[Assam] Where will be Assam?
Chan Mahanta
cmahanta at gmail.com
Mon Dec 14 10:33:10 PST 2009
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Hope the trip to Paris is going well.
>the need of
>> the hour is to see these developments in a positive light, do a
>> causal
>> analysis of the dissatisfaction, take positive steps to help
>> attenuate the
>> dissatisfaction and learn lessons from the whole process.
I agree. Let us try to dig a little deeper into these things to see if
we can pinpoint the reasons for such
dissatisfactions and how those result in demands for new states and
whether such new states can or
do address the dissatisfactions, grievances etc. and if they don't
what alternatives could be found.
I also invite others to chime in and share their thoughts.
>> Primarily, the vary division of the country in states, on the basis
>> of
>> language was a wrong move. With so many different languages and
>> dialects
>> been spoken in the country there would be grudges in people who are
>> not
>> speaking one of the major languages. But that cannot be undone now.
I agree it cannot be undone. But would an uniform imposition of Hindi
or Bengali
in the case of Assam have generated fewer such 'dissatisfactions' ? I
would think
not and I would like to think that most people would think not.
Therefore we can
safely set that as a possible cause for such fragmentation aside.
>> The other reason of the dissatisfaction is not hard to observe. The
>> development of the country in general and Assam in particular has
>> not been
>> consistent throughout. There are pockets where all the development is
>> concentrated resulting in ghettos of less qualified and
>> underdeveloped
>> communities. This could definitely be reversed.
This is a widely held view. But I am not sold on its validity. Why?
For a very simple reason:
The view is based on an assumption that Mai-Baap at Dilli is either
capable or willing
to somehow, bestow UNIFORM 'development' across the subcontinent, a
subcontinent that is
neither uniform in its general overall conditions, nor is
historically, culturally, education-wise,
a homogeneous (or even close) entity over which even the most
powerful , wise and benevolent
ruler could bestow prosperity and thus never letting those flames of
dissatisfaction igniting.
OK, so one might be inspired to respond: How about the larger states?
They ought to be able to
do that. But again all we need to look at is the history of the last
half century of the governance of the
states. WHICH of them has accomplished anything even remotely like
that ? Is there any example one
can cite to emulate?
If no such example exists, what does that mean? It means just one
thing: The ASSUMPTION
that the ALL POWERFUL STATE being the kind, wise,able and fair minded
but feudal parents, capable
of ensuring the welfare of all its children,evenhandedly, with all
the cultural, educational and resourcefulness
differences is a profoundly faulty assumption. It just is not possible.
Then the big question that remains is WHY different groups continue
to agitate for a separate state as a means
for ensuring 'progress' to their people?
There is a simple answer to that: It is a result of the dysfunctional
Indian governance, in which those who are
in power on a given day, can and do, siphon off state resources and
funds for personal gain, with impunity.
The state's mechanisms to prevent such CORRUPT behavior, of stealing
from the people, is NON-EXISTENT
in the Indian system.
Oh sure, there are all kinds of rules, regulations and procedures
making it the most bureaucratically
burdened in the world. Trouble is that none of it functions. It merely
serves as tools to EMPOWER more
corrupt behavior and to harass the law-abiding.
No wonder therefore that ever smaller groups of people want their own
state, so that a select few running
such a state will have a free-hand in looting it for their own
personal gain and for their cronies.
So, the answer therefore lies in drastically REFORMING the state of
Indian governance, and show that
the power of the state is NOT one for personal enrichment. That it
does not lead to immediate wealth
or even ensure the cushy life its bureaucrats, its elected reps, its
ministers enjoy as they have from day-one!
The big question again , is India CAPABLE of effecting such reform,
such change?
cm
On Dec 13, 2009, at 5:23 AM, Manash Baruah wrote:
>>
>> I believe, the demands for such disintegration is the result of a
>> constant
>> feeling of dissatisfaction among the people of one community as a
>> whole. And
>> dissatisfaction cannot be termed as right or wrong.
>>
>> Although my pervious writeup was itself a little sarcastic, the
>> need of
>> the hour is to see these developments in a positive light, do a
>> causal
>> analysis of the dissatisfaction, take positive steps to help
>> attenuate the
>> dissatisfaction and learn lessons from the whole process.
>>
>> Primarily, the vary division of the country in states, on the basis
>> of
>> language was a wrong move. With so many different languages and
>> dialects
>> been spoken in the country there would be grudges in people who are
>> not
>> speaking one of the major languages. But that cannot be undone now.
