FYI
--- On Fri, 18/7/08, umesh sharma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: umesh sharma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [Assam] Fwd: Murder Most Foul - Pets To: "A Mailing list for people interested in Assam from around the world" <assam@assamnet.org> Cc: "ambika shukla" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Friday, 18 July, 2008, 12:03 PM Umesh Sharma Ms Shukla, When you repeatedly try to create division in the society - Indian or otherwise (as you are doing now) you create anger. Anger among people who are already hurt by the lack of development in various parts of India. JNU is full of naxal supporters , who for some reason believe that violence is okay to punish the guilty and uplift the poor. I am very much an Indian citizen - no NRI -just like Mahatma Gandhi was despite is 21 years in South Africa. This is no lecture. It is advice about your safety. Stop dividing people. Stop labeling North Eastern Indians - as others , and the rest as "Indians." Your small mindedness reeks of Indira Gandhi's attack on Golden Temple - the holiest place of Sikhs. Do not abuse freedom of speech. People in Delhi (where you reside) killed 4,000 innocent Sikhs - do not create hatred against North Eastern Indians. Umesh PS: My father served for three years as part of the Indian army (as a Major in 5th Grenadiers) in Nagaland and Arunanchal Pradesh (1975-1978) and yes, many in Nagaland do eat dogs. My father brought home (to Jaipur) 2 pups who were my best friends till high school. However, I do not see anything wrong if anyone eats dogs or cats or pigs or goats or sheep. Last Saturday, I was at an amusement park in Los Angeles and alongwith little kids (yes NRIs - American born) was petting sheep kept there as pets. Later they might be killed and eaten - nothing wrong. If you are a vegetarian (like my parents) - then keep it to yourself. Blame other north Indians like yourself - don't act like a high brow Brahmin - which your last name denotes. Do you know that even in the North East tribals like Nagas were discriminated by Brahmins like yourself? FYI: I did my BA Economics from Delhi Univ . KMC. Don't ruin the names of Delhi's Univs - JNU and DU etc - by such petty actions. This is not a lecture - treat it as an advice. The other day a NE girl slapped a court case against a club in Delhi for racial discrimination - saying things against tribals/Dalits might put you in jail. Think about it. Washington D.C. 1-202-215-4328 [Cell] Ed.M. - International Education Policy Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Class of 2005 http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/index.html (Edu info) http://hbswk.hbs.edu/ (Management Info) www.gse.harvard.edu/iep (where the above 2 are used ) http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/ http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/ --- On Fri, 18/7/08, Ram Sarangapani <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: Ram Sarangapani <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Assam] Fwd: Murder Most Foul - Pets To: "A Mailing list for people interested in Assam from around the world" <assam@assamnet.org> Date: Friday, 18 July, 2008, 8:57 AM This is the response from Ms. Shukla ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: ambika shukla <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Jul 18, 2008 7:40 AM Subject: Re: Murder Most Foul - Pets To: Ram Sarangapani <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> It is nice to get a lecture from some NRI on the history and geography of India! You should however try and focus on the issue and not waste so much 'earning' time going off on all sorts of tangents. Yoronso did not just kill a dog -- though that is bad enough-- he tortured an animal to death. Not only is what he did illegal , it is also morally reprehensible. It cannot be defended as tradition or custom. He is as much a danger to his own kind as he is to others. It is perverted minds with a taste for cruelty that are a threat to society as a whole. This is why Nagas and other North Easterners must join with all Indians in demanding punishment for one who brings shame not only to himself but to his community , race and species. No human can and should condone barbarity. P.S. The right spelling is vegetarian. --- On *Tue, 7/15/08, Ram Sarangapani <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>* wrote: From: Ram Sarangapani <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: Murder Most Foul - Pets To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: assam@assamnet.org, [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 8:59 PM Dear Ms. Shukla, I was agast to read your article "Murder most foul" in the Deccan Chronicle (July 15, 2008). Yes, I was agast as to how the poor JNU's campus dog was bludgeoned to death, but I was more agast of your rather poor knowledge of, and condescension toward the North Eastern states of India. It maybe that you perhaps first need an object lesson in geography, possibly history of India (you know - get to know your country), and not in the least, a good lesson in humility. First of all, you ought to know that the North Eastern States comprises of many other states. In Assam, a North-Eastern State, for example, there are many vegitarians, as well as non-vegitarians, and the population is mostly Hindu. Manipur, another North-Eastern state, too is mostly Hindu. Dogs certainly are not on the menu. It is unfortunate, that you could not bring yourself to appreciate the beauty of the landscape of Nagaland. You probably did not find it in your heart to appreciate and study the culture, the language and customs of the good people of Nagaland. If I could