogy is not tenable as per you. In American social milieu also, everyone sees the ghost of the 'past' very frequently and they can't be brushed aside as sporadic or isolated occurrences. I think Ram's analogy is fairly valid. The very fact that you are attributing some traits to the people of Haryana goes a long way to show that you also probably suffer from the same syndrome which you are consciously trying to dilute or should I say demolish. I am startled by your argument that to see something good in others signify your insecurity vis a vis them. Going by that logic, a secure individual is one who always criticises others. That is perhaps the easiest job in this world. You show a beautiful flower or a bird to a pathological 'critic'. He will point out 100 minus points in it. Misconception about NE is so well entrenched in people's minds that, to dispel it fully is a herculean task. I sincerely believe that given a chance, one should try to demolish those misconceptions. That of course does not mean that it should become be all and end all of life. As regards my insecurity, I am afraid I have a very strong view. I am aware of my shortcomings. I do try to rectify them sometimes. But never ever I let those weaknesses to give a feeling of inferiority complex vis a vis others. I was harping on one point from my first mail that everything is relative in this world. When everything is relative, you can't wish away benchmark to judge them. Benchmark will remain whether we like it or not. Otherwise many charms of the world will vanish. My view is that let us give some attention to the practical aspect of the debate so that loser's pursuit can be tranformed into a winner's destination. Don't you feel that LIGHTING A CANDLE IS HUNDRED TIMES BETTER THAN CURSING THE DARKNESS ? But thank you Mahanta da for your perspective on the issue. Would be looking forward to more of it. regards Mayur Malabika's comment and my endorsement are not fixations on semantics, but rejection of a deeply ingrained, but unacceptable cultural chauvinism that permeates thruout the south Asian subcontinent's many peoples. It also works in a pac-man-like, the bigger fish eating up the smaller fry manner. Ram's analogy to the American milieu is not only a stretch, but a completely inapplicable analogy. Why? Because in America political power is not distributed along ethnic or religious or cultural lines. True the racial minorities once were held under with overtly suppressive methods, but that is in the past. India's political powers continue to be divvied up along ethnic and religious lines, and rarely, if ever, along ideological or issue based ones. India has unable to break free of this mode, and will not in the foreseeable future. In that context, use of terms such as 'main-stream', 'tribal' etc.to categorize and label people , even without any intention of causing any harm, perpetuates and tacitly endorses a legitimacy of the hegemony of numerical majorities along ethnic, language and religious lines, which could not be more inimical to the realization of the much touted but far-from-reality 'secular, democratic and federal republic of India'. Terms like 'main-stream-India', automatically sidelines the peoples of NE India for example and makes them also-ran, not all that important components. And it is not a figment of insecure minds, but a well established and demonstrated fact. Just look at the Haryana folks' perception of the NE that you spoke of. And they, some of the most corrupt and violent people in the sub-continent should talk. Finally, I have another comment on your effort. You are attempting to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the people who call Assam home, using the populations of other parts of India as a benchmark. Obviously you feel insecure of your own ethnic identity in comparison, and thus want to pinpoint the areas that might need improvements, relatively speaking. First off, it is a lost cause, because you are using a benchmark that does not exist. It is as nebulous and fictional as one could be.In our architectural jargon we would call it a 'rubber-scale', one that could be bent and stretched to fill any need of the user. Why I say that is because if you try to quantify the qualities of those other peoples that you propose to judge those of Assam by you will immediately find that they would not stand to ordinary scrutiny even momentarily. If you don't believe me, give it a try and any number of netters will be able to show you why :-). Secondly, should anyone attempt to reach higher goals, it is imperative that they should aim for a sufficiently high aim. Low expectations, reaching for low standards, is one of the biggest impediments to growth and achievement. Your using the examples of 'those other Indians' is such a low-expectations-pursuit. Very much in line with all those Indian nationalists who go ga-ga over anything that seems better than Pakistan or B'desh. That I would submit, is nothing less than a loser's pursuit :-). Best to you. cm __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
