[Assam] reply to Chan Mahanta

[Chan Mahanta]

Dear Goswami,

Thanks for the reply. I understand your difficulty with responding 
immediately. I hope the computer access problem will end for you 
soon. I wished a whole lot more people in Assam had access to, so 
that we can converse with them about their many pressing issues. I 
shudder at the knowledge that even today, our people in Assam form 
opinions about issues that so affect their their lives  from 
newspapers , even those characterized as 'respected' by careless 
people :-), who are little more than propaganda mouthpieces to vested 
interests and who, knowingly, propagate such brazen dis-information 
as holding ULFA responsible for preventing B'deshi immigration into 
Assam, while they remain silent on investigating WHO really are 
responsible, HOW they have been delivering on those responsibilities 
or EDUCATING the people on how to hold their so-touted-democratic 
government accountable.

More on this later.

Anyway, looks like you know a few things about my antecedents. While 
I remain humbly grateful to those who speak kindly of me, I am also 
left with a nagging discomfort that my notoriety has spilled over the 
bounds of assamnet. But I guess those are things written on one's 
forehead and not worth brooding over :-) and so I won't. BTW, not 
that it is important , but I am Dr. Ranen's  elder brother. Do convey 
our best to Chayamoni ( and Adip Phukan, who accompanied her to the 
USA) and Hiten.

But we did not learn anything about you. Perhaps a few words about 
yourself the next time?

Now for the beef ( as they say here in our region , the midwest, of the USA) :

*** I did read MM's comments. And  I  wrote what I did earlier only 
because I did not see any attempt on his part to sully your 
reputation in any way, shape or form.

>	"Mr Gorswami.You are supposed to be a moulder of PEOPLES' minds.
>	You get amply remunerated for that.
	Try doing just that  in assamnet."

What I read here is that MM urged you, as a 'moulder of public 
opinion' to do 'just that ', here in assamnet,  on some specific 
points  that you did not mention; namely: "The Silver Lining--explain 
that from 1979 The Dark Cloud  -- explain that from 1826,from 
1947,from 1991"

The only point he might have been wrong on, which we can now surmise 
from your response, that perhaps you are not as 'amply remunerated' 
as MM might have believed or assumed, since you don't even own a 
computer with internet access yet. Actually, on that count, you are 
probably doing better than MM himself, because even this stage of his 
career, in spite of a First Class Master's degree in Electronics from 
IIT-KGP, a British post graduate degree, so on and so forth, he did 
not own a computer until four years back. And the one he owns now was 
a gift from one of the many people he has helped over the years, all 
over Assam. On the other hand, there is a good chance, you will own 
one someday, not too distant in the future.

So, what did I miss? Where did your charge of character assassination 
by innuendo against MM spring from?


>Your message is clear. In Assamnet, you decide who is Assam's friend 
>and who is her foe.

*** I do? That is very interesting. We assamnetters, like all other 
individuals everywhere with a mind above the stage of a vegetable, 
have our own opinions about everything under the sun. Nothing 
extraordinary there, I am sure you will agree. But  we do not have a 
final arbiter , an official 'decider'  like George Bush or a dictator 
or even a democratically-elected authority in the fine traditions of 
what I call desi-demokrasy, who decides for all assamnetters or 
dictates to them ANYTHING .

So, your determination about my authority over who is Assam's friend 
or who is foe; while very flattering, leaves me more than a tad bit 
puzzled. I hope you will be kind enough to explain.


>where even gun-wielding "revolutionaries" have so far failed to 
>arbitrarily decide who is Assam's fiend >and who is her foe and 
>where we never allow bullets to bully ourconscience.


*** Very eloquently said! Heroic words indeed. But a question does 
come to my mind: Who  doubted or questioned it to begin with ? Did I? 
Did MM?

No harm done however. It is always nice to be aware of who the brave 
are amongst us. I would much rather be informed, than be treated like 
a mushroom, you know, being kept in the dark and fed bull-s***t?



>  > You talked about my "protective instincts towards unarmed 
>civilians". Fine. I am proud of that stand.
>Your protective instincts are reserved for the armed ones, who you 
>will not disagree, are called >insurgents in today's Assam.

*** Yes, yes.  I know.  That is the essence of these debates: Of 
multiplicity of views, opinions, attitudes and interests. That is 
what we do in assamnet. Air them. Vent them.  Dissect them. Examine 
them. Praise them. Trash them. Examine alternates. Propose new ones. 
All that and more.

