This letter was sent to me regarding the news item in the Telegraph, and the treatment of NE people in Delhi.
The author has a different view from most netters. I am sending it to Assamnet, because obviously he could not get thru (as he is not a member). --Ram On a side note: Jugal/Saurav: Sometimes non-members like this may want to interact with Assamnet members. I know we have this restriction, but is it possible to give temporary 'guest privileges' to some, for example a week or 10 days. Just a suggestion ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: swarabji B <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: May 19, 2005 3:27 AM Subject: Fwd: [Assam] Help! We are from the N.E. - Telegraph To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: swarabji B <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: assam@pikespeak.uccs.edu Date: Thu, 19 May 2005 07:09:28 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Assam] Help! We are from the N.E. - Telegraph Although the article begins with impression that it advocates the prevention of exploitation of north east region and people, on a clear reading it is evident that it is a personal vendetta of an individual for not getting premium facilities (such as air fare, air conditioned room, non-vegetarian food etc.) in a meeting attended by her that was organised by an NGO which in fact tried to promote the region and its development. Individuals like the author of this article who always desire aristocratic facilities at the cost of common man is a curse to the development of North East. It is also discouraging for people outside the North East to take up any issues pertaining to the development of the region fearing these kind of defamation for their honest efforts. The people of this region should know what the government has not been able to do is being done by certain NGOs. The editor of a respectable newspaper like The Telegraph should have conducted a fact-finding mission before publishing such articles. Swarabji From: Ram Sarangapani <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: May 17, 2005 6:35 AM Subject: [Assam] Help! We are from the N.E. - Telegraph To: Assam <assam@pikespeak.uccs.edu> Incidents like these give NGOs a bad name. Moreover, there seems to some patronizing attitude toward the NE by Delhites. This is just shameful! If they were organizing events of this nature, they ought to do their homework. --Ram __________ Issue Date: Tuesday, May 17, 2005 Help! We are from the N-E SHILLONG NOTES / PATRICIA MUKHIM It has become fashionable for sundry organisations based in New Delhi to do something for the people of the Northeast. It almost seems as if the natives are such a helpless lot that they are incapable of doing anything for themselves. Recently, a New Delhi-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), claiming to be a publishing house and a non-profit organisation, invited creative writers from the region for a three-day meeting. Two prestigious schools, the Assam Valley School and Maria's Public Schools, were also included among the invitees. The schools responded in the hope that they would have a wonderful opportunity to interface with other students from equally prestigious schools in Delhi. They were deeply disappointed as the school that participated was not what they expected it would be and they learnt nothing from the interface. Assam and Manipur had a big contingent of creative writers, artists, filmmakers, theatre personalities and journalists attending the function. Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland had one representative each. Prior to the event, the organisation had hyped things up so much that several sponsors and donors agreed to pool funds towards the projected expenditure for the three-day event. Sponsors included DoNER, ONGC, the Union culture ministry and the North Eastern Council (NEC). So keen were the organisers to make the event a high-profile one that they also invited two mediapersons, one each from Meghalaya and Manipur. Those who responded to the call did so with the expectation that the event would bring them face to face with policy planners and other reputed writers of the capital. Nothing of the sort happened. Except for a few members belonging to the organisation and New Delhi-based students from the Northeast, there was hardly anyone from Delhi. So, in retrospect, this was another of those vain attempts to ostensibly flag critical issues of the region to a Delhi audience, except that it turned out that almost all of the speakers in the panel and also in the audience were people from the Northeast. Yet again, people from the region are talking to themselves, about themselves and for themselves. It just did not make any sense at all. We could have had a similar gathering at any of the capital cities of the region at very little cost. And we would not have required a New Delhi-based organisation to do the planning for us. We could have done that ourselves. For an event of that stature, one would have expected the metro media to be attending in full strength. But that, too, was missing. The event received little or no coverage at all. On the whole, the episode was a big letdown. Things turned out to be even more nightmarish when the organisation refused