[Assam] Who is the Sentinel of Freedom? Reply to Xourov I.

[xourov pathok]

--- "Roy, Santanu" <sroy at mail.smu.edu> wrote:

> The term colonialism is very frequently used to
> describe the root of all
> evils so much so that it has lost much of its
> meaning to me. The
> colonial state in India was not an unknown monster -
> it was a fairly
> well ordered set of people with definite objectives
> - many of which were
> economic.
> 

no santanu-da, i wasn't blaming colonialism.  i was
pointing out that you cannot use "economic
opportunity" as a value neutral "cause" for
bangladeshi peasant immigration (i said economic
opportunity is not as innocent as it sounds). i
mentioned the reasons in that post.


> The economic differentials and conditions that
> attracted migration to
> Assam are also, in my view, the very same ones that
> prompted the
> colonial state to facilitate and promote such
> migration. 

the primary reason the colonial state promoted
migration was revenue.  this was not what caused the
migration, directly.  but i wouldn't like to take this
discussion further in this direction.  i think i will
leave for later the discussion on whether assam's
peasants of 1826 had it coming. 

the main reason why i am still at it is the overdose
of rhetoric on the bangladeshi immigration issue
today.  from both sides.  by those who condemn the
"bangladeshi immigration", missing out the details,
and also by those who characterize any critical
discussion as xenophobic or chauvinistic.  rhetoric
inflames and provides no solution.

cheers,
x

 
> 
> This is not an accident. In most situations where
> economic surplus can
> be created for individual agents by choosing certain
> actions - the
> political and social institutions eventually
> recognize and facilitate it
> - the agents that control and design such
> institutions stand to
> privately and collectively gain from it. 
> 
> Thus, the 19th century changes in the property
> rights structure, the
> alienation of collective property rights, the
> changes in the revenue
> collection mechanism - all of this created basic
> conditions for
> realization of the gains from migration - but this
> was the intention all
> along. Institutions are not givens. They respond to
> economic incentives.
> 
> 
> [In my view (and this is debatable), even a
> sovereign national
> government of Assam would have instituted most of
> these changes, allowed
> some of the migration for purely Leviathan reasons.]
> 
> If the 1901 census superintend lamented the lack of
> migration, he was
> probably expressing the frustrations of the colonial
> state that not
> sufficient amount of institutional change had
> occurred to attract the
> migration they were praying for. 
> 
> It is not sufficient to look at institutions as they
> came were, one has
> to ask why they came to be the way they were, what
> incentives played
> their roles.
> 
> I, of course, totally agree with you that the
> changes that facilitated
> migration were directly and particularly harmful to
> the indigenous
> peasants - they lost their historical assets and
> rights. There is
> absolutely no doubt about this. It is a general fact
> that all migration
> must hurt those the migrants compete with. It hurts
> even now by driving
> up the market price of land and inputs.   
> 
> I also agree that migration creates opportunities
> for further migration
> and the network effect is very strong. 
> 
> I will write separately to respond to your comments
> about the losers not
> having a voice, what can be done and the need for
> transparency. 
> 
> So much for now. Take care -
> 
> Santanu-da. 
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xourov pathok [mailto:xourov at yahoo.com] 
> Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 7:11 AM
> To: Roy, Santanu; assam at assamnet.org; Dilip/Dil Deka
> Subject: RE: [Assam] Who is the Sentinel of Freedom?
> 
>  
> 
> santanu-da,
> 
>  
> 
> thank you for your response.  it is good to hear
> from
> 
> you.  i am afraid this might get a little long.  but
> 
> do give it a read and i look forward to your
> comments.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> --- "Roy, Santanu" <sroy at mail.smu.edu> wrote:
> 
>  
> 
> > 
> 
> > The flow of human beings from the plains of Bengal
> 
> > (including
> 
> > Bangladesh) to Assam is and has always been driven
> 
> > by differences in
> 
> > economic opportunities except possibly the middle
> 
> > class Hindus who moved
> 
> > after 1947. 
> 
> > 
> 
> > [Even in the latter case, it is not clear that all
> 
> > of the migration to
> 
> > Assam is driven by the fear of political
> persecution
> 
> > - for after all,
> 
> > poor Hindus (not babus) from these areas had moved
> 
> > into Assam throughout
> 
> > 20th century.]
> 
> > 
> 
> > The differences in economic opportunities arise
> 
> > mainly from differences
> 
> > in availability of natural resources per person
> 
> > (land, fishing water,
> 
> > forests) and from differences in availability and
> 
> > the degree of access
> 
> > to common property and state owned resources. 
> 
> > 
> 
> > These differences in economic opportunities are
> 
> > dying out for obvious
> 
> > reasons - except possibly in tribal/hill areas of
> 
> > Assam, Arunachal
> 
> > Pradesh, Nagaland etc where natural resources are
> 
> > still up for grabs. 
> 
> > 
> 
> > [Sanjib Baruah has written very authoritatively on
> 
> > the historical
> 
> > process related to some of these issues.] 
> 
=== message truncated ===





       
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