So, welcome to the wide world of free, unfettered exchange of ideas 
about Assam, as afforded only in assamnet.

There is no censor here to hold back what you wish to say. There is 
no authority  to intimidate, no secret police to take you away at 
dusk.  We are expected to behave like self-policing, responsible 
adults. Yes, there will be individuals who might take offense at real 
or imagined affronts. Like you did. Others might  brutally dissect 
what we proffer as opinions or challenge what we might present as 
facts. But it comes with the territory.  Usually it is NOT personal. 
Many came and could not take the heat and either left or fell silent. 
I hope you won't be one of those :-).

Occasionally there would appear an individual who does not get it. 
Does not understand our ethos. They are given hints by members. Some 
get it and shape up. But occasionally there appears someone who is 
incorrigible. They get corrected, sometimes gingerly and sometimes 
with the verbal equivalent of a hit on the head with a 'mohor tangwn' 
to bring them to their senses. We do that not to punish, but to 
preserve the tenor of our 'juhalor-mel'.  Here we do many things: 
discuss politics, lay-out plans for Oxom's uddhar , trade friendly 
insults  and even indulge in  'xaak-khowa', 'bhaat-khowa' kotha.

For if we cannot act like responsible adults, who could?


>  >From your
>logic, I must understand that you declare war against
>the State, but the State must not retaliate. Can these
>"revolutionaries"  say like NSCN-IM leader Muivah
>does, "We have never killed our own people"? Your
>views about the armed ones resemble a group of people
>here in Assam who call themselves human rights
>activists; for whom only these "armed ones" have human
>rights while their victims have none.


*** For now, I will pass on this.  But if you would rather delve into 
it, let me know. I will be pleased to comply. There are many 
components here and will get lengthy.




>And illegal migrants? Here you have insinuated about my caste and 
>RAW. Of course, it's a relief to >know you detest Islamophobia, 
>which is officially promoted inthe country you reside and its allies.

*** You sure know how to hit a guy where it hurts :-).  But 
seriously,  I am very curious about where you get your information 
from about officially promoted Islamophobia in the US.  Care to share 
or explain?

However, even if you are entirely correct about your views about the 
'officially promoted US Islamophobia',  what does that have to do 
with  that in Assam ?  There is scatologically explicit ancient 
Oxomiya 'fokora' that goes "moi ** khaale toiw khaabi-nekki? "  that 
very well expresses the futility of such arguments.



>I am a small fry and not known to you. But you know Dr Hiren Gohain 
>whose secular credientials do >not need any demonstrative assertion. 
>He wrote in The Economic and Political Weekly (March 24-30, >2007), 
>"No one would care to agree with the view in some quarters that 
>there had been no serious >infiltration. While there have indeed 
>been gross atrocities against innocent Muslim citizens, it is 
>difficult >to deny the fact that five districts of Assam today show 
>a preponderantly immigrant Muslim population." >Well,  would you 
>brand him a proponent of Hindutwa?


*** It is has nothing to about YOUR stature as whatever you are Mr. 
Goswami, but everything to do with what you were espousing. I don't 
need Hiren Gohain's opinions to believe what I already know. I do not 
take issue with the fact of unchecked B'deshi migration into  Assam. 
But I do take issue with your charge that ULFA is derelict in its 
duties to stop that.  You did not answer any of the questions raised 
about it.

I will however stand corrected, if YOU or anybody else, can explain 
how your charge holds any water. I hope you will not run from it, 
like so many others have, when challenged. For if you do, it will 
prove once again, that the media in Assam , at least the English 
language one, of which I guess you are a part; is actively DECEIVING 
the people of Assam and doing them a terrible disservice by falsely 
pointing the fingers at straw-men; instead of educating the people on 
how to hold those accountable, who have the authority, the 
responsibility and the resources to protect the borders.

I hope that you will address this forthrightly and defend your 
journalistic ( I presume)  honor.



>Yet thank you very much for welcoming me to Assamnet though it was 
>more with fire than flowers.
>But in the effortless flow of your English and your fire I find  the 
>fragrance and warmth of flowers. >Hope to hear more from you, if my 
>intended association with Assamnet survives your judgement.


