[Assam] NYT Editorial

[Chan Mahanta]

The point Ram, is NOT whether these issues are 'elevated' or degraded 
to "international" issues.

Just because a conflict is international, does not make the victims 
somehow more important than those who do not sport that label or wear 
a halo of being international, wouldn't you agree?

The loss of lives and the destruction and continuation of a violent 
conflict in Assam  is no less important than those at Mumbai, or 
Gujarat or Delhi.  NYT may not be aware of it, or may not care. But 
what about you, or I? And if you care, why would you wish to 
subordinate the conflict in Assam to anything else anywhere  in the 
world?

IMHO, the PRINCIPLE  espoused by the NYT Editorial  in its last 
paragraph applies eminently and equally to the conflict in Assam and 
the others  around it.







At 3:59 PM -0600 12/1/08, Ram Sarangapani wrote:
>C'da,
>
>This is the last para of the editorial
>
>*Washington's most important role will be to urge the Indians and Pakistanis
>to step back from the brink. The next administration *will then have to move
>quickly to encourage serious negotiations over the future of Kashmir and
>genuine cooperation to defeat *extremists.
>
>and your view: >Look at the last paragraph of the editorial. Only thing they
>did not include was Assam.
>
>Right or wrong Kashmir has been elevated to an international level, wars
>having been fought over etc. And the Kashmir issue has even been brought up
>at the UN, issue a bone of contention between two countries
>
>Assam is not Kashmir. No wars have been fought over it by countries, there
>is no border dispute, it hasn't been mentioned in the UN etc.
>
>Having said that, it may come to pass, in years to come, that Bangladesh
>demands that Assam be a part of it (as most of the poplulation at that time
>prefer to be in B'desh or think of themselves as B'deshis), but till such
>time, Assam is firmly considered Indian.
>
>Of course, we all agree in getting the numerous problems that plague the NE
>be solved/resolved - and that will be good for all of Assam.
>
>
>--Ram
>
>
>
>On Mon, Dec 1, 2008 at 3:32 PM, Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at charter.net> wrote:
>
>>  The below from NY Times.
>>
>>  I am no writer, but picked up somewhere that in an essay, the main idea,
>>  the thrust of the piece, is to be found either in the opening or the
>>  concluding  paragraph.
>>
>>  Look at the last paragraph of the editorial. Only thing they did not
>>  include was Assam.
>>
>>  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/opinion/01mon1.html?_r=1
>>
>>
>> 
>>***************************************************************************************************************The
>>  Horror in Mumbai
>>
>>  Published: November 30, 2008
>>  We share the horror, the pain and the disbelief that Indians are feeling as
>>  they absorb the appalling details of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that
>>  left nearly 200 dead. We also recognize and understand the questions Indians
>>  are asking themselves, and the anger they are feeling, about what some are
>>  calling their own 9/11.
>>
>>  How can their government have ignored the warning signs? A 2007 report to
>>  Parliament warned that the country's shores were poorly protected - and some
>>  or all of the attackers arrived by boat. Why weren't the police and the army
>>  better prepared to respond? Sharpshooters outside the Taj Mahal Palace &
>>  Tower Hotel did not have telescopic sights, so they could not get off a shot
>>  for fear of killing hostages rather than the terrorists.
>>  Most of all, who is to blame and who should pay the price for such cruelty?
>>  Deccan Mujahedeen, the group that claimed responsibility - the term itself
>>  is so chillingly flawed - is unknown. But Indian and American intelligence
>>  officials saw signs pointing to Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist group from the
>>  disputed region of Kashmir that is increasingly collaborating with the
>>  Taliban and Al Qaeda. What makes that especially frightening is that the
>>  group received training and support from Pakistan's intelligence services,
>  > before it was officially banned in 2002.
>>  We fear that whoever was behind it, the carnage will unleash dangerous new
>>  furies between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. And we fear it will divert
>>  even more of Pakistan's attention and troops away from fighting extremists
>>  on its western border with Afghanistan.
>>  India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has so far shown extraordinary
>>  forbearance. But there are already strong calls for him to retaliate - with
>>  or without proof of who was behind the attack. We urge him to carefully
>>  consider the consequences.
>>  India's leaders must be very careful not to ignite a religious war inside
>>  their own borders. Any military confrontation with Pakistan would be hugely
>>  costly in human life. And even the threat of war would be hugely damaging to
>>  India's extraordinary economic progress.
>>  The Bush administration must use all of its influence to ensure that
>>  India's leaders recognize these dangers. And it must assure the Indians that
>>  it will bring all of the pressure it can on Pakistan to cooperate fully with
>>  the investigation - no matter where it leads.
>>  We were heartened when Pakistan's civilian government immediately agreed to
>>  send the new chief of the country's powerful intelligence agency, the ISI,
>>  to India. We hoped that meant the government was confident that the ISI
>>  played no role in the attack. Or that it was finally prepared to purge its
>>  ranks of all those who have aided and abetted extremists.
>>  Unfortunately, the offer was quickly withdrawn after the Pakistani Army and
>>  opposition parties objected. The government then announced that a
>>  lower-level intelligence official would go at some point. By Saturday,
>>  Pakistani officials were blustering as if they were the victims. Despite all
>>  of the recent horrors Pakistan has suffered, its military and intelligence
>>  services still do not understand that the terrorists pose a mortal threat to
>>  their own country.
>>  In coming days India will have to look inward to see where and how its
>>  government failed to protect its citizens. The United States is still
>>  learning the lessons of its own failures before 9/11, but it can help in the
>>  process.
>>  Washington's most important role will be to urge the Indians and Pakistanis
>>  to step back from the brink. The next administration will then have to move
>>  quickly to encourage serious negotiations over the future of Kashmir and
>>  genuine cooperation to defeat extremists.
>>
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>>
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