From: Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To:
Rajib Das <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, mayur bora
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,Bartta
Bistar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, assam@assamnet.org
Subject:
Re: [Assam] Assam's Ancient Links with Mainland India
Date:
Sat, 5 Nov 2005 08:45:20 -0600
Rajib:
At 8:04 AM -0800 11/4/05, Rajib Das wrote:
But C-Da, it is indeed an argument - following exactly
the
lines you worked along :-)
*** First, for a product of the 21st century desi-knowledge brigade,
you disappoint me every time you parrot my line of arguments and even words
and phrases, particularly when you so vehemently disagree with them. You
ought to have learnt by now that it is very unproductive to fight the
'enemy' on its terms :-). It is a sure-fire recipe for no getting anywhere,
if not for losing. A friendly suggestion, not merely for these debates, but
for life in general, is that it is very important for one to seek out
creative answers, seek new paths to solving problems. Your generation, with
the backgrounds like some you have had, ought to be able to deliver far more
than echoing those that you obviously do not agree with. It is like the
Hinduttwa brigades' tack of trying to be bad clones of Jehadistas or
Talibans, without their zeal. A patently lost cause!
Let us say Assam becomes sovereign. And the Bodos
of
Kokrajhar say no. The Bengali ghettos in Guwahati say
no. The
Tiwas say no. The Cacharis say no. Will the
sovereign government of
Assam hand over their lands to
those guys?
*** Here are too many assumptions for the question which forms your
answer, to hold any water. Allow me to explain:
First, you have assumed that the smaller indigenous groups of Assam,
including the Bengali speaking ones who have lived in geographical Assam for
generations will or most likely refuse to be a part of a sovereign Assam.
But that assumption could be legitimate ONLY if you have explored WHY this
situation has developed in recent decades--of each indigenous group seeking
to carve out its own sovereign state, and concluded credibly that it
could NOT resolved except, may only be kept under check by brutal
Indian military might like Saddam Hussein or the erstwhile USSR or the
PRofChina.
But that is a false assumption. For someone like yourself with an
IIM-MBA, I would have expected an analysis of the reasons why this condition
has developed
in the NE, and exploration of solutions there for.
Not that the subject was never broached in this forum. I have gotten
hoarse explaining some of the reasons. But those of you who do not accept
them, and are endowed with analytical skills and outlooks, should be able to
articulate your OWN assessments and lay out the reasons for it as you
see them.
Once you have done that, you could look into how to resolve the
problem. I know
the answers conceptually and am convinced that a sovereign Assam, and
even a truly autonomous Assam with REAL powers to re-orient its governance
can resolve these issues quite easily, because there is a historical
precedent for it. These people lived side by side, in relative peace,
interdependently, in for centuries.
The above two combined, therefore, makes the analogy of Assam's
disaffections as a part of India very different from the disaffections
of the many indigenous people of the NE , which is a PRODUCT of the
reigning Indian system of unaccountable, dysfunctional governance steeped in
the politics of (not) sharing the spoils.
I understand your and other ethnic Bengalis' fears and mistrusts of the
Oxomiya
chauvinists. But that has changed dramatically over the decades, even
if not dead. But it will be the easiest thing to overcome, when the
intelligentsia of the communities could join forces, backed by a
functioning and trustworthy system of law-enforcement and justice of a
reformed Assam government, considering the fact that the Assamese are
the closest to the Bengalis in every describable ethnic/cultural traits
among all the people of the South Asian sub-continent (with the exception of
our indigenous Bodos, Karbis, Misings, Tiwas etc. who are historically more
closely related kin.)
So, put your thinking cap on and go at it. Don't try to throw my
arguments at me, when you don't agree. That does not go anywhere
:-).
c-da
And especially in our parts of the
country, if indeed
you do handover Kokrajhar to
Bodoland, what about the Assamese there
who want to be
a part of sovereign India? Or sovereign Assam for
that
matter?
As to why Assam should be a part of sovereign
India, I
will address it in a separate e-mail!
> >
*** That is no argument. Assam is Assam and it's
> > wishes are
not subject to
> > somebody else's choices, wishes or
demands.
> >
> >
> > But let me ask you, one of
the most avid
> > advocates of India, WHY it is good for India
to
> > hold onto Assam, or how it is good for Assam to
>
> continue to submit to Indian rule?
