Dear Mahanta da Sorry for slightly late response. Here are my thoughts on your responses to my earlier points and queries! Hope you will agree with most and see the points I am trying convey. I dread your cut, paste (some times selectively), and disgrace style ;-). Most of what I write comes from observations and I try hard not being dogmatic.
***Your assertion that voices that advocating freedom will not be aired by different media. The local news paper (specially the Assamese ones) if they can write so much against the governments, I dont believe they would dread writing any thing on Assams independence aspiration if ground would not have been flimsy or the future little shaky. Yes-officially they may not advocate, but they can always publish thoughts on the subject-I think the media in Assam has this much of liberty. If you were in Assam during eighties agitation, and if you read all those news paper reports bashing anything to do with Assam or India governments, you would not have felt that print media would be shy of voicing peoples or intellectual arguments for a just cause. Just recently editor of Agradoot Kanaksen Deka antagonized those supporting independence and NE TV (rightly or wrongly) smeared mud on government as well as the outfit. Implication could have been death. I think media and publishing houses in Assam have courage. Few years back there was this weekly 7 days (in Assamese), and it was almost acting as mouth piece for ULFA. If they are presently not doing anything for the independence cause it may be because they are acting with their mind than heart. Honestly speaking Mahanta da, I feel if a good piece with real substance which goes beyond the oft repeated assertion Asom was never a part of India is written, it will surely be published. And we can begin from Assamnet itself. And to begin with , one has to dispel the abstractness of the Swadhin Asom. We have to get real and start with the geographic limits of the entity. Can we afford to do that Mahanta da-here and now? ***No bookseller will publish a book for the cause of freedom Or for that matter, if you write a book and try to publish it, if anyone will? And if you had one printed, clandestinely, if anyone will sell it on the streets or book-stores of Guahati or anywhere else in Assam? In early nineties there were lots of stuff; books, magazine articles, audio cassettes openly available in Assam-endorsing the cause. There was a movie on the outfit. No! these were not stifled by any state machinery-but they ran out of steam and some stopped out of embarrassment. Sheer embarrassment of seeing so many turncoats! How can one direct the resources for defending a cause-when 8000 surrendered revolutionaries show you the way not to. And worse still-if those still remaining make a Volta face tomorrow and settle for a fat rehabilitation package? These remaining few can not be assumed to be made up of any different stuff than their 8000 former colleagues? ***I hope you know the answer. And in that context, can you or Ram or anybody else explain to us, if such refusal would be because none in Assam would want hear or read of it because of their devotion to Indian dependence and NOT out of a fear of retribution of the Indian state? Freedom of speech is a much abused constitutional right in India. So I think it is not fear of retribution but lack of enough stuff with substance on the part of those advocating freedom to take advantage of this freedom (or free for all situation) of speech and expression. There is fear of retribution from the other side also to those not supporting the cause. But they have been doing it-in spite of that. Can you not see the letters to editor in Assam Tribune? Or ASS functionaries or AASU or those ethnic student union guys who have publicly distanced themselves from the cause. Dont you think they are not potential target for AK-56? Do you mean to say there are brave people only on one side of the fence? And those who hold a cause so dear as Independence are afraid of state retribution?? Dont you think that Assamese people would have a field day defying state controls, if this idea of freedom thing would have appealed to the masses? ***So, the whole assertion that there is NO reasoned voice about an aspiration for independence is a myth, concocted by those who want NO change to the status-quo, which has served their lots well. It merely underscores the point, that a section of the populace has done very well--thanks to Indian government's policy of looting the people of the region and then redistributing portions of it to enrich a few. And why would that segment of the beneficiaries of this reverse Robinhood-ism of Indian governance, faithfully implemented by its local stooges, want the golden goose killed? Yes-I agree certain sections have done well and they are the ones who are cozy with India connection. Because it serves them well-as per you! May be you are right. Now Mahanta da do you really believe that those millions at the bottom are so wretched that they do not have any clue regarding this middle layer. Not surely in Assam where we have taken peoples representation through student unions or ethnic organizations to extreme grass root level. And you believe these ethnic student organizations would keep silent if they feel that this freedom thing creates ripples amongst their communities. They would have jumped at it. Whether you like it or not the community based organizations which have become sort of mouth piece and mentor for the communities are pumping in their hearts aspiration for becoming the part of this very middle layer-and the means they see for achieving the end are scheduling, territorial council, autonomous state etc. Sense