[Assam] Majority Opinion

[Krishnendu Chakraborty]

1) You started your argument with "why Susanta should teach Bengali".  Seeing that you are losing that argument,  you shifted to another line as to why he should ask for Bengali in College Magazine.

You said -- "it is
> unwise to agitate for the mere inclusion of a Bengali
> article in a college magazine. "


Let me quote from Susanta -- ""Our College magazine doesn’t publish any Bengali writings. Some even tried to protest in vain when we introduced Bengali in PRAGYAN."


So  he merely mentioned that the College Magazine does not publish Bengali writing which you equated to "agitated". That is your twist.  As for Prgayan,  the fact that - 1)  some protested in vain  AND 2) His co-worker Ghanashyam Deka  (the name implies Mr Deka is Assamese .. if you do not know)  created the account,  says that NOT ALL  protested his view.


2)  You are suggesting that the murder of Dalits was justified since they killed the cow and you are supporting your educated relatives.   That is real sad.   However,  let me quote from your another posting in reagards to harrasment of NE folks in Delhi --  "However, blaming the crimes on NE people only on their attire is too much -- NE men are also harassed - is it because of the same reason?"   -- Hey,  what's the problem,  NE folks are minority in Delhi and so it is all justified to harrass them.  They should remain in their shell and dare not come out in public.

Further,  killing of ANY animal in public is socially unacceptable  and in some cases illegal.  There are slaughter houses where such killing should happen.    So your basic premises is wrong.

3)  I do not think that the Hindi speaking people were killed because they wanted to publish something in Hindi ,  nor is the killing endorsed by the majority.   The killing was by a small group and has been condemned by majority Assamese.  

4) Majority opinion need to be respected --- right ... but are you sure it is majority opinion?  Further,  even if it is majority opinion, is it "right opinion" ?  In my above example,  NE folks are harrassed in Delhi by the majority ....  so do you condone this and ask NE folks to respect the majority opinion ?  Or , step back when there was appartheid in US,  that was majority opinion ... was that right and should have been respected ?  Or closer home, in Rajasthan,  a few years back a lady was burnt alive by villagers ... as Sati ... that was a majority opinion ... entire village was involved ... is that to be respected ? The list can go on.

5)  To conclude,  fortunately in Assam,  we have moved a long way and I strongly believe not too many people (except a handful like some of Susanta's co-wrokers)  think in your way but rather believe in peaceful co-existence where the "right opinion" rather then "majority opinion" is respected. 




>  
> Krishnendu-da,
>  
> As much as I like our private discussion I cannout but help
> comment on this post of your on Assamnet.
>  
> As I mentioned in the recent mail there is a distinction on
> what is constitutionally right and what is socially
> acceptable. For example, if someone wants to kill and eat a
> cow in Delhi - it would be unadvisable. Not long back 5
> Dalits will brutally murdered on the mere suspcion that they
> had been killing cows for their skins - just 50 miles away
> from Delhi in rural Haryana..  Thus, even some of very
> educated young relatives were angry and said that those guys
> deserved it - even without going into the truth of the
> incident.  
>  
> Thus, I say that in light of the agitation - including
> killing of Hindi speaking people in 2007 Jan etc - it is
> unwise to agitate for the mere inclusion of a Bengali
> article in a college magazine. Someone can very well agitate
> in New Delhi too - that killing  cows is okay (however, no
> Hindu agitates for the same in the US). Majority opinion
> needs to be respected - if not for your own sake - then for
> the sake of others.
>  
> Your comments are welcome.
>  
> Umesh
>  
> -------------------------------
> Umesh,
> 
> As I mentioned you in my personal mail, I hate to start
> another fight in this net.
> 
> However, it need to be cleared that you are using flawed
> arguments (as many might already have noticed).
> 
> 1) However, one cannot take
> > shelter behind the minority bandwagon to press down
> the
> > local langauge and culture.
> 
> -- Practising ones own language/culture/religion does not
> mean "pressing down local language and culture" A
> good example is USA where you see Chinese NEw Year
> celebration OR Bihu etc. Another example is other places of
> India like Mumbai or Delhi where Bihu is celebrated but that
> does not mean that someone is "pressing down the local
> culture".
> 
> 
> 2) > Krishnendu-da, do you protest that no Eid, Diwali
> or Guru
> > Nanak Jayanti holiday is there in the US (assuming you
> are
> > here) whereas Christmas is a national holiday. Being
> > minority you respect and only try to lobby for or push
> for -
> > which does not cause public ire. Am I right? Maybe you
> are
> > indeed on the streets calling for Bengali writings in
> Boson
> > Globe and New York Times, are you?
> 
> -- This again reflects your poor knowledge. US indeed has
> bilingual news papers -- in Spanish and English OR Chinese
> and English .. albeit localized. Since you were in Boston,
> you must have noticed many official notices are in Bi
> (English and Spanish) or even Tri (Englihs Spanish and
> Chinese) language. As for holiday, there are school
> districts which are closed on Rosh Hashanah or Hannukah or
> Chinese New Year ... so if US now has say 30% Hindu, there
> will surely be a Diwali holiday ... just the way India has
> Eid holiday even though majority is Hindu .
> 
> 
> Even for Indian languages ... there are movie theaters in
> US which regularly screen Hindi/Tamil/Telugu movies . 
> 
> So your arguments are plain baseless.
> 
> But even with all your arguments , you fail to show how
> "teaching" a specific language cause "press
> down on local language/culture" ...
> 
> 
> > 
> > 
> > Krishnendu-da,
> >  
> > I know there is friction between local Assamese and
> > Bengalis and yes Rajasthanis too. However, one cannot
> take
> > shelter behind the minority bandwagon to press down
> the
> > local langauge and culture.  Just like one goes in
> tribal
> > areas and then try to dominate the locals in
> Chhatisgarh etc
> > leading to reaction by locals.
> >  
> > Sushanta-da wrote:
> >  
> >  "Our College magazine doesnât publish any
> Bengali
> > writings. Some even tried to protest in vain when we
> > introduced Bengali in PRAGYAN. But again, being a
> Hindu or
> > Upper-cast I feel privileged here in Assam. They are
> the
> > part of the ruling elites here. Probably the most
> > reactionary and conservative part.."   "No
> I
> > don't believe in God"
> >  
> > I don't know why Shushantada calls himself Hindu
> when
> > he does not believe in God. Seems like being an
> opportunist
> > - calling himself Hindu to get majority religion
> support and
> > atheist to call himself secular.  . 
> >  
> > Krishnendu-da, do you protest that no Eid, Diwali or
> Guru
> > Nanak Jayanti holiday is there in the US (assuming you
> are
> > here) whereas Christmas is a national holiday. Being
> > minority you respect and only try to lobby for or push
> for -
> > which does not cause public ire. Am I right? Maybe you
> are
> > indeed on the streets calling for Bengali writings in
> Boson
> > Globe and New York Times, are you?
> 
> 
> Umesh Sharma
> 
> Washington D.C. 
> 
> 1-202-215-4328 [Cell]
> 
> Ed.M. - International Education Policy
> Harvard Graduate School of Education,
> Harvard University,
> Class of 2005
> 
> http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/index.html (Edu info)
> 
> http://hbswk.hbs.edu/ (Management Info)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.gse.harvard.edu/iep (where the above 2 are used )
> http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/
> 
> 
> 
> http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
> 
> 
>