Santanu, That is not a correct characterization of what I said. I believe Assamese nationality or Assam's nationality is to a great extent based on a common language, lingua-franca shared by the people. If this is considered shallow, you should say France or Germany is a shallow nationality!!
Religion, geography, shared history, shared form of government, shared economic issues and others play a role in formation of nationhood, but all the concerned people should be able to share their ideas, their thoughts, beliefs, their history, their plans and aspirations for the future through a lanaguage most call their mother tongue or otherwise, most understand. So, a means for communication is most important in sharing destiny, sharing a nationality. That was my point. I consider everyone who lives in Assam an Assamese, irrespective of language, ethnicity, religion, etc. They share their experiences of nationhood through a langauge that most understand in Assam, i.e., Assamese. Don't call me a chauvinist for repeating this self-evident truth. I believe a common language or two that co-exist well is a requirement for nationhood. If people cannot share their ideas, then the bond of nationhood or the bond of family cannot be formed and strengthened. Sharing is essential, and tell me language is not the sharing medium, what is? It's possible in a few hundred years from now, the people who inhabit Assam will communicate using another dominant tongue, say Hindi. But, I only can speculate what appelation they will use to describe themselves if this happens. And, another thing. As a current Assamese, doesn't one have the responsibility of thinking, writing about and trying to shape how the future would be? Or, you just leave it to whatever comes? Jugal -----Original Message----- From: Roy, Santanu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; assam@assamnet.org Sent: Sun, 29 Jan 2006 09:13:07 -0600 Subject: RE: [Assam] Threat to the assamese Jugal: "the inhabitants of Assam will not call themselves Assamese as we call ourselves today, they will call themselves Assamites or something else, based on the name of the land they occupy then, and not on based on the language they speak." I would welcome that day. Your characterization of the Assamese nationality as a linguistic identity is very shallow and not useful in the current political context. You probably don't regard anyone who does not speak the oxomiya langauage, as it is known today, as Assamese. I do. There are millions like me who have as much right to be Assamese as you do - based on the land they call their own. And mercifully they do not need the acquiescence of the linguistic Assamese to call themselves that way. Santanu. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sun 1/29/2006 5:28 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Roy, Santanu; assam@assamnet.org Subject: Re: [Assam] Threat to the assamese I would like to counter Santanu's position. Jodihe Oxomiya bhaxa naikia hoy, tente Oxomiya jati aru nai. Gotike, if someone defends the society in Assam a few hundred years from now in an environment where Assamese as a language doesn't exist, then they are defending a new jati, a new populace. It's like if you look at North Dakota or South Dakota in the USA of today; the white Americans (majority in these states is Caucasian), they call themselves as being North Dakotan or South Dakotan, or in a generalized manner a Dakota! However, they are not the Dakota or the Lakota any more, the Dakota or the Lakota has almost ceased to exist. If the Assamese language is lost (and languages are disappearing from this world faster than you can imagine, especially if they have lost "royal" or governmentally supported "national" language status), the inhabitants of Assam will not call themselves Assamese as we call ourselves today, they will call themselves Assamites or something else, based on the name of the land they occupy then, and not on based on the language they speak. Jugal -----Original Message----- From: xourov pathok <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Roy, Santanu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; assam@assamnet.org Sent: Sat, 28 Jan 2006 21:44:30 -0800 (PST) Subject: Re: [Assam] Threat to the assamese "Roy, Santanu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Saurav: I understand. But quite apart from the context in which this discussion arose - let us for a moment suppose that Bihu simply degenerates into a holiday - an excuse for urban young people to get drunk, play hindi music etc. In the extreme, lets suppose it simply disappears - no memory whatsover. For that matter lets suppose, all of the traditional festivals of all the people disappear. Would it imply that the people have lost themselves? Or that society has simply evolved that new festivals and new traditions grounded in the current social reality of the people have emerged. And in that changed reality, there will be a new perception of the people about their past that will allow them to alter the essence of what it means to be an Assamese. Hundred years from now, a new Xourav will be identifying threats to Assamese culture thar you - saurav - would consider to be sacrilege - will be fighting to defend a new language - that you might consider entirely alien today. Santanu-da. santanu-da, you know the answer to this as well as i do. it would by no means imply that the people have lost themselves. they would have have simply moved on. and indeed a new xourov would be listing the new threats to assamese society!! but you should be able to differentiate between two aspects of the issue. the objective reality---which is what i tried to portray, and the value of the of the cultural artifacts to me, personally. they are two different things. you know it, as well as i do. in one you attach a personal value, in the other you don't. somehow, the personal value provides a momentum, to sustain it in one form or the other. and as you mentioned in reply to utpal-da's mail, this is a natural tendency. saurav -------- Bring words and photos together (easily) with PhotoMail - it's free and works with Yahoo! 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