[asom] Putul Bora
*Dear all,* *Could anyone please give me Football-crazy Putul Bora's phone no? He is from Diphu. *Regards Kaushik Deka Nagaon, June 16 : An Indian businessman, who is an ardent supporter of Germany soccer team, is waiting to celebrate with his 16-years-old buried whisky bottle for Germany to lift the World Cup 2010 trophy. Putul Bora (48), owner of a grocery shop at Diphu, headquarter of hilly district Karbi Anglong, northeastern Indian state of Assam, is a supporter of German soccer team since the last 24 years. The supporter is already on Cloud 9 with Germany's victory at the World Cup opener against Australia by 4-0. He is now waiting for his favorite soccer team will lift World Cup trophy. For last 16 years, he has kept a whisky bottle buried in his garden with the and waiting for his favorite soccer team victory. Bora's passion for the German team started when he traveled to Bokajan, about 36 kms from Diphu town, to watch the telecast of the final match between West Germany and Argentina in 1986 World Cup. I traveled to my uncle Jageswar Bora's home at Bokajan to watch the World Cup matches in 1986 as there was no television connectivity in Diphu town. While watching the match with my friends, I decided to support the team, which got down by a goal, Putul Bora told IBNS. In 1994 World Cup, when Germany lost against Bulgeria in quarter final, I brought a 750 ml Passport Scotch (whisky) bottle and buried it in my garden. I stopped consuming alcohol that very day, he said. I will celebrate the drink only when Germany lifts title; no one can pressurize me to take alcohol before that, he said. Meanwhile, Bora and his friends are enjoying the ongoing matches on a LCD TV, which he has bought especially for this World Cup.
[asom] National media should review its policy -Ongoing ULFA, SJA and Govt of India Talks
Dear Readers: Greetings! I am posting in the forum after a long time. Hope all are well. The SJA headed by Dr. Hiren Gohain is in New Delhi to discuss Our Assam State ULFA Issue. It's very unfortunate that National Media is not at all covering this issue at all. It's a issue of our state and if we can not feel our presence in DELHI, Nation would not know what we are going through for last 31 years. Assam Should get it's due and the Honorable PM,Home Minister of INDIA, along with UPA chairman Sonia Gandhi should come forward to give a Honourable solution to long issue of ULFA. Request you all please create a Mass Movement for Assam in National Media. IF we can not solve this time, we would be at loss for ever. Jai Aai Asom!
[asom] Sabha to put Assamese classics on Internet (The Assam Tribune, 30.06.2010)
Sabha to put Assamese classics on Internet Staff reporter GUWAHATI, June 29 – In a bid to attract a larger audience, including Assamese living away from the State, the Asam Sahitya Sabha is all set to make a significant presence on the Internet. Well-placed Sabha officials confirmed that a project is underway that would put a selection of Assamese classics on the World Wide Web, allowing readers in any part of the globe to access those. The collaborative effort involves the Sabha and the Computer Science Department of Gauhati University. Side by side, the apex literary body of Assam is also creating modules which would be useful for new learners to pick up the language within a short term. The web-based programme is likely to be launched in the next few months, and will give the Assamese language a much needed boost especially in areas where there is absence of teachers or textbooks.Meanwhile, the Sabha is also preparing a road map on methods and means to promote Assamese and other local languages in English medium schools of the State. It is likely to submit its recommendation to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and the authorities concerned shortly. Sabha officials revealed this on the sidelines of a press meet held in the city today. (The Assam Tribune, 30.06.2010)
Re: [asom] Racial divide in India’s northea st - By Bhaskar Dutta-Baruah
