[Assam] Need of Uniform in Assam Assembly-Reply to Chitta

[Chan Mahanta]

Hi Chitta:


>IMHO this problem can not be solved by 
>government of India or by those whom you want to 
>see in >power. Influx will continue till 
>potential difference, osmotic pressure on both 
>sides become equal. >All the attempts to solve 
>the problem will just may be increase the 
>resistance, but flow will not >cease till 
>pressure equalisation occurs.


*** Is this YOUR personal view, or is it the view 
of ALL who are outraged over the 'lungi menace' 
and are besides themselves, in Assamnet  , in 
Assam  and in the Hinduttwa circles in India?

Regardless, IF that is the reality, then why the 
shrill, xenophobic rhetoric in various shades of 
camouflage all over? Is it HELPING in any way, 
other than POISONING the environment every which 
way?

Knowing this reality, those who ceaselessly keep 
pointing at the lungi-menace  specter, but doing 
or seeking nothing to help MANAGE the problem by 
taking steps that are realistic , achievable and 
humane, do it because of WHAT  Chitta?

I would submit, it is  in big part, due to 
various degrees of Islamophobia. And since that 
upsets you, perhaps you will have a more 
persuasive and benign explanation?





>Krishnendu said
>***“Thanks for rejecting the voting by 
>Indian/Assamese population. This really shows 
>how much willing you are to accept the verdict 
>of people. You will surely reject the referendum 
>on similar flimsy ground that these people do 
>not know what they are doing. And before you 
>jump on debate and discussion, if there is a 
>really free platform to debate (without threats 
>from some sections), there will be many more 
>voice rejecting the Sovereignty issue. As you 
>have noticed, the Assamese intellegsia has 
>already rejected Sovereign Assam theory (if you 
>think otherwise, tell me 10 prominent people of 
>Assam who support it); you have already rejected 
>the voting by common people of Assam ..... So 
>who remains to support you on your referendum?
>
>
Mahanta da , your response to Krishnendu’s above 
observation will be appreciated. We can see that 
Krishnedu’s logical Brahmstras are proving to be 
too much for you. So just one more small query on 
what he said. I think this was also missed by you 
and response will clear the doubts of many people.


*** Heh-heh! That is about as absurd a set of 
questions as one can imagine. But since you guys 
thought that is your ACE , your trump card, here 
we are:

	>Thanks for rejecting the voting by Indian/Assamese population.

	***You explained below:


	I did not know that you woulld be so 
removed from demographic reality of Assam. Do you
	or I have any clue of that 65% who voted 
what % will be those who are considered as
	threat or what % feels threatened? For 
every one's benefit lingustic break up of 2001
	 census is also kept secret.  So 100% 
of turn out in Assam election also does not mean
	you can have a government which will 
reflect the aspiration of origianl inhabitants o
	the state.


*** Is this the democracy you are so devoted to? 
And WHO exactly is this govt. elected by 
therefore? B'deshis?  And if so what are you guys 
doing about it?


Can't you see the appalling contradictions in 
yours or K's  statements, assertions and 
questions?


So, do YOU accept the election result as a 
democratic verdict, given by an informed polity, 
considering the issues ?

If it is not, like you all spare no words to 
present it as on the one hand and on the other 
hand accuse me not only of being undemocratic 
for pointing it out, but also insinuate my 
promoting an autocratic  regime for Assam?

Is it even nominally an intellectually honest argument?



>If tomorrow Assam gets that elusive 
>independence, how do you plan to run the Govt 
>(i.e. if you plan to >migrate back to Assam to 
>help build it)

**** My first option will be to try the STEPS you 
all are advocating to change Assam to a truly 
democratic state.

But since there is nothing there, zero, zit, 
nada, gwlla---I will propose what I delineated in 
the final chapter of Why Independence posts right 
here in assamnet a few months back.