>>
>> The other reason of the dissatisfaction is not hard to observe. The
>> development of the country in general and Assam in particular has
>> not been
>> consistent throughout. There are pockets where all the development is
>> concentrated resulting in ghettos of less qualified and
>> underdeveloped
>> communities. This could definitely be reversed.
>>
>> One example- In the last one decade around 10 new engineering
>> colleges have
>> been opened in and around Guwahati. Why on earth can't we open a
>> couple of
>> engineering colleges in other parts? Lets say one in Kokarajhar,
>> one in
>> Chirang and a premiere medical institution in Bongaigaon. This will
>> help the
>> people from these areas take education in a different light. And I
>> believe,
>> education will play a big part in solving the problems. It will not
>> be
>> immediate. But no big change in society has been sudden. Society
>> changes
>> with generations getting more educated. Slowly but steadily.
>>
>> Plus we need more job opportunities. In assam, industrialisation is
>> still
>> in the nascent stage. The three great revolutions of modern India
>> (Green,
>> White and IT revolution) which have gone a long way in shaping the
>> present
>> socio-economic upliftment of the country, have not exactly touched
>> Assam. As
>> a result, people of Assam have not benefited economically as much
>> as the
>> people of other parts of the country. Our main strength is tourism.
>> But we
>> are not leveraging on this. How many foreigners or people from
>> other states
>> really visit the Kaziranga or the Manas national park? People
>> hardly know
>> about the awesome archaeological value of the Rang Ghar, Talatal
>> Ghar,
>> Kareng Ghar, Kamakhya temple or Surya pahar in Goalpara. The
>> world’s biggest
>> and smallest river islands- both are in Assam. And we are yet to
>> take steps
>> to arrest the erosion of Majuli. We can create a tourist package
>> covering
>> all these places (may be also including Shillong and Tawang). This
>> will open
>> up huge employment avenues.
>>
>> And we need to learn from these cases and start taking actions so
>> that
>> these situations do not arise again. Our policies need to be
>> inclusive. And
>> the attitude of the people needs to change too. We hate to admit,
>> but our
>> country is a racist country. He is a Barpetia- speaks dhek axomia,
>> oh., he
>> is a jorhatia, doesnot pronounce the 'r'. Are we speaking of the
>> people of
>> the same state? Have we not created pseudo-states in our minds
>> already?
>>
>> And finally, we need a true Assamese leader at the national stage. We
>> don’t have a single leader from Assam who can be called a national
>> leader. I
>> don’t remember when was the last time an Assamese became an
>> important member
>> of the union cabinet. B. K. Handiq is union minister for the
>> development of
>> the North-eastern region. Why exclusive and why not a minister for
>> the whole
>> nation? We need someone who can unite us with the nation and with
>> ourselves
>> too.
>>
>> Sorry, had to write a lot on this, but due to paucity of time, just
>> penned down as much as I could while waiting for my flight. (I am
>> mailing
>> from the Delhi airport, got a flight to catch for Paris).
>>
>> Joi Axom..err., I still don’t know which state I belong to.
>>
> Manash Baruah
> +91 9971303146
> Gurgaon
>
>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 7
>> Date: Sat, 12 Dec 2009 09:09:58 -0600
>> From: Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Assam] Where will be Assam?
>> To: A Mailing list for people interested in Assam from around the
>> world <assam at assamnet.org>
>> Message-ID: <E1992483-ECEC-4154-97D5-135CDCE89AAB at gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>>
>> Do you have any thoughts on what causes such a disintegration? Any
>> ideas on how to prevent it ?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Dec 12, 2009, at 2:57 AM, Manash Baruah wrote:
>>
>>> The announcement of the creation of Telengana has opened a pandora's
>>> box.
>>> There are demads of creation of new states from all over the
>>> country.
>>> And not surprisingly, various organisations and political paties in
>>> Assam
>>> have also shown
>>> re-energised interest in breaking Assam into many new states.
>>> The last count was- Kamatpur, Dimaraji and Bodoland.
>>> It seems by the time I decide to retire and move back to my home,
>>> it may not be in Assam. The assamese community is so diverse that
>>> with this
>>> pace,
>>> what will remain of Assam will be Dispur secretarat.
>>>
>>> Joi Axom...err..sorry, dont know which state I will belong to.
>>>
>>> Manash Baruah
>>> +91 9971303146
>>> Gurgaon
>>
>>
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Chan Mahanta
cmahanta at gmail.com
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