Dear Himen-da,
I don't post to assam.org and I don't know how to do it.
From what you describe here it appears that I will have to become a
MEMBER of assam.org to be able to post to it.
So I am posting it to Assam Net. Like I did the original post.
These do show up in the archives of Assam.org as well. So your
'apology' should register on whoever may care.
>(not for publication as you did
not publish yesterday's note) . your English is very sharp, I admire
it very much .... now you must promise me not to laugh at my
"engineering english" when you receive my reply
!!!
*** I DID publish my previous note to you in the net. But if you
are not a member of assamnet you would not have seen it. Since what we
have been discussing are PUBLIC issues, please reply publicly. I have
absolutely no interest in pursuing these on a personal level. And if
you cannot post to assamnet, I will be pleased to forward it to the
group. Of course you have the choice of becoming a member. Just visit
the links in the header of this mail and sign-up.
Thanks for the compliments on my English. It is merely another
ESL ( English as a Second Language) type's attempts at communicating.
I am not a language student, a writer or a journalist, just another
'kharkhowa' attempting to
sort out the confusing array of issues that dog our fellow men
here and back in Assam. To that end language is merely a tool even
though I realize if the tool is keen, it helps :-). Therefore no
apologies required on your own Engineer's language. I understand that
well, having written a lot of technical specifications, among other
things, for a good many years.
Best,
Chandan
At 3:10 PM -0800 12/28/05, Himendra Thakur wrote:
Dear Chandan,
I am