> >
> >
>
>
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> > At 8:01 AM -0800 11/3/05, Rajib Das wrote:
> >
>There was never one India ruler that had ALL of
> >
India
> > >under his belt. The Cholas were never ruled
from
> > >Pataliputra as well. And Assam as it is
known
> today
> > >was not ruled for ever from
Pragjyotishpur.
> > >
> > >The basis of modern
Indian nationhood from most
> > claims
> > >is the
common cultural links across all the
> regions
> >
of
> > >the country. Actually that is how most modern
>
> nations
> > >(including those of Europe) came
about.
> > >
> > >Going by this logic of who ruled
whom, the Nagas
> > >should not have a country (or for that
matter a
> > state
> > >even) - their territories
were, for the most
> part,
> > >variously ruled by the
Meitis and the Burmese.
> And
> > I
> > >am
sure more than half the tribes of the north
> east
> >
>did not have a king in their name.
> > >
> >
>
> > >
> > >--- Chan Mahanta
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > >
> >
>>
> > >> >In an antithesis to the rebels
claim that
> > Assam
> > >> >had never
shared a common culture and history
> > >> >with
India before the Yandaboo >Treaty,
> Mamoni
> >
>> >pointed out that the Ramayana had always
> >
>> >influenced Assamese culture and society. An
>
> >> >acclaimed authority on the >epic, she
said
> > >> >Madhav Kandali, a 14th century
Assamese poet,
> > >> >was the first to re-tell
the Ramayana in a
> > >> >modern Indo-Aryan
>language.
> > >>
> > >> >Yet,
though she underscored Assams
> inseparable
> >
>> >cultural link with mainland India, she
>
skirted
> > a
> > >> >question on Ulfas
demand for a >sovereign
> > Assam
> > >>
>for obvious reasons. "Please dont mix the
> > two,"
>
> >> >she said.
> > >>
> >
>>
> > >>
> > >> *** There is a
very simple explanation here
> that
> > >> many
people tend to miss:
> > >>
> > >> In
spite of all the cultural and religious
> links
> >
>> with India, Assam never was a
> > >>
subject of Indian rulers.
> > >>
> >
>> That is how it ought to be. Keep the cultural
> >
>> links, the religious links and the trade
>
links.
> > >> They cannot be wiped out by an
artificial line
> > on
> > >> the ground. It
is not like all of a sudden
> Assam
> > >> will
become a vassal state of China, or
> Myanmar,
> >
>> or B-Desh. But why force Indian rule on Assam?
> >
>> Let both flourish, side by side, in friendship
> >
>> and mutual co-operation, like the two did over
> >
>> millenia, for the greater good of all.
> >
>>
> > >> cm
> > >>
> >
>>
> > >>
> > >>
> >
>>
> > >>
> > >>
> >
>>
> > >>
> > >>
> >
>>
> > >>
> > >>
> >
>>
> > >>
> > >>
> >
>>
> > >>
> > >>
> >
>>
> > >>
> > >>
> >
>> At 7:42 AM +0000 11/3/05, Bartta Bistar wrote:
> >
>> >Guwahati, Thursday, November 3, 2005
> >
>> >
> > >> >
> >
>> >Epics linked Assam with India culturally
> >
>> >
> > >>
>http://www.assamtribune.com/ 3 November 2005
> >
>> >By A Staff Reporter
> > >>
> GUWAHATI, Nov 2 The Ramayana and the
> >
>> >Mahabharata the two Indian epics have
> >
linked
> > >> >Assam with the rest of India
culturally in an
> > >> >inseparable manner. Assam
has a vibrant
> > cultural
> > >>
>tradition that speaks of its cultural link
> with
> >
>> >the mainland. Its cultural relation with the
>
> >> >mainland is very strong and old. There
were
> > some
> > >> >smaller paths across the
Himalayas, which
> > served
> > >> >as
the channels for surface communication
> among
> >
>> >the scholars of the State and from other
>
parts
> > >> >of India so far as maintaining
mutual
> relations
> > >> >was
concerned.
> > >> >
> > >>
>These were the observations made by noted
> > >>
>litterateur Dr Mamoni Raisom (Indira)
> Goswami,
> >
>> >who has now been acting as a mediator
between
>
=== message truncated
===
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