[Assam] Who is the Sentinel of Freedom?

Tue Jul 31 09:19:13 PDT 2007

>to have a name. What better than Bongal?

Bongali, Santanu. Just adding an 'i' makes it soothing to the ears.
The 'Oxomiya Bhodrolook' would say 'Bongali' - at least outside in public.

An Assamese house-wife would say 'Bongali maanuh maane, kintu khub dhuniya siken bonaai jaana' -  
I can never figure out what that 'kintu' means there - they are not supposed to make good chicken?

:)

“In order to make spiritual progress you must be patient like a tree and humble like a blade of grass”
- Lakshmana

 > Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:01:47 -0500> From: sroy at mail.smu.edu> To: xourov at yahoo.com; assam at assamnet.org; dilipdeka at yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [Assam] Who is the Sentinel of Freedom?> > Dear Xourov, > I will reply to your other mail later. But lest I open up a very old can of worms, let me say that I was NOT using term "Bongal" to refer to the anti-Bengali feeling in Brahmaputra Valley. We have talked about this before. This is actually part of my attempt to legitimize the term Bongal as used today. The migrants who speak Bengali or refer to themselves as Bengali speaking may be anywhere between 30 - 45% of the population of Assam (depending on how the na-oxomiyas are put). This is a legitimate sub-nationality of Assam - no matter how carefully they are ignored in the discourse of the oxomiya bhadralok - even the very intelligent ones. Generations have now grown up in Assam. Large proportion of them have not "assimilated"; they will not. They have, however, evolved into something different - their langauage and culture is going through a process of adaptation. (If only someone would care to look -the dynamics are fascinating for a social scientist actually). Most of them are really not connected to Bengal except in terms of historical group memory and myths. Soon they will resemble the Caribbean plantation workers from Bihar and Chhotanagpur that are not really Indian except in a mythical sense. They cannot be wished away. They are not indegenous but they are native now. Two hundred year from now, their progenies will probably be virtually indistinguishable from the children of indegenous peoples of Assam (no matter how irritating the thought is to some). Unless, some major ethnic cleansing occurs in between. Meanwhile, they need to have a name. What better than Bongal? > Take care -> Santanu-da. > > > > > > -----Original Message-----> From: xourov pathok [mailto:xourov at yahoo.com]> Sent: Tue 7/31/2007 6:57 AM> To: Roy, Santanu; assam at assamnet.org; Dilip/Dil Deka> Subject: RE: [Assam] Who is the Sentinel of Freedom?> > > --- "Roy, Santanu" <sroy at mail.smu.edu> wrote:> > > > > > And then all this talk about Bangladeshi versus> > Indian migration. If> > Bongals had not filled up the land, > > bongals.> > by using the word bongals, i guess you are referring> to the anti-bengali feelings in assam. you might> recall that that word has a history. in days past,> before the british came along, bongal was used to> refer to foreigners. specifically, the turk and afghan> rulers of bengal. > > then, after the demise of the ahom kingdom, the> bengali babus, mostly hindus, came along and became> the symbol of colonialism. they too were called> bongals, maybe to anoint them with the same abhorence> of earlier times. it was not the ahom rulers who used> the word this time though. a different set of> people---the newly emerging assamese middle class> aspiring the jobs held by the bengali babus---used the> word. > > but the bengali babus had come to assam much earlier> than the muslim peasants. and skipping much of> history, we can say that the word bongal never much> caught on for the muslim peasants. i believe mainly> because the assamese middle class did not quite aspire> for the muslim peasants' job. > > social history is complex. the muslim peasants> mentioned assamese as their mother tongue in the> census. at least some of them. and guess what, some> of them have gone ahead formed the asam chor-chapori> sahitya sabha. if you have watched "angst at large"> by shankar barua, he talks to a young assamese (a> sarma, who i have met in delhi) who calls them> na-asamiya. by all indications, some of them have> indeed taken to assamese. whereas the assamese send> their children to english schools today, some of these> muslim peasants send their children to assamese> schools.> > this is also something i want the people to talk> about, beyond the usual rhetoric.> > some more later :-)> > cheers,> x> > > > Counterfactual history is always dangerous. But> > think about it for a> > moment. If walls of fire were erected to prevent> > people from coming to> > Assam from East Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1947, the> > Indian constitution> > would not have defended the state from potential> > migration that the> > economic mechanism would have engineered instead> > from mainland India.> > The pace would be different. The fact that the poor> > arid regions of> > central and eastern India do not have the skills to> > exploit wet areas> > would have been a factor. In the long run, however,> > the socio-economic> > picture would probably not be very different. The> > faces would have> > looked different. Less of lungis, less Bengali, more> > Hindi, more Hindu> > possibly. > > > > > > > > > > > Then, what remains of the 1979 agitation? Perhaps,> > an awareness of the> > reality that just won't go away. A gnawing feeling> > in the indigenous> > soul that something has changed, something has been> > lost - realized in> > hard facts. For the urban dwellers, the veils have> > been lifted. And as> > the last thirt years have taught, the change is> > irretrievable. The> > politics of camouflage has been replaced by the> > politics of ethnic> > polarization. The middle class has learnt that> > language. Even the> > oxomiya bhdralok has. > > > > Santanu. > > > > -----Original Message-----> > From: assam-bounces at assamnet.org> > [mailto:assam-bounces at assamnet.org] On> > Behalf Of xourov pathok> > Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2007 10:17 AM> > To: assam at assamnet.org; Dilip/Dil Deka> > Subject: [Assam] Who is the Sentinel of Freedom?> > > > > I can see you are trying to steer the discussion > > > to the same issues that you are so fond of and > > > have discussed here so many times - that India has> > > totally failed and Assam will be better off by> > > opting out of India.> > > > dilip-da, that is c-da, not me. could you show me> > where i have argued assam is better off opting out> > of> > india? the possibility of that happening is too> > remote, imho, and there is not point in speculating> > on> > it. it is not going to happen. period.> > > > i am trying to keep to the issue of immigration, and> > not going on a tangent on freedom. independence.> > principles. or thought experiments. > > > > i am trying to focus on the failure of the assam> > agitation and what it means for assam. also, i am> > trying to focus on the mechanism how immigration is> > happening. what sustains it. etc.> > > > > On your email below - All of your allegations are> > > valid, not always but in many instances. India is> > > still experimenting with democracy > > [snipped]> > > > i am not interested in the discussion on indian> > democracy in the present context. i am strongly> > interested in the issue of democracy, of course. > > but> > that is an entirely different issue.> > > > x> > > > > > > >> ________________________________________________________________________> > ____________> > Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you> > sell. > > http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/> > > > _______________________________________________> > assam mailing list> > assam at assamnet.org> >> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org> > > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________> Need a vacation? Get great deals> to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel.> http://travel.yahoo.com/> > > _______________________________________________> assam mailing list> assam at assamnet.org> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
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