Democratic values do not fall from the sky, nor 
are they produced by an  innate condition, 
imprinted on desi-genes. It has to be inculcated, 
taught.  It would not happen 'overnight' , 
fairy-tale like. But in a decade  or two it will 
change dramatically, unlike the past six decades 
in which desi-demokrasy has remained; 
dysfunctional, mired in slogans and make-beliefs, 
waved only to seek the blessings of those it so 
craves, but does not give a damn in reality.



>And before you jump on debate and discussion, if 
>there is a really free platform to debate 
>(without >threats from some sections),


**** That is a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Since 
no forum exists for a free and unfettered 
discussion , thanks to its intelligentsia's 
democratic values, why talk about a referendum?

Well how about RAISING your voices to change 
that? Is it a possibility? Surely you spare no 
words to bring the lungi-menace to the forefront, 
do you?



>  If tomorrow Assam gets that elusive 
>independence, how do you plan to run the Govt 
>(i.e. if you plan to >migrate back to Assam to 
>help build it) with the entire population 
>favoring Desi Demokrasy ? One >option might be 
>to go for a ethnic cleansing and import hoards 
>of Bangladeshis to run it.


**** Again the first impulse will be to depend on 
desi-demokrasy's finest, its bureaucracy, its 
laws and its institutions of democracy. But since 
Assam is where it is, BECAUSE of it, we will have 
to change things. Won't happen overnight. But it 
is doable. Many others have done that in the past.

But it takes an ability to IMAGINE things. An 
absence of imagination is what gives rise to 
questions like the above. Try it a sometimes. 
You mighrt actually get hooked.

m-da :-)