outright to refund the airfares of participants they had specifically invited to be on different panels. In fact, the entire event was so badly organised that people had to be suddenly pulled out from among the audience to become panellists for sessions they were ill-prepared for. P.A. Sangma was asked to come for a session that was to start at 10 am. He arrived on the dot and sat through the session that he was a panellist of, giving an incisive over-view of the Centre's perception of the Northeast, which was well taken by the audience. After the two-hour session, Sangma took leave because he had a Parliament session to attend. Without taking cognisance of the MP's hectic schedule and his more important duty of sitting in Parliament, the organisers suddenly announced that Sangma would also chair an afternoon session where school students would engage in a mock parliament. Sangma was taken aback! He was not told of this arrangement, he said. And he could not justifiably remain absent from Parliament for the whole day. This blatant disrespect for protocol and the propensity to take for granted anyone who is from the Northeast was amply demonstrated by the organisers, showing yet again what scant respect the mainstream really has even for political stalwarts from the Northeast. Another session, which was supposed to be attended by about 40 people from different universities of Delhi, also had a lukewarm response. There were precisely eight people from Jawaharlal Nehru University and Delhi University who attended. The rest were all northeasterners. Those who came did so because they were previously connected to the region. There were no curious or interested spectators who would have wanted to learn something more from the panel discussions. The organisers made everyone believe they were actually hosting the event on a shoestring budget. Hence, people were expected to rough it out in a guesthouse with no air-conditioner, in the unbearable heat of Delhi. They were asked to share a room that was just about 10x10 in size. Food was literally rationed out, and it was purely vegetarian. Northeasterners are supposed to put up with this kind of treatment in the national capital because they cannot expect any better. The very fact that people were invited to come to New Delhi was seen as a great favour done to the untamed natives. So they had better not complain! This ludicrous show has taught every invitee to the function a lesson. Unfortunately, the Union government, with its plethora of departments, never learns from mistakes. The emergence of organisations like DoNER, which are based in Delhi and seem to be flush with funds, has also made them a happy hunting ground for organisations looking for easy funding. DoNER seems ready to comply with anything that appears like a remote attempt to "showcase the Northeast", as if the people here are specimens to be dissected by the more evolved species of humans who live in New Delhi. A report in a Meghalaya-based local newspaper on Sunday, May 15, said DoNER would use the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow, to evaluate and monitor projects in the Northeast. Now why on earth should an organisation based in Lucknow do this work? The region has its own IIM at Guwahati in Assam, which is more than competent to carry out such an exercise. But of course IIM, Guwahati, may not have godfathers in DoNER, so they will not get any projects, right? What IIM, Lucknow, will do is sub-contract the research and investigation part to a local NGO and pay them a pittance. Is this an ethical practice? When we speak of IIM, Lucknow, we are actually speaking of one faculty member from that institute who probably has "friends" in DoNER. Should we in the Northeast remain passive recipients of crumbs from DoNER? Is it not high time that we raise our voices of protest against these attempts to short-change the region? Perhaps one of the flaws of people here is that they are mild-mannered, polite and soft-spoken, a culture alien to Delhi. The average Delhiite sees these attributes as signs of weakness. That is the crux of the matter and it shall always stand in the way of people understanding each other. Some people think they can make themselves heard better by shouting. Northeasterners consider that to be the height of crudity and a complete absence of civilised behaviour. However, politeness does not mean allowing people to take you for granted. People of the region need to unitedly chart out a masterplan on how to prevent Delhi-based organisations who profess to do charity for the Northeast from taking away funds meant for the genuine development of human resources in the region. _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list Assam@pikespeak.uccs.edu http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam Mailing list FAQ: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html To unsubscribe or change options: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online. _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list Assam@pikespeak.uccs.edu http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam Mailing list FAQ: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html To unsubscribe or change options: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam
