[Assam] LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (The Sentinel, TUESDAY 9 SEPTEMBER 2008 )

[Buljit Buragohain]

Prabhu Chawla’s Prejudice

On September 6, Prabhu Chawla, Editor of India Today, delivered a lecture on ‘‘The Pros and Cons of Coalition Politics’’ at IIT-Guwahati as part of Techniche-2008. During the interactive session, we pointed out to Mr Chawla that his lecture on coalition politics covered areas from Kashmir to Karnataka and from Goa to Kolkata, but that he did not mention the Northeast or Assam, which too is witness to coalition politics, even once. In response, Mr Chawla said that his subeditor had deleted/omitted it from the presentation, and he just skipped the point by saying “that is a different issue”!
Later on, we asked him to tell us the reason why India Today does not have a Northeast correspondent based in the region. He replied that due to ‘‘business policy’’, his magazine would not keep any correspondent in the Northeast! So, someone would come from Kolkata if needed. And later on, he also said that ‘‘Northeast is a separate part of the country’’!
The point is that if a veteran journalist like Prabhu Chawla can have such distorted views of the Northeast, think of what people in general, in the so-called mainland, would think us. In that case can development really be uniform? Will it not provoke the militants further? Mr Chawla should clarify.

Buljit Buragohain,
Biraj Kr Kakati,
IIT-Guwahati.

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An Appeal to NRAs
The community of non-resident Assamese or NRAs has grown manifold in recent times. The community is well represented around the globe and has a strong presence, particularly in developed countries like USA, Canada, UAE, Singapore etc. We have noticed that NRAs have a lot of love for their motherland. 
We often learn from the media that NRAs celebrate Bihu and other cultural events of Assam with great enthusiasm and gaiety. We have also noticed that the NRAs generally retain a huge collection of music, books and memorabilia of Assam in their homes, which I suppose fills the void of staying away from their motherland. Another noticeable aspect is that the NRAs not only follow news from Assam via the internet keenly, but also actively take part in voicing their opinion in a candid manner. 
Keeping these aspects in mind, I would like to make an appeal to them to play a more pro-active role in regard to the problems plaguing our beautiful State. I understand that there are many NRAs who are engaged in various developmental activities on an individual level, but it is the need of the hour to engage ourselves in a collective manner. 
If the NRA community wants, it can play a very important role in highlighting the problem of illegal immigration from Bangladesh to Assam and the sinister role played by the ISI of Pakistan and the DGFI of Bangladesh for converting Assam into a greater Islamic state. The NRAs can take up the issue at international levels. Remember that the Jews of America played a crucial role in tilting the balance in their favour during the formation of Israel. 
Another area that requires immediate intervention is the need for relief to the flood-affected people of the State. In these difficult times, the Central government led by four-time MP from Assam, Dr Manmohan Singh, has left us to fend for ourselves. ONGC, which has its main operations in Assam, has donated Rs 53 crore to Bihar, but only Rs 1 crore to our State. It is the same sad story with Assam Rifles, Railways and other Central government organizations. Even the Lok Sabha Speaker, who is supposedly neutral and fair, has appealed to all MPs to donate Rs 10 lakh to Bihar from their MPLAD funds, but no such appeal has ever been made for Assam. It is clearly evident that the people of Assam are alone in their fight for survival. 
It is high time we set aside our differences and came up as one people. Let us all take the first step by giving a helping hand to our fellow people who are going through a lot of suffering due to the devastating floods. Let the NRAs take the lead.

Robin Sharma,
Khanapara, Guwahati-22. 
(The Sentinel,TUESDAY 9 SEPTEMBER 2008 )



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