Dear friends, I too had some unsavoury experiences. I had some friends belonging to communities of mongoloid ethnicity. One was a Bodo. He had told me once that he sometimes felt like migrating to China because he looked Chinese. Another was an Ahom. We studied together in school as well as in college. He had always the same rant both in school as well as in college.He used to say that Assam should not be with India even if India were just to Assam because Assamese people are mongoloid.And that it would have been better if China had captured Assam during the Sino-Indian war. Now, i have a question.Is it a true that all Assamese are mongoloids?Really? Part of the cause of the militancy problem in Assam is because of the difference in ethnicity. Regards, Subhash --- On Fri, 6/18/10, utpal borpujari utpal...@yahoo.com wrote: From: utpal borpujari utpal...@yahoo.com Subject: [asom] Racial divide in India’s northeast - By Bhaskar Dutta-Baruah To: as...@assamnet.org, assamonline@yahoogroups.com Date: Friday, June 18, 2010, 6:47 PM For your reading pleasure. This was published in today's Deccan Herald (http://www.deccanhe rald.com/ content/75950/ racial-divide- indias-northeast .html). Bhaskar is the young man who is at the helm of Lawyers' Book Stall and LBS Publications. - Utpal Borpujari - - - - - - -- A friendly chat on a sultry summer evening in Kokrajhar with my Bodo friends — in low voices — the arrest of Ranjan Daimary (commander of the Bodo rebel outfit, NDFB) and the visible mistreatment meted out to him by the Assam government crept into the conversation. Questions that arose — why the bias in the manner Daimary was handled compared to Arabinda Rajkhowa (chairman of the ULFA) after their arrests? How did the Guwahati blasts turn Daimary into a bigger criminal than Rajkhowa who was accountable for the killing of schoolchildren in Dhemaji? Daimary and NDFB are the prime accused in the serial Guwahati blasts of 2008; the ULFA has been charged of the murder of 10 schoolchildren in 2004. We talked about my ‘foreign’ ancestry and my invading forefathers — a tinge of guilt overshadowed the feeling of pride in my mind. A cold spring afternoon in Nagaland; the conversation I was having with a senior Naga associate went into the days of the Naga movement in the early 1950s and the punishments his father’s generation faced from the Indian authorities. A majority of the Naga people had voted for independence during the plebiscite of May 16, 1951. The Indian authorities’ efforts to suppress this movement resulted in countless atrocious incidents and the ugly memories they left behind will probably remain in the Naga pyche for another generation or more. Five of the seven northeastern states were a single entity before the 1950s — Assam. One by one, the indigenous people rebelled and succeeded in forming their own political entities namely Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. I can give other examples of this global phenomenon of ‘assimilation.’ Australia, 1869-1969: The white settlers created the ‘Stolen Generations’, ie the indigenous Australians victimised during the process of forced assimilation — most went missing, many died and the aboriginal gene became endangered in Australia. North America, late 18th century: The European settlers took steps to eliminate the culture and traditions of the indigenous Red Indians. The resulting Indian wars lasted for more than a hundred years. Ancient India (Indo-Aryan transmigration theory): Immigrants from the western side of Hindukush settled in the Indian subcontinent — without going into the debates and ongoing researches on this theory and stating from the old chronicles, we find citations of many ‘clandestine’ people in parts of what is now India, namely Asur, Daitya, Danava, etc. It is difficult to believe they were simply mythical creatures; the fact is that basically everything non-Aryan or native was branded Pagan (negative) and had to be either assimilated or obliterated. In the northeast: The indigenous people never gained the ‘mainstream’ status among the ‘more advanced’ people that migrated here from Uttar Pradesh in the 14th century — these warlords called the Baro-Bhuyans bulldozed the indigenous culture, especially in the plain areas through their customs, language and later their religious views. Barring the ruling Ahoms that were the 13th century settlers of Assam, the indigenous people including the Kacharis were pushed to lead an obscure existence. Something that both my Bodo and Naga friends had told me separately, “I lived in Delhi for so many years, but never was I invited by my friends to their homes for a meal because I am a Bodo/Naga.” It may not be what they think it was; maybe their friends never thought about it that way, but
Re: [asom] Racial divide in India’s northeast - By Bhaskar Dutta-Baruah