of collective struggle for a cause is no there. Does it not reflect erosion of mass support of the outfit? People are so skeptical of this freedom business that people are willing to become local stooge and custodian of the golden goose in their aspiration for peace and prosperity and in no way they want to get drawn into a long drawn crippling struggle. Right or wrong-whether you like it or not-thats the trend. Coming to reverse Robinhood-ism-what is the guarantee that it will not happen under the free Assamese governance? Coming to local stooges-likes of Prafulla Mahanta are not descendent of any feudal lords or thrown to us from Delhi-they are sons of those millions at the bottom. So is it a case of India corrupting us or loosing our integrity at the first taste of power? And what is the guarantee that we will not allow this to happen in an independent Assam? And more importantly what is the guarantee that a Biate or Zeme Naga guy of NC Hills (in the unlikely case the district becomes a part of free Assam) ruled by a Bamun or Bodo or Ahom or Muslim dominated independent Assam government will not suffer from the same colonial syndrome? Mahanta da-we are presently a discordant note consisting of multiple harmonics. If frequency would have been same for all, may be resultant resonance would have had the effect you desired. Lot of uncomfortable questions can be raised on this perceived independence status of Assam. In the name of breaking the status quo if we dwell on this independence from India theme for long, we will have difficult time containing the spiraling chain reaction it is going to initiate in a mosaic of a state like Assam. ***When you or Ram and others declare that they and their kin do not want independence, what they really mean is that they do not want to upset the status quo from which they befitted. That they do not want changes to the system that has kept the people of Assam from seeking their place in the sun. Oh they go froth in the mouth complaining about it, and their hearts bleed about how vast segments of the people are left behind, except that they cannot or would not want any change to what has brought them where they are. Please see above why some people would dread this concept of free (or rather free for all) Assam ***I have heard all the protestations about how they all want change and reforms. They want corruption ended. They want better management of the state's resources. They want justice for all. They also have seen, for decades on end, how the Indian state and its proxies in the State Houses or the institutions of state are stuck in the mud, totally unable to demonstrate even a rudimentary amount of change, of reforms, of progress. Only problem here is they are unable to reconcile the dichotomy. They are clueless. Mahanta da-yours is a case of being fed up with this miracle called Indian Nation. May be millions would agree with you. But the problem is what is said subsequently about the proxies. ***They also have seen, for decades on end, how the Indian state and its proxies in the State Houses or the institutions of state are stuck in the mud, totally unable to demonstrate even a rudimentary amount of change, of reforms, of progress The proxies in the state houses-you mean those people in Assam government, Assam bureaucracy, those in the district councils, panchayats etc. Is not it? These people have also failed according to you-and you are not alone in believing that. Again millions will agree with you. But who are these guys-they are the Gogoi, Sarma, Barua, Majhi, Mohilari, Rabha, Pegu, Ingty, Roy, Brahma, Sangma, Phukan, Singha, Das, Chetri coming from nook and corner of the state. Basically they represent the greater Assamese genetic stock-is not it? How can you assume that these same people would perform wonderfully, conscientiously, without corruption in the independent Assam set up? What is the premise of your belief in miraculous transformation in delivering capacity of these same people in an independent Assam? Your argument is that taking India out will cleanse Assamese soul and mind. If there is a potential for that such cleansing to happen, then it can happen within India also. ****I hope you are not that clueless Chitta. If you or others can demonstrate that YES , reforms are possible, change is possible, able management of the state's resources for the benefit of all its people -- not just its privileged -- is possible, that Assam's ethnic, cultural, language and historical identity would not be obliterated under the prevailing Indian rule, you might be able to persuade me, and others like me, that perhaps Assam could do without independence. Just an analogy Mahanta da-staying, prospering, dying, decaying with India is like swimming in dirty pond, but there is chance that you could create a clean disinfected corner for yourself. Dreaming of independence is like lure of diving head first into a crystal blue water body, not knowing the temperature and not gauging the depth of rocks that lie just beneath to smash you skull right through. Honestly, many people are optimist and they believe reform is possible. And there are many people who see the situation as very hopeless, but still dread the independence thing for the fear of going from fire to frying pan-you may call them status quoits and others may call them pragmatist-matter of opinion-is not it? For many people the abstractness of the concept and many uneasy questions which immediately crop up are big deterrent enough. But then I believe group like Assamnet is one of the platforms where such ideas can be exchanged. This is the purpose many people might have joined Assamnet-to see some ideas which will take us to the point