Jugal, Are you trying to gang up on me :). Just kidding! But if you do, I have no other choice but to remain quiet.
I am just a member of AANA like any 100+ other members and have no leadership role. So what ever I said or say is my personal opinion. AANA always adopts democratic process; members at large make the decision, if necessary by voting. That is why in St. Louis it took more than 2 hours for AANA to discuss the issue for next convention site. May be I was a bit forceful! If it was put to vote and if the motion was lost, I would have gracefully accepted it. The consensus of the members was not to go for voting, but to find a solution working together with ASA. As far as I know, the only behind the scene discussion that took place was between ASA and AANA representatives selected by each organization. The joint resolutions were read aloud by Satyen Das in the cultural program that both ASA and AANA have accepted invitation from Texas for the next convention. This also implies that the convention in Texas will be a joint convention. (Also the invitation extended to ASA for the joint convention in Houston was a product of democratic process in the AANA general body meeting). You are asking me quite a few questions on the unification. I wish I had the answers. Also, I have no leadership role in the host committee for the next convention. The decision will be made by the steering committee and I am sure they have been in communication with the presidents of the respective organizations including ASA when needed. Now on the poll, Jugal, I saw it being a two sided issue. I saw big numbers on both Yes and No. But the main thing is that it should have built in mechanism to prevent multiple voting. Also, the URL is under your control, which could raise the validity question of the poll. Jugal, I know you want to be fair. I have to ask you a question though on Denver Convention: Why the Houston team members had to wait till 1 or 2 AM to perform and that too was after the vote of thanks? Cheers, Mano Hazarika --- J Kalita <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Mano da, > > It was nice to hear from you. It was nice to see you > say > publicly that you support unification. I think that > is extremely > important. You are one of the very few AANA people > and leader-type > who has done so. > > The process of unification > started in 1991 as you yourself mentioned. > Why hasn't unification happened in the past 12 or 13 > years? > Why hasn't it moved faster than slow crawling? What > are the specific > steps that need to be taken at what time from now > on? > What's the timeline for the unification? We need to > write the steps down > pretty soon and commit to them, so that it happens > during my lifetime!! > Maybe, you can help us come up with some concrete > steps because you have > good insight into how your organization works. > > It's nice to hear nice words from you. But, the way > you and > others behaved at Assam 2003 in St. Louis showed > that what you > respect is your opinions and opinions of others who > agree with you, > but don't respect those who don't agree with you. It > was evident > to all those who attended, and I am not prepared to > elaborate. > > You are an elder to me, but I lost most of my > respect for you and some others > at St. Louis with the behind-the-scenes, > win-at-any-cost, > we-are-better-than-you, > I-don't-respect-your-feelings-but-you-must-respect-mine, > my-emotions-are-what-counts-not-yours attitude. > It will take a lot of time for me to regain it, but > I am willing to try > if you and your friends work toward gaining it too. > For it to happen, > I will have to see that you and your friends > genuinely respect other people's opinion > and the open democratic process. I speak on behalf > of many others, tens of > others, with whom I have spoken with recently on > this topic. > Trust and respect are two-way streets. > > The situation that has been created by the approach > you and others from Houston took in Assam 2003 in > St. Louis > is that when we recently started an informal poll on > unification, we find > that someone from Houston (a leader type in your > organization) voted > 2000 times. After public almost-identification and > restarting > of the poll, we find that several individuals from > your organization > are again rigging > the poll voting tens of times now, not hundreds of > times. We know > exactly who is doing what and what time, but whether > we publish > what we know depends on what action we contemplate. > > For Houston or Texas to give the impression that > they are able > to host a successful joint get-together in 2004, you > and the Host Committee > have to go out of the way to show that you are > actually > for the community as a whole and not one single > organization. > You can do it, but you have to try hard at doing so. > We will support > you, but you need to start the process. > > I support the joint get-togethers and the eventual > unification of the small > Assamese community in North America. > Otherwise, we have become a > laughing-stock in Assam and we are paralyzed unable > to do > anything of significance either here for the > community, or > in Assam. > > Jugal Kalita > > PS: I will not get into any argument. > > > > > Mahanta: > > First, I wished there was one organization. > Second. I would like to see > > joint conventions continued in future that was > started successfully in > > Houston in 1999. I have heard from many people > that they like these > > joint conventions and see it continued. (A > further step was taken in > > Saint Louis where representative from both ASA and > AANA laid down the > > grown works for future convention site selection. > I have strong faith > > that the executives of these organizations can > work together to provide > > leadership. They can work out to publish one > directory in future like in > > 1999 convention in Houston jointly by ASA and AANA > and investigate if > > feasible to do other projects together to reduce > cost. Also, start other > > efforts - for example, nomination of Kedar Bhuyan > to AFNA's board of > > directors to serve 2000-2002 term). > > > > I have respect to your talent, intelligent and > also dedication to > > AssamNet. I was out of town this weekend to attend > a meeting. I am sorry > > for the delay in replying to you. > > > > Since you were connected with the past unification > efforts, I presumed > > you knew what was the result of the past efforts. > For the benefit of the > > netters, I want to give a very brief history of > unification efforts in > > the past. An effort was made in 90's by forming an > IC (integration > > committee) consisting of representatives from both > ASA and AANA. Among > > others, Rajen Barua, Satyen Das and Ashwini > Choudhury were members of > > this committee. The committee sent out a > questionnaire to Assamese > > residents in North America by mail and got their > responses on the > > unification issue. Subsequently, there was a > meeting in 1991 in > > Philadelphia where both ASA and AANA (AANA was > going to have their > > convention in 1991 in Washington, but changed the > venue to come to > > Philadelphia for this) members attended, but it > ended almost in a > > fistfight. Otherwise that would have been the > first successful joint > > convention instead of the one in Houston in 1999. > And that gave birth > > to another organization called UAONA. > > > > Even after 5 successful joint conventions, UAONA > still exists. Mahanta: > > since you are one of the persons involved in the > creation of UAONA, for > > the benefit of the community, can you please > explain why UAONA still > > exists? Do you like to share some of your > success/frustration/wisdom? > > > > Now, another poll is active for unification. I am > worried that it could > > end up adding another organization much like UAONA > . I am also worried > > that this may impact the next joint convention. > People come to > > convention to have fun. Mahanta: My anticipation > was for you to help > > diffuse the situation by sharing your wisdom much > like Rajen Barua from > > your past experience for unification. I also > presumed, Ramgopal > > Sarangapani, who was strong proponent of > plebiscite, was aware of the > > problems encountered in Philadelphia as Rajen > Barua was trying to share > > his wisdom through the Assamnet as reply to > Ramgopal. The other note on > > unification I sent was meant for Ramgopal and not > to Mala; Mala was > > supposed to be in cc, but I messed up by putting > her in as to also along > > with Ramgopal. > > > > I do share the philosophy of unification. But, do > you want to achieve > > this by hurting some people? Do we not need > goodwill from all? My > > opinion, the first priority is to continue these > joint conventions and > === message truncated === ===== Mano Hazarika Sugar Land, Texas [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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