*Excellent piece...* * *Regards Kaushik Deka On 18 June 2010 18:47, utpal borpujari utpal...@yahoo.com wrote: For your reading pleasure. This was published in today's Deccan Herald ( http://www.deccanherald.com/content/75950/racial-divide-indias-northeast.html). Bhaskar is the young man who is at the helm of Lawyers' Book Stall and LBS Publications. - Utpal Borpujari A friendly chat on a sultry summer evening in Kokrajhar with my Bodo friends — in low voices — the arrest of Ranjan Daimary (commander of the Bodo rebel outfit, NDFB) and the visible mistreatment meted out to him by the Assam government crept into the conversation. Questions that arose — why the bias in the manner Daimary was handled compared to Arabinda Rajkhowa (chairman of the ULFA) after their arrests? How did the Guwahati blasts turn Daimary into a bigger criminal than Rajkhowa who was accountable for the killing of schoolchildren in Dhemaji? Daimary and NDFB are the prime accused in the serial Guwahati blasts of 2008; the ULFA has been charged of the murder of 10 schoolchildren in 2004. We talked about my ‘foreign’ ancestry and my invading forefathers — a tinge of guilt overshadowed the feeling of pride in my mind. A cold spring afternoon in Nagaland; the conversation I was having with a senior Naga associate went into the days of the Naga movement in the early 1950s and the punishments his father’s generation faced from the Indian authorities. A majority of the Naga people had voted for independence during the plebiscite of May 16, 1951. The Indian authorities’ efforts to suppress this movement resulted in countless atrocious incidents and the ugly memories they left behind will probably remain in the Naga pyche for another generation or more. Five of the seven northeastern states were a single entity before the 1950s — Assam. One by one, the indigenous people rebelled and succeeded in forming their own political entities namely Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. I can give other examples of this global phenomenon of ‘assimilation.’ *Australia, 1869-1969:* The white settlers created the ‘Stolen Generations’, ie the indigenous Australians victimised during the process of forced assimilation — most went missing, many died and the aboriginal gene became endangered in Australia. *North America, late 18th century:* The European settlers took steps to eliminate the culture and traditions of the indigenous Red Indians. The resulting Indian wars lasted for more than a hundred years. *Ancient India (Indo-Aryan transmigration theory):* Immigrants from the western side of Hindukush settled in the Indian subcontinent — without going into the debates and ongoing researches on this theory and stating from the old chronicles, we find citations of many ‘clandestine’ people in parts of what is now India, namely Asur, Daitya, Danava, etc. It is difficult to believe they were simply mythical creatures; the fact is that basically everything non-Aryan or native was branded Pagan (negative) and had to be either assimilated or obliterated. *In the northeast:* The indigenous people never gained the ‘mainstream’ status among the ‘more advanced’ people that migrated here from Uttar Pradesh in the 14th century — these warlords called the Baro-Bhuyans bulldozed the indigenous culture, especially in the plain areas through their customs, language and later their religious views. Barring the ruling Ahoms that were the 13th century settlers of Assam, the indigenous people including the Kacharis were pushed to lead an obscure existence. Something that both my Bodo and Naga friends had told me separately, “I lived in Delhi for so many years, but never was I invited by my friends to their homes for a meal because I am a Bodo/Naga.” It may not be what they think it was; maybe their friends never thought about it that way, but something, somewhere must have hit them to shape their mindsets in this manner. It is easy to see what this factor might have been — Kachari is a metamorphosis of Ku-Achari (people of an evil nature) in the Assamese language — most of the tribes have the suffix Kachari added to the name of their tribe. Majority of the modern Assamese (read: until a generation back) scorn the Kacharis because “they eat pork, drink alcohol, dress scantily and possess a bad temper”. No reader of this article, Kachari or non-Kachari can deny having heard this in the past. Today, people specific states and Autonomous Councils for the tribal people have forged strong environments for the protection of their identities. The rebellions, past and present, were in fact ways these indigenous people hit back at their oppressive conquerors. ‘The invader-native conflict in north-east India’ is by far the longest of such wars in the world and it still continues. We do not need any more ‘lands’ or