to believe that there is light at the end of tunnel. Mahanta da -we will have more this on some future posts and for the time being may be we can move to the next point you have raised. ***Now it is YOUR turn, and Ram's turn to put your money where your mouths are and show us! Mind you mere assertions are not good enough. Asking rhetorical questions about how Gujarat or Karnataka are doing better would be meaningless. You will have to show where and how change is taking place that Assam can bank on. Shall we? Thanks Mahanta da-for agreeing to listen. No rhetoric-from either side. No I did not say that any revolutionary change for Assams good is already taking place and so we should stick to India. But it was implied in all what I said that many see more sense in initiating changes by remaining with India than doing nothing and wishing that India will give Assam its independence on a platter and we can carry on from that point onwards. I am saying doing nothing because you will also agree that few rants on net, few emails from internet kiosks in Dhaka and an armed struggle which is of more of nuisance to public than any threat to Indian army can hardly take us any where near to freedom. Neither the outfit has LTTE like tenacity and fighting prowess and nor the all sections of people are overwhelmingly united for the cause. So coming back to hope for Assam within India-yes I agree changes are not taking place in the way many of us would want. But there are ways and means to initiate the same. One way would be to assert our distinctiveness from rest of India (not to the extent of asking for unattainable independence) to take more leverage and concession out of India. Let India remain complete but at the same time same time take advantage of siding with India so that: Assam does not have spend resources in things like army, boarder security Assam gets big sink where those who want can go freely to seek a different life Assam get a big sink which can be forced to pay the price retaining Assam by making its share Assam s woes like illegal immigrations, flood, power shortage etc However much we have failed to notice it-on a smaller model it has been demonstrated by the Bodos in Assam. The Bodoland Territorial Council within Assam is supposedly an entity within Assam. But at the same time if any one notices the vision, the agenda, the program then no body will miss the point that at the moment the set up is being run to blossom as a prosperous self contained Bodo state within the state of Assam. So Mahanta da changes have taken place under our very nose and Bodos have shown the way. They have achieved the impossible-what was a script less duwan forty years back is now a full fledged official language with same status as Bengali or Tamil. Is not this an example of blossoming of an ethnic identity under prevailing Indian rule? Thats how at least the Bodos would like to see it. But it was not only the recently conferred sixth schedule status that alone doing the wonders for the Bodos. I think it has to do with unified pragmatic approach the community has adopted and the bargaining power the rebel outfits gained for combining pragmatic demands with violent armed struggle. And this where a second rung of items for negotiation other than sovereignty for ULFA come into picture! Can we dare to at this point for the time being stay clear of this easier demand for independence to confront the situation where Indian government says to ULFA that except sovereignty, take anything you want and the dumb struck outfit does not have to come back empty handed just because they did not work out any thing beyond demand for release of jailed cadres and rehabilitation of active members. Working out a set of issues for negotiations, which will be agreeable to all sections of people will be the Herculean task. And people of Assam will loose the ULFA leverage if these second rung of intelligent demands for negotiations are not worked out. And this will prove the mettle of intelligentsia and lovers of Assam. And this is something which will be interesting to discuss on Assamnet than bombarding you Mahanta da with facts and figures to prove to that that you belong to the minority believers. Bottom-line is Assam is in much more advantageous position than Karnataka and Gujarat, question is whether we can take mileage out of this. 95% of people in the recent poll rejected ULFA rejected Swadhin Asom concept. If this is the kind of thing you believe in, you must also believe in the tooth fairy. I am sure you present this not as a serious argument, but running short on facts throwing in whatever is available. Not b very thoughtful. Does not do anything to your credibility. Actually it damages it. Now you are just being superficially dismissive. You missed the essence. There can be only two sides to it the survey is true or false. I will weigh only the side you want us to believe-findings are flawed. What could be have more attractive or worrying for the organization who did this-acclaim from government for coming out with such convenient findings or wrath from those who are fighting for the cause (and I am sure Abhijit Sarma (??) the person who did this poll does not move around with Z+ security). And more than that fear of public dhulai for contorting such an overwhelming aspiration of masses! Hope you will ponder a while over the points and give your honest unbiased opinion. Regards Chittaranjan Pathak ____________________________________________________________________________________ It's here! Your new message! Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/ _______________________________________________ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