At 9:33 AM -0700 8/18/07, chittaranjan pathak wrote:
>Mahanta da
>Please find my responses to your observation
>
>CM*** That is your explanation. OK, fair enough. 
>Let me ask you this: What is your reaction to 
>garish alien culture temples pock-marking the 
>once beautiful Assamese landscape, including 
>smack-dab in the middle of Kaziranga  ? When was 
>the last time you can point to anyone complaing 
>about that?
>
>Mahanta da I dont blame you. Guwahati, halt at 
>wild grass and then to upper Assam. That must be 
>your usual route in Assam. Go to lower 
>Assam-Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Barpeta-you will start 
>wondering whether landscape belongs to Assam , 
>Bengal or Bangladesh.
>
>CM***Or for that matter full 25 % of Karbi 
>Anglong population is Hindi speaking, about to 
>get its own autonomous defense establishment? Or 
>of Tinsukia ?
>
>By automous defence establishment -do you mean 
>police districts? When compared to area of other 
>Assam districts, KA may be can have some 10 
>police districts. In fact Assam governemnt was 
>for long thinking about declaring the separate 
>landmass of Hamren as separate district. But 6th 
>schedule and Karbi politics was blocking this. 
>So this new move does not have anything to do 
>with the Hindi speaking people.
>And on this 25% population-Assamese do not go to 
>do those manial jobs in KA or NC Hills. So body 
>will have to work in the field of Karbi 
>farmers-is not it? Compare their (the Biharis of 
>KA) population (some 50,000) and political clout 
>with people of suspected foreign nationality. 
>And these people are still known as Desuwali 
>because under very adverse situation they still 
>go back to their Chaapra, Darbhanga, Munger, 
>Bhagalpur etc.So I did not get it what was so 
>great about 25% figure-that to in a district 
>which is one of the most sparsely populated.
>
>***Now then a  huge problem facing the 'Oxomiya' 
>identity not to mention 'national-security' and 
>complete destruction of the rule of law ( as 
>aptly pointed out by Ram) has been brewing and 
>building for over a  quarter century -- the 
>lungi menace. A select group of Oxomiyas ( I 
>won't attempt to label it, but I could :-))  and 
>a certain segment of the English language press 
>have been wailing about it,  charging ULFA with 
>carrying out ISI orders to gift wrap Assam over 
>to Islamists from the east, and to be fair, when 
>challenged, at least nominally admitting 
>GOVERNMENTS' responsibilities over the issue: 
>Upholding the laws of the land.
>
>Well well Mahanta da-this Bangladeshi nationals 
>issue and some Assamese crying foul over it-are 
>you trying to avoid dubbing it as a problem or 
>threat just because your ULFA is blamed by some 
>people for encouraging the influx? If instead of 
>ULFA , BSF or government would have been blamed, 
>then may be you would have accepted it as a 
>problem haunting Assamese nationality. And may 
>be you might have used it as a prime reason for 
>wanting to be independent. We salute your blind 
>faith-no more on this issue.
>
>	***For over twenty five years this 
>dereliction of governmental duties ( as pointed 
>out by Ram, the Sentinel, Dilli based security 
>analysts etc.) for failing to stem the flow of 
>the lungi-menace has been going on, unabated. Do 
>the governments care? What are the governmental 
>duties? Whose duty is what? What have they been 
>doing? Would it be reasonable to say almost 
>NOTHING? If so, don't the voters who vote so 
>intelligently ( as I was corrected by outraged 
>netters for my temerity to question that 
>recently ) CARE about this abject dereliction of 
>governmental duties?
>  Would it be reasonable for us to conclude  THEY 
>DON'T, as soundly affirmed by the re-election of 
>the Assam government by a huge 65% voter turnout?
>
>I did not know that you woulld be so removed 
>from demographic reality of Assam. Do you or I 
>have any clue of that 65% who voted what % will 
>be those who are considered as threat or what % 
>feels threatened? For every one's benefit 
>lingustic break up of 2001 census is also kept 
>secret.  So 100% of turn out in Assam election 
>also does not mean you can have a government 
>which will reflect the aspiration of origianl 
>inhabitants of the state.
>
>***So Chitta, tell me why  anyone  should 
>BELIEVE that  your outrage over the 
>'lungi-menace' or Ram's or of the others like 
>you, is  over ILLEGALITY of the immigrants?
>
>Again I am at loss. Elected government has 
>failed to check the influx. Does that mean 
>people should remain silent just because 
>government is elected by them knowing fully well 
>that Assam's demography is not like Orissa or 
>Bengal to give a government which will be more 
>reflective of one single majority community's 
>aspiration. Governemnt is constrained by some of 
>its own components because of the process 
>of democracy in a demographically heterogeneous 
>Assam and this constrain will remain even if 
>Assam is separated from India.
