Dear Mahanta da, It's good that you have opened the chapter. You seem to have missed or deliberately overlooked the heading before the strengths. It was Assamese people/ Assam. Some strengths, as the heading more than adequately signifies, pertain to our state. As you are trying to restrict the scope of the debate in stead of enlarging it, it did not surprise me at all that you missed it. Any way, thanks for giving 2nd division to me.
I don't know where were you during the turbulent days of Assam agitation from 1979 to 1985. As an Assamese, I am ashamed to say that in an emotional frenzy devoid of an iota of rationality, majority of the Assamese people supported (either vociferously or tacitly)the manhandling of a noted Assamese intellectual in Guwahati at the hands of the miscreants masquerading probably as AASU members. Or they may be real AASU also. This horrendous incident proves whether majority of us are motivated more by ephemeral emotions or solid reasons.It is absolutely normal to have emotions, but to be solely guided by emotions can have disastrous ramifications as we have seen in case of Assam. But if someone deliberately behaves like an ostritch putting its head in sands, I can't help it. As regards the second important point of sense of terror or tension, it also pertains more to the state than to the people. Keeping in view your deep rooted hatred for other Indians, I am accepting for the time being that whatever is happening in Assam is the effect of something which is not under their control.There is no denying the fact that some of the points raised by insurgent groups are pertinent and valid. But does that justify the mindless violence they are perpetrating on the innocent people ? Any right thinking citizen should condemn their activities in the strongest possible terms. But the most unfortunate aspect is that a section of the so called intelligentsia see terror only in respect of army or police and not for the ultras. Their obvious objective is to lionise a few leaders and romanticise their activities. But behind this objective, lies their main objective of satisfying their own vested interests. Ram was right in his opinion that the attention received by the ultras is directly proportional to the degree of violence they can indulge in. Nobody bothers now about the innocent victims and their relatives of Dhemaji blast of 15 August 2004.Tell me one good effect of rise of insurgency in the state. This dangerous tendency is observed with many of the so called human rights organisations also. Let us not try to draw a line between human rights violations at the hands of the state and the insurgents. For the victim, does it make any difference ? It may make some difference to you or me who are safely sitting at a distance and trying to popularise their own poits of views. One who wears the shoe knows where it pinches. Let us not pretend that we know better. Mahanta da, intellectual arrogance very often deprives a person of courage and ability to accept his own mistakes.His main intention becomes only to defend his views, come what may.Let us not fall in that category. By no stretch of imagination, I support the Indian State in respect of its treatment to North East, but I fail to understand your animosity towards common Indian people. Is it not an accident that we were born on that side ? Looking forward to your response. bye for the time being. Mayur Chandigarh --- Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Mayur: > > I was hoping that I did not have to open this > chapter. I avoided > getting into it it in my first response. But since > you are not > convinced, I am forced into it :-). > > First off, congratulations on your perceptiveness in > starting off > with all those nice qualities of the Assamese > People, the STRENGTHS > as you characterize them. > Always a good idea to preface bad news with good, > however tenuous. > Trouble is, if they are not very convincing, the > whole show falls > apart: > > Of the ten (good round number) "Strengths of the > Assamese People" below, > 2,5,6,8 and 9 have nothing to do with the qualities > of the Assamese > people at all. You are scoring 50% if it were to be > an essay writing > exercise in grade school, that is a barely a second > div., if that > high :-). > > Now let us examine the 'weaknesses': > > Of the 18 at least 7 have nothing to do with the > qualities of the > Assamese people. But even if they did let us see > what these mean, and > how you might use these to weigh the ethnic > qualities of the people. > I will just take one or two as examples. Hopefully > you will get the > idea. > > > > >2. Emotions getting precedence over logic in the > minds > >of the people > > > **** How would you place yourself in this > characteristic that you see > as a predominant in the Assamese people? Do you > consider yourself > more rational/logical than emotional? If not, then > you are an > EXCEPTION, one who is above the rest. I have no > problem believing > that. But I want to hear it from YOU. > > And how would you rate all the Assamese people you > know well enough > to judge them--family members, close friends, > teachers, relatives, > servants etc. etc? You must not use examples of > newspaper accounts, > or anecdotes, or hearsay etc. What percentage of > them will you > consider emotionally driven as opposed to being > rational/logical? It > is important here that you consider the person's > entire record you > are aware of, not merely some incident or episode, > however > significant that might be. Because we do not judge > people on account > of one or a few incidents, but on the entirety of > their personnae. > > How would you rate the various people who have > posted in Assam Net > since you joined it? Feel free to name them if you > wish. That will be > helpful in judging your own evaluating skills :-). > > Based upon the above, assuming these groups of > people above are a > fair representation of the entirety of kharkhowadom, > how does your > assessment stand? > > > > >7. All pervasive feeling of tension and terror > in > >>different parts of the state > > > > **** Do you consider this a characteristic of the > Assamese people? If > you do why? Is it a genetic or hereditary condition? > Or is it a > response to certain conditions prevailing in > society? > > And if it is the latter, if it is an EFFECT, not a > CAUSE, as Mukul > Mahanta pointed out in the very similar item #6, > what do you think > are the CAUSES? Are they genetic Assamese > abnormalities that caused > it? Or are they caused by societal factors under > their CONTROL? Or > are they caused by forces outside their control? > > Whatever your assessment, will you please outline > and explain them as > you see them? > > And based on the above how would you assess your > judgement that it is > a WEAKNESS of the Assamese people? > > > > I hope by now you have caught my drift and further > dissecting would > not be necessary :-). > > Take care, > > cm > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > At 10:17 AM -0700 9/13/05, mayur bora wrote: > >Dear Friends, > > > >I am new to the mailing list of [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Some of the debates among the netizens on issues > >concerning Assam are really interesting. I am sure > we > >would be able to provide a new perspective on some > >issues in respect of Assam with the help of our > >collective wisdom. One of the most important issues > >crossing my mind is to find out the relative > strengths > >and weaknesses of Assamese people in relation to > other > >people of India. I am trying to list below the > >strengths and weaknesses of Assamese people and > >solicit your opinion on that. I am using the word > >Assanese in a broad sense encompassing all those > >people whose mother tongue may not be Assamese, but > >they have some concern for the state. Moreover the > >traits indicated below are general in nature and > >exceptions are not ruled out. The objective of this > >exercise is to find out whether our weaknesses > >outweigh the strengths resulting in the current > >condition of the state vis a vis other states of > the > >country. > > > >Strength of Assamese People / Assam > > > >1. Diverse and rich literary and cultural > traditions > > > >2. Favourable climatic condition > > > >3. Healthy and relatively spice less cuisine > > > >4. Great hospitality and relative simplicity of > people > > > >5. Fertile land > > > >6. Rich flora and fauna > > > >8. Major producer of tea and oil > > > >9. Tremendous tourism potential > > > >10. Absence of dowry > > > >Weaknesses > > > >1. Alienation of tribal people from the mainstream > due > >to the cavalier attitude shown by caste Hindu > === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