*** I am glad you detected the undertones of fragrance in the fire of 
my welcome. They don't call me Sondon for nothing  :-). We are all 
friends here, in spite of the fire that we produce. We are tied 
together by that bond of care for Assam.  So feel right at home and 
do participate, forthrightly, with the courage of your convictions. 
We don't despise that. It is subterfuges, stealth, underhanded 
tactics, beating-around-the-bush, attempts at peddling snake-oil by 
packaging it as mustard-oil etc. are  what you could get challenged 
with :-).

Best,

cm













At 3:24 PM +0100 7/29/07, ranenkumar goswami wrote:
>Dear Mr Mahanta,
>It is very reassuring to know that you detest
>character assissination with innuendo. In fact, what I
>wrote was in reply to what MC Mahanta said in reaction
>to my forwarding of Rupam Baruah's article. Please
>have a look at what he wrote:
>
>"Mr Gorswami
>You are supposed to be a moulder of PEOPLES' minds.
>You get amply remunerated for that.
>Try doing just that  in assamnet."
>
>If is not character assassination with innuendo, then
>what is? You can see, from my end it was only return
>fire. The barrage of fire you have released in his
>defence suggests it somehow hurt you too.
>
>I have already heard about you. Dainik Janasadharan
>reporter Chaya Bhuyan speaks highly of you. She had
>met you while on a visit to the United States. My
>friend Hiten Mahanta, a columnist with Asomiya Khabar,
>says he read an interview which left him highly
>impressed. From other sources I have come to know that
>you are a younger brother of famous and highly
>respected urologist Dr Ranen Mahanta. And I know that
>you know Mukul Mahanta very very well.
>
>Your message is clear. In Assamnet, you decide who is
>Assam's friend and who is her foe. Thank God, it's
>Assamnet only, and not Assam itself. Because Assam
>belongs as much to me as it to you, where even
>gun-wielding "revolutionaries" have so far failed to
>arbitrarily decide who is Assam's fiend and who is her
>foe and where we never allow bullets to bully our
>conscience.   
>
>  You talked about my "protective instincts towards
>unarmed civilians". Fine. I am proud of that stand.
>Your protective instincts are reserved for the armed
>ones, who you will not disagree, are called insurgents
>in today's Assam. Insurgency is a war declared against
>the State. From your assertion, I have to equate
>insurgents with unarmed civilians who are not in a
>state of war against the State. Insurgents and the
>State are locked in a war. Why drag those who are not
>a party to the conflict and why kill them? From your
>logic, I must understand that you declare war against
>the State, but the State must not retaliate. Can these
>"revolutionaries"  say like NSCN-IM leader Muivah
>does, "We have never killed our own people"? Your
>views about the armed ones resemble a group of people
>here in Assam who call themselves human rights
>activists; for whom only these "armed ones" have human
>rights while their victims have none.
>
>And illegal migrants? Here you have insinuated about
>my caste and RAW. Of course, it's a relief to know you
>detest Islamophobia, which is officially promoted in
>the country you reside and its allies. The Haneef case
>in Australia is the latest example. I am a small fry
>and not known to you. But you know Dr Hiren Gohain
>whose secular credientials do not need any
>demonstrative assertion. He wrote in The Economic and
>Political Weekly (March 24-30, 2007), "No one would
>care to agree with the view in some quarters that
>there had been no serious infiltration. While there
>have indeed been gross atrocities against innocent
>Muslim citizens, it is difficult to deny the fact that
>five districts of Assam today show a preponderantly
>immigrant Muslim population." Well,  would you brand
>him a proponent of Hindutwa?
>
>Yet thank you very much for welcoming me to Assamnet
>though it was more with fire than flowers. But in the
>effortless flow of your English and your fire I find
>the fragrance and warmth of flowers. Hope to hear more
>from you, if my intended association with Assamnet
>survives your judgement. With regards,
>
>Ranen Kumar Goswami,
>Santipur Hillside, Guwahati-781009
>
>N. B. I do not have computer at home. I have to go to
>other places to access the Net. So I cannot reply
>immediately. It might take time.
>    
>
>
>
>       Get the freedom to save as many mails as you wish. To know 
>how, go to 
>http://help.yahoo.com/l/in/yahoo/mail/yahoomail/tools/tools-08.html
>
>_______________________________________________
>assam mailing list
>assam at assamnet.org
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