Dear Netters:
It is with much remorse that I am obliged to write you this mail. As this
mail is directly connected with my posts on the Assam Net and also it
may involve the whole community, I felt compelled to write and straighten the
facts in this net only. Please bear with me.
I too received a very similar letter like C'da got, which also
included some mis-interpreted choice personal references to my
family + this letter
below informing me that I have been dropped from the Texas host
committee based on my postings on the Assam Net.
Sheer decency forbids me to replicate the whole letter here at
this point. But I am enclosing one letter in full (and my response, below) about
which I already informed Mr. Mano Hazarika and the committee that I would be
putting in on the net.
Like C'da, I also waited until today for any kind of explanation or reason,
after I wrote to Mr. Hazarika (I also made sure to CC all the other
recipients listed by him). Apparently, till date, no one has seen it
necessary or important to give any justification for their arbitrary and
baseless action.
"The Independent Minded Assamese
Individuals in North America: We need
your voiced support in ensuring that joint Assamese conferences (Asssam
200X or 20XX) continue to become a tradition in North America for a
long long time to come." --Jugal Kalita.
your voiced support in ensuring that joint Assamese conferences (Asssam
200X or 20XX) continue to become a tradition in North America for a
long long time to come." --Jugal Kalita.
Below (the indented text) is the part of what I
wrote in the Assam Net in response to Jugal's letter
on August 8th:
"...I haven't been able to attend any of the meetings (though I must
state that I was also included in the invitation
emails), but this kind of misleading releases to the press, does convince us that the 2004
likely be an all "AANA
affair". If this is the
case, then I am doubly convinced that I've no
business going
there. And if so, would the AANA
organizing activities. We wish
them all success, and if possible will definitely try and attend the convention
next year as a part of the Assamese community here.
I am sure
that level headed people like Aradhana b'deu, Dilip Deka, etc.,
will definitely be able to straighten out
the facts,
and throw some light. Jugal: Rest assured, FYI: there is
at least one Assamese in Texas that is
independent
minded."
Didn't the above clearly indicate that I wanted out of the committee IF it
was going to be an AANA (partisan instead of the whole community) affair? After
this, if I get a mail like this saying that I will be kicked out of the
host committee, what does it imply?
I expected that there would be at least ONE person in the Texas host
committee who would rise above party affiliations and politics and straighten
out the matter. Alas! not a single one bothered to rise above the fray.
I would expect a host committee which is supposed to represent all Assamese
without the label of AANA/ASA attached. This committee does not belong to any
particular organization and I fail to see what right Mr. Hazarika or anyone else
has to remove me from the committee by conveniently misinterpreting what I had
publicly posted in this forum.
In the other mail that I got from them, I was
charged that I would like to be independent of the
Assamese community in Houston.
See below:
"Per Alpana's email, she would like to keep a distance from the
other Assamese in Houston. She would like to
be
identified as independent in Houston and not participate in common activities including hosting the next convention."
identified as independent in Houston and not participate in common activities including hosting the next convention."
I would assume that this was based on the last line of my mail above where
I wrote that I was an "Independent minded Texan". Yes, I am still independent
minded, but does that mean that I said that I would like to keep a distance from
the other Assamese in Houston?
BTW, there are at least two people who have recieved copies of these
letters written by Hazarika who have participated practically everyday in the
Assam Net discussions so are well aware of the truth. But even THEY chose to
keep quiet and avoid the truth.
I have lost a lot of faith in these individuals more than the
sender himself. I thought these individuals would be open minded and would not
stoop to such levels. Another thing that surprised me is the fact that with all
the professionals in the Texas host committee, they would allow the
"Publicity contact for Assam Convention 2004" to send out such
unprofessional mails to a community member.
Finally, I would still urge that the Texas Host Committee to do
everything possible to allay any apprehensions so that we have a smooth and fun
filled convention in the best interests of the community.
We have had
long standing and good relationships with the Assamese community in
Houston, and would still like to maintain it. BUT it is a sad
commentary of how party affiliations and politics can have precedence over
personal relationships.
This is bourne
out by the sad example that a respected and upright individual in
Houston thought it necessary to sabotage a poll put together by young
people to gauge community preferences.
Even after all this, we harbor no ill feelings towards any
individual of the Assamese community in Texas, including Mr. Hazarika.
We wish them well.
Thank you for reading.
--A. Sarangapani
Houston, Texas.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alpana Sarangapani" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Mano Hazarika" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Barada
Sarma" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Barada Sarma"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Dhiraj Goswami"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Dilip
Deka" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: "Cynthia Hill" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Manjula
Datta-Barua" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Rajen
Barua" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Rana Gogoi"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Alpana
Sarangapani" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2003 1:10
AM
Subject: Re: Email Distribution
List
> > complained in Assam net for receiving emails from the
> > Texas host committee for the Assam Convention 2004.
> > Please omit her name from the list and advise the sub
> > committee leads to refrain from communicating to her.
>
> I don't think I personally asked to be removed, but since you brought it up,
> here is my clarification:
>
> If the object of the host committee for Assam 2004 is ONLY going to project
> AANA's objectives, in that situation I did not and still do not want any
> part of it, as I have no business there since I am not an AANA member.
>
> My question to you is: if you categorically state that this is a community
> affair, irrespective of organizational affiliation or lack thereof, why am I
> being dropped?
>
> PS: I just got another mail in my work email box, complaining about my being
> vocal about the unification of the entire Assamese community, please refrain
> from using my work email address for any of these mails and use this address
> instead: [EMAIL PROTECTED], like you did on this one.
>
> If you were "told", "that I complained" in Assam Net, I wonder why you did
> not send a copy to Assam Net - for the entire community to see. I will, so
> that the entire community knows the whole story.
>
> Alpana B. Sarangapani
> Houston, Texas.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mano Hazarika" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "Barada Sarma" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Barada Sarma" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
> "Dhiraj Goswami" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Dilip Deka"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Cynthia Hill"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2003 9:46 PM
> Subject: Email Distribution List
>
>
> > I have been told that Alpana Sarangapani has
> > complained in Assam net for receiving emails from the
> > Texas host committee for the Assam Convention 2004.
> > Please omit her name from the list and advise the sub
> > committee leads to refrain from communicating to her.
> >
> > Mano Hazarika
> > Publicity contact for Assam Convention 2004
> >
> > =====
> > Mano Hazarika
> > Sugar Land, Texas
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
> > Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> > http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
> >
>