suggest, you might want to try and read the volumes of good literature written by the British (many of the army) on the North-Eastern states during the Raj. You make some sweeping statements regarding the whole of the North East, when you declare, "Apparently North-Eastern students at JNU regularly lynch and barbecue dogs." Really! Have you ever met or heard of any Assamese or Manipuri who eats dogs? I know, you may think 'they all look alike' and hence your condescension and then clubbing of all the 'natives' together. The fact, however, is the people in the North-Eastern states are as varied and different as other parts of the country, and so are their food habits. They come in different hues. That is what makes India unique, as the country comprises of all hues, shapes, forms, colors, religions, vegitarians, and non-vegitarians. And when you write "After combing the area, my husband visited the Gaon Burha (village Pradhan) of the closest Naga settlement and spelt out all sorts of dire consequences if the dog did not return. Twenty minutes later, Bindu was safely home." Wow! isn't that something? Your husband showed them, didn't he? Your army husband brought down the full weight and force of the whole Indian army on the Gaon Burha and threatened the poor guy with "dire consequences". One wonders, with all this condescension raining down on the poor chap, what those threats might have been? Beat up the natives? Burn down their silly hutments? Kill, rape and plunder their sordid villages? What? Ms. Shukla, what you and your husband may not know is that the Indian Army is NOT yours or your husband's personal army. The Army has a role, and hopefully that role does NOT consist of rescuing irish setters of some army officer. Your very tone suggests of condescension and of 'dealing with the natives'. At the very least you might want to get off that high horse and descend the mighty steps of Indraprastha. Just like many people, we too love our pets and would prefer that animals not be ill-treated. Your concern for the pet dogs of JNU is admirable. Every time we visit India, we often see animals either uncared for, or being ill-treated. All sorts of animals from domestic cows, and horses to mongrels are let loose and are not cared for. Therefore when you write about Nagas (and all of the North-East) eating dogs, one tends to think about all those other animals being eaten by non-vegitarians? How do you think vegitarians feel about the slaughtering of these animals and how they are slaughtered? How do you explain that away to hard-core vegitarians in India? How do you feel about the slaughter of goats and buffaloes in the name of animal sacrifice in many Kali and Durga Temples across India? Where really are your sensitivities? Do you protest as vehemently and with such venom? I would like you and your kind readers to also note this. The past so many years, there has been a tendency, specially in Delhi, to view young women from the North East as "easy". There have been a number of cases of rape and molestation of these women, and if I am not mistaken even at JNU. These cases were not so much because the victims were women, but more so because they belonged to the North-Eastern States. In fact, after one of these cases, a high-ranking police official in Delhi was quoted saying something like, "These North-Eastern girls should dress properly - then these things would not happen". This is the same reason why women from the West are periodically molested and raped in Delhi and other places - they are though of as being "easy" and dressing provocativingly. Then there are pre-conceived notions held by sections of people in Delhi and other places that the North-Eastern states are "foreign" and their people from China or some other place - obviously because how some of them look. Add articles like yours to such pre-concieved notions and then imagine what the people of the North-East are likely to feel. And then good people in the rest of the country keep wondering why on earth do the people of the North-East feel alienated from the rest of country? Perhaps you and others would be kind enough to educate this section uncouth and uneducated Delhites and other places that the people of the North-Eastern states are also Indians. That some look different and are as different as people from Kerela and UP, and that their customs and languages are different as others, and lastly they are as much (or as less)sophisticated and educated as people in the rest of India. Lastly, regarding the punishment you recommend for Mr. Yoronso. First off, what are the laws regarding animal cruelty in India? Is it a crime to eat dogs? Is the law strictly applied? How is the slaughtering of a goat (by slitting its throat, half-way) any different? Have you goaded others to prosecute all such butchers in India? And then, what has Mr. Yoronso's Phd to do with this case? Why would you take away his Phd? Does the crime, if any, fit the punishment you recommend? Bottom line, Ms. Shukla, your article hurts a lot of people, and you don't do the country any favors. But, I have a lot of confidence in the Deccan Chronicle's readership. They will, I am sure, give your article the attention it deserves and understand the gist of my protest here. I sincerely hope the Deccan Chronicle will publish this strong objection. Sincerely & with best wishes, Ram Sarangapani Texas, USA _______________________________________________ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org Not happy with your email address? Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! __________________________________________________________ Not happy with your email address?. 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