At 8:24 AM +0800 10/1/04, Anjan K. Nath wrote:
Chan,
Don't forget that Ashok Saikia was one of Vajpayee's right hand men and hence Assam was always on his mind. I can tell you of a number of things he tried to promote for the N.E., but unfortunately there were no takers. One cannot expect the Centre to dole out alms at this stage.
AKN
Anjan:
I know about Saikia, even though I don't know him or what he is
all about.
At any event that is beside the point.
It is not WHAT an individual politician thinks of Assam or views
the NE's angst as. I won't have any trouble believing that ABV means
well. But that means NOTHING. It has nothing to do with individual
Indians' view of Assam or Nagaland or Mizoram, or the Bodos or the
Karbis.
What DOES matter however, is what, as a nation that is known as
India,has COLLECTIVELY done to our peoples, and will CONTINUE to
do.
It is about positive change. It is about believing in democracy
in all its many
uncomfortable 'avatars', it is in believing in the need for
making the institutions of democracy WORK, it is about devolution of
powers to the people, it is about learning to accept dissent, it is
about RESPECTING everyone, regardless of their economic status, it is
about RESPECTING people and their cultures, even if they are NOT
something you grew up with, it is about LETTING PEOPLEs BE as agreed
to in a FEDERAL democratic state as promised, at time of independence,
It is ALL about all of the above and more, that the Indian state has
failed to live up to.
So I find the anecdotes of individuals' goodwill towards the
people of Assam or the other contiguous states, as PROOF of Indian
goodness and the NE's "disloyalty" ( as ABV told Bhuban
Barooah kokaideu in London) patently ridiculous.
c
c
----- Original Message -----From: Chan MahantaTo: Dilip/Dil Deka ; ASSAMNETCOLORADOSent: Friday, October 01, 2004 6:54 AMSubject: Re: [Assam] Car Rally from Guwahati Is Not for Fun Alone>It looks like Guwahati and Assam were on Vajpayee's mind even when he was >travelling abroad and NDA govt. was serious about opening the land route to the >east through Assam.Tonight I am going to rejoice at Assam's being in the forefront of Vajpayee's mind, EVEN while traveling abroad. And lecture all those who complain of being in the receiving end of 'step-motherly' treatment by the Center and their 'khai-paat-folaa' attitudes.Come on Dilip :-) :-) :-) :-)!At 3:31 PM -0700 9/30/04, Dilip/Dil Deka wrote:
From TOI.
It looks like Guwahati and Assam were on Vajpayee's mind even when he was travelling abroad and NDA govt. was serious about opening the land route to the east through Assam.
Dilip
===========================================================
ASEAN for Guwahati to Indonesia car rally
ANI[ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2004 01:48:53 PM ]
GUWAHATI/ NEW DELHI: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the ASEAN Secretariat (Indonesia) are jointly organising a car rally from November 22 to December 11 to promote trade between the ten ASEAN nations.
The car rally is being held to demonstrate that there exists a land route between the member countries to enable free flow of trade. This would be first car rally of its kind.
Titled "Chalo ASEAN", the car rally would be flagged from Guwahati and pass through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos PDR, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Singapore, before concluding in Indonesia.
The beginning of the rally from Guwahati would be actually a culmination of mini car rallies from across the north-eastern states to be flagged off by the chief ministers of the 'seven sisters'.
The ral! ly would also fulfil former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's wish for such an event to take place to foster regional unity.
On October 8 last year, Vajpayee, while attending ASEAN Summit in Bali had said, "To draw dramatic attention to our geographical proximity we could consider the idea of an India-ASEAN Car Rally. A possible routing could be from Guwahati in North-east India, through Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia to Hanoi in Vietnam."
"Such a rally would draw in commercial interest in infrastructure along the route. It can promote tourism and development. There could be a long term impact on the economic co-operation in the region," Vajpayee had said.
Giving details of the rally in New Delhi, Resident Commissioner at the Assam Bhawan, Rajiv Yadav, said, "One of the purposes of the car rally is to let the public know that there exists a land route between the ASEAN nations. Till now it was a hidden fact from the general public's knowledge."
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