[Assam] Letter to the President of India

[Himendra Thakur]

Thank you, Manoj! Encouraged by the positive response from friends in the
net, I am really thinking of writing a detailed report of my experience in
Nagaland which may help the future generations. I completely agree with you
that "Assam must cultivate friendship with nagas." --- that will be easy,
because essentially, we are the same type of people !

With love to everybody,
Himendra

----- Original Message -----
From: "Manoj Das" <dasmk2k at gmail.com>
To: "Barua25" <barua25 at hotmail.com>
Cc: "Himendra Thakur" <hthakur at comcast.net>; "J Kalita"
<jugalkalita at yahoo.com>; <assam at assamnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 9:35 PM
Subject: Re: Letter to the President of India


Dear Himendrada,

Hi Naga brother! Naga has become a word associated with respect,
valour, resistance and resilience, so you should feel proud being some
sort of a naga. Few years back I was in Shilliong for a shor trip with
Ajanta, Dewang and Priyanka. Some warned it was not safe to roam
around after 7 pm. So we hit upon a novel idea, we all wore naga
jackets. Whenever we had to ask for direction, local boys used guide
us with due respect. Of course you got have that naga look on your
face :)

More on my naga conection.. my great great grand father escaped the
'man' from a place called nagakhelia or nagahuliya (not sure) near
Dibrugarh. We are known as "naga bongxho" in Dhemaji, all we normally
address among us as naga. We do command certain respect as not many
ventures to take any 'paanga' with our brethren. Whenever I mention
this to my naga friends, they say I look like a sema naga.

In Gujarat and some parts of India naga means naked. I have a strong
feeling that the naga word in nagaland context has come from the
"naga"- snake of "ulupi" myth.

Assam must cultivate friendship with nagas. When eventually Assam will
be swamped by Bangladeshis, it will be only place where kharkhowas
will find refuge. Kashmiri pundits came to Jammu and Delhi. kharkhowas
will have no western escape route. Arunachal and Nagaland or Nagalim
will be the only safe haven... a bleak future eh.. but I see it coming
too soon..

Dear Umesh's letter on the fate of his brethren in Bangladesh in
another mail today..it's frightening. Our secular intellectuals should
take note ot it. Don't repeat the mistakes of the biddhists of Gandhar
and Takshashila. They were practicing non-violence in an area
surrounded by violence. It's not to be so, but one should be
practical. How safe it is to be secular in an area surrounded by
unsecular bigots.

MKD

Mabbe you will throuw some light.

Manoj Kumar Das
B 109 Gr Floor Rear
Sarvodaya Enclave
New Delhi 110017 India
Tel: 91 11 26533824
Telefax: 91 11 26533829
Hand Phone: 91 9312650558