>
>***That leaves the Islamophobia ,  as the 
>pre-eminent reason, as is evidenced by a 
>pervasive and ancient  animus. Oh I know that 
>most know how to package it in genteel and 
>secular  wraps. And it is not as virulent as say 
>Togadia's, or the RSS' or VHP's or displaced 
>Sileti Hindus' .  I  point here to the RSS' 
>Jagadamba Mall's  article in its mouthpiece the 
>Organizer, quoted in Sanjib Baruah's Post 
>Frontier Blues as an example.
>
>Oh really!! I knew this where you were coming 
>at. Forget Togodia and come back to your Xonor 
>Oxom. So you believe Assamese people become 
>paranoid because of the religion issue only? 
>Where was the religion and islamic component 
>when hundreds of people have been killed in 
>Karbi-Kuki, Bodo-Adivasi conflicts? Tell me in 
>your pristine northeast in the conflicts between 
>Naga-Asomiya, Khasi-Garo, Karbi-Dimasa where 
>people are killed just because they do not 
>speak, dress, eat alike-where is the islamic 
>anagle? Were you trying to say that Togodias 
>communal politics have taught Assamese people to 
>be xenophobic and otherwise there was no issue 
>with xenophobia in Assam and NE?
>
>***But even in its benign wrappings, the outcry, 
>replete with claims of a grand conspiracy to 
>hand Assam over to B'desh, over their own 
>'democratically elected' government conspiring 
>to certify illegals as genuine, of ULFA as an 
>ISI agent doing its bidding to help overrun 
>Assam with the lungi-menace, of posing shrill 
>questions like 'how is it that Arunachal or 
>Nagaland can throw them out but we can't' ; the 
>message is very clear to all those who are not 
>inferentially challenged.
>Who are we kidding?
>
>What is the message Mahanta da?
>
>***I am not suggesting the outrage is not 
>justifiable. There is some justification to 
>it--as far as governmental dysfunction is. But 
>where is Assam's intelligentsia or for that 
>matter India's, to  act to help change the 
>unresponsive and dysfunctional system? When have 
>you seen an editor-for-hire write an editorial 
>on HOW to change the dysfunctional government.
>
>Were we discussing the duty of press or 
>government or you were supposed to tell us why 
>you dub Assamese people's anti-BDeshi tirade as 
>anti muslim? We all know, you do not have the 
>answer.
>
>
>****Last but not the least is the absence of a 
>remotely informed and intelligent  discourse on 
>HOW can the B'deshi problem , both real and 
>imagined , be resolved, if at all?
>
>IMHO this problem can not be solved by 
>government of India or by those whom you want to 
>see in power. Influx will continue till 
>potential difference, osmotic pressure on both 
>sides become equal. All the attempts to solve 
>the problem will just may be increase the 
>resistance, but flow will not cease till 
>pressure equalisation occurs.
>
>***Can YOU explain why it is missing ?  I have 
>some ideas. But I know it will distract everyone 
>from the subject as it always does, when I share 
>my views :-). Want to give it a try?
>
>By all means-lets give it a try. Please share your views.
>
>Also Mahanta da you seem to have missed some 
>vital questions asked by Krishnendu. It will be 
>so nice if you try to throw some light on those 
>also.
>
>Krishnendu said
>***“Thanks for rejecting the voting by 
>Indian/Assamese population. This really shows 
>how much willing you are to accept the verdict 
>of people. You will surely reject the referendum 
>on similar flimsy ground that these people do 
>not know what they are doing. And before you 
>jump on debate and discussion, if there is a 
>really free platform to debate (without threats 
>from some sections), there will be many more 
>voice rejecting the Sovereignty issue. As you 
>have noticed, the Assamese intellegsia has 
>already rejected Sovereign Assam theory (if you 
>think otherwise, tell me 10 prominent people of 
>Assam who support it); you have already rejected 
>the voting by common people of Assam ..... So 
>who remains to support you on your referendum?
>
>
>Mahanta da , your response to Krishnendu’s above 
>observation will be appreciated. We can see that 
>Krishnedu’s logical Brahmstras are proving to be 
>too much for you. So just one more small query 
>on what he said. I think this was also missed by 
>you and response will clear the doubts of many 
>people.
>
>***Krishnendu said
>“ Over past few years we have learnt that School 
>Teachers of Assam, Villagers of Assam (who 
>lynched ULFA), Bureaucrats of Assam, Assam 
>Police, AXX and now even Assam Press ----- all 
>of them favor Desi Demokrasy over Independent 
>Assam ..... enemies of Assam. If tomorrow Assam 
>gets that elusive independence, how do you plan 
>to run the Govt (i.e. if you plan to migrate 
>back to Assam to help build it) with the entire 
>population favoring Desi Demokrasy ? One option 
>might be to go for a ethnic cleansing and import 
>hoards of Bangladeshis to run it. Not sure if 
>that is the plan :)”
>
>
>If I can reframe his question-in the new scheme 
