[Assam] Sovereignty Muddle - And the Language

[Chan Mahanta]

O'Kamal:

Buisa, eije'    "---the so-called armchair 'intellectual' couch  
brigade" -or kothatw likhila,
porhi moy bor anondo palw kintu ( I was quite amused by it) :-).

Here is why:

The  descriptions, discussions and commentary on this and related  
subjects
both by our fellow men in these 'phoren' shores and the English language
( or so it seems ) media, both in Assam and in India, has been  
distinguished
by that damned English language or its abominations.


Now, what exactly IS a "--so-called  armchair 'intellectual' couch  
brigade?
Did you make it up under the influence of something that you should  
not have been
drinking or smoking?

	So-called by whom?

	Are there different castes of intellectuals : Those that actually  
work and
	those that are merely wanna-bes, the armchair kind?  Truly work-with- 
their-hands types
         vs. the couch-bound types?

Never-mind about an explanation. I won't badger you. But regardless,  
the underlying
sentiments telegraph thru, loud and clear.

It is fair and balanced like only FOX News can be.


Iti Twmar
so-kai   :-).





On Apr 30, 2010, at 1:08 PM, kamal deka wrote:

> RS,
> I'm convinced that any amount of rhetorical belligerence on either
> side - the so-called armchair 'intellectual' couch brigade or the ULFA
> - cannot erase the blood that has been shed. The problem with both -
> the fancifully artful but toothless motley assembly that has adopted
> the title of 'civil society' and the ULFA - is that they are quibbling
> about something that is now beyond the realms of realization, i.e.
> peace. Except giving Hiren Gohain and his ilk media space and
> pronounced visibility, this exercise is at best an illusion designed
> to give the emotionally-driven Assamese some new-fangled rope to
> dabble with till another more exciting one comes up.
> KJD
> On Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 11:55 AM, Ram Sarangapani  
> <assamrs at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Well said!
>>
>> http://www.sentinelassam.com/editorial/story.php?sec=3&subsec=0&id=34778&dtP=2010-04-30&ppr=1#34778
>>
>> Sovereignty Muddle
>>
>> It is interesting that ULFA ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh Baruah  
>> should still
>> insist on sovereignty for Assam as a key precondition for peace talks
>> despite the knowledge that the Government of India will not discuss
>> sovereignty with the outfit because no self-respecting sovereign  
>> government
>> ever responds to the demand for a separate sovereignty raised by an
>> insurgent-turned-terrorist organization operating at its own whims  
>> and
>> fancies and without the mandate of the people whose cause it  
>> ostensibly
>> champions. This apart, most of the top ULFA leaders are in jail and  
>> have
>> sent feelers as to a pragmatic peace process sans the sovereignty  
>> issue.
>> Perhaps they have realized the futility of such a preposterous  
>> demand as
>> sovereignty for Assam outside the purview of the Indian Constitution.
>> Perhaps they are no longer interested in perpetuating the absurd  
>> thesis that
>> Assam is still under colonial occupation. Perhaps they have seen  
>> the writing
>> on the wall, especially the aspiration of the youth who wants to a  
>> part and
>> parcel of the happening of an India emerging from the shackles of  
>> the past
>> and making rapid strides in all fields. Perhaps, and most  
>> importantly, the
>> ULFA political leadership is willing to accept that the youth of  
>> Assam would
>> still go militant not because he is wedded to any ideology, but  
>> because both
>> unemployment and unemployability propel him towards the jungle for
>> livelihood and because ‘insurgency’ is such a flourishing industry of
>> terrorism. Perhaps there is some reality check.
>> On the other hand, there is a distinguished school of thought that is
>> advocating the cause of peace talks by suggesting that both the  
>> parties come
>> to the negotiating table with an open mind. They are saying that at  
>> this
>> stage the sovereignty issue should not be an impediment to the  
>> peace hope.
>> In other words, the government should not be intransigent about its  
>> stated
>> position on sovereignty and should rather discuss the issue and try  
>> to know
>> as to why the ULFA is demanding sovereignty for Assam. The school  
>> of thought
>> has opined that a discussion on sovereignty does not mean  
>> acceptance of the
>> demand. But there lies the problem. The crux of the matter is that  
>> a mere
>> impression that the government is prepared to hear the sovereignty  
>> ‘logic’
>> from the other side cannot serve any peace purpose when it is known  
>> to all
>> and sundry that the government is not going to reward the ULFA with
>> sovereignty as an expedient compromise for peace. In other words,  
>> when the
>> government has made it clear in no uncertain terms that there can be
>> discussion on anything except sovereignty, it is puerile to expect  
>> of it to
>> reach out to a terrorist outfit and share a few warm sovereignty  
>> words as
>> part of a ritual that the Government of India is not at all obliged  
>> to
>> perform. A democratic government, however plagued with aberrations,  
>> would
>> rather have the rebels join the mainstream, contest elections, win  
>> them, and
>> then serve the masses according to their brilliant ideas if any.  
>> But that
>> will be too difficult for those used to the luxury of loot.
>> That said, we welcome any peace initiative aimed at bringing the  
>> ULFA to the
>> negotiating table. And it is time the ULFA rose to the occasion by  
>> taking
>> part in a meaningful dialogue with the government without bothering  
>> about
>> that destined-to-fail objective called sovereignty for Assam. For,  
>> Assam is
>> already sovereign. We are a sovereign people. And it is for this  
>> sovereignty
>> that a whole gamut of Assamese people had sacrificed their lives to  
>> free
>> their motherland — Bhaarat Varsh — from the yoke of British  
>> imperialism. Let
>> the ULFA no more pretend that it is not introduced to that fact of  
>> life, and
>> let it then contribute to durable peace. And yes, one is justified in
>> demanding an Assam-specific development and security package. One is
>> justified in demanding a package that can save us — and the rest of  
>> the
>> Northeast — from the onslaught of a swelling illegal Bangladeshi  
>> crowd. But
>> let not sovereignty be a pretext to further the cause of criminal  
>> terrorism.
>> _______________________________________________
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>> assam at assamnet.org
>> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
>>
>
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