>of things you wish for, how will you change the 
>mindset of the population. Can you cite the 
>example of a role model who has capacity to 
>inspire the entire disaffected lot? One who will 
>not be affected by money, one who will not go 
>Prafulla-Bharat Narah way, one who will not 
>resort to all too familiar plunder to make for 
>the time lost in jungle?
>Give it a try if you can. If you had the answers 
>, may be you could have said in few lines. But 
>to hide that lack of answer, you will have to 
>write a tretise to distract, confuse us. So if 
>it takes please feel free to skip the questions. 
>We understand  Mahanta da!!
>Regards
>Chittaranjan
>
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>m-da
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>At 6:21 AM -0700 8/14/07, chittaranjan pathak wrote:
>
>>Well, yes Mahanta da, I am still at loss.
>>
>Please explain to me and to others like Ramda, 
>more explicitly why you try to make the Assamese 
>Hindus suffer from collective guilt complex by 
>dubbing their anti BDesh stance as an anti 
>Muslim one. Decrying others of being 
>unnecessarily sensitive to lungi menace and 
>yourself garbing a selectively broadminded 
>image-this is quite beguiling!! Or is there a 
>hidden motive and may be you also have the same 
>level of jingoism you accuse your fellow 
>Assamese Hindus of harbouring, which for the 
>time being may be you have kept in suspended 
>animation for some technical reasons.
>
>By the way, a clarification on why I used the 
>term Assamese Hindus (at which you jumped to 
>emphasize that the usage of that term itself 
>exposed every thing-I don’t know what you meant)
>
>1) I believe amongst the Assamese speakers-they 
>(Hindus) are still in majority in Assam. Or do 
>you think otherwise?
>
>2) They are the more vocal on this issue infiltration by BDeshis
>
>3) This feeling of paranoia is present amongst 
>Assamese speaking Muslim also. But their 
>protestations are not that loud as their Hindu 
>counterparts as they are less in number, many 
>come from more disadvantaged back ground. Many 
>of those who are economically well off, 
>educated, learned and city bred (say from 
>Lakhtokiya of Guwahati), same religious 
>affiliations and post 9/11 more cohesive feeling 
>make it some what difficult for them to be as 
>vocal as their Hindu counterparts. Most of the 
>educated Assamese Hindus understand this dilemma 
>and should not have qualms about it.
>
>So I hope it is now clear why I used the term Assamese Hindus?
>
>CM said
>
>*****Are only 'Assamese Hindus' burdened by 
>illegal immigrants? Is Assam the home of B'deshi 
>despising Hindus only? And if they are the only 
>ones outraged or aggrieved, then is it ALL of 
>Assam's Hindus or most or just a handful of 
>them? And is it because of:
>
>The offenders' name?
>
>The color of their skin?
>
>Their cuisine?
>
>The language they speak?
>
>The lungis they wear and the skull-caps they flaunt?
>
>The unkind cuts the male of their species live with?
>
>The high wage jobs they deprive the natives of?
>
>The economy they depress by their dependence on public charity?
>
>The criminal activities they spread in society?
>
>The corruption they promote by bribery of public officials?
>
>The economic progress they thwart by their habitual sloth?
>
>Inundate the free public health-care system?
>
>Flood the public school system with children of 
>the non-producing, lowering the quality of 
>education?
>
>Usurp and rob the Oxomiya bhaxa of its purity and ownership?
>
>Other ills I have not mentioned, deliberately or otherwise?
>
>Or is it because of their religious persuasion?*****
>
>
>
>Your numerous clues did not help me much. If the 
>last line was your punch line it is again the 
>same hackneyed manifestation of your covert 
>agenda. As I told you many times before-it is 
>not the religion alone. It is the religion 
>combined with language combined with an alien 
>culture that has been causing the discomfort. If 
>there are millions of khukri wielding Saulor 
>phut luwa Daajus and Kaanchas also, the reaction 
>of the local populace would have been similar.
>
>So I am still at dark about your attempts. 
>Please explain more explicitly and clearly 
>unlike those numerous inconclusive mails where 
>you end by saying something like “I will explain 
>later if you want” or by adopting those avoiding 
>techniques saying that “I will explain if you 
>first answer this question”.
>
>Come on Mahanta da enlighten us on the eve of 60th Independence Day of India.
>
>Regards
>
>Chittaranjan Pathak
>
>
>
>
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>
>*** That is your explanation. OK, fair enough. 
>Let me ask you this: What is your reaction to 
>garish alien culture temples pock-marking the 
>once beautiful Assamese landscape, including 
>smack-dab in the middle of Kaziranga  ? When was 
>the last time you can point to anyone complaing 
>about that?
>
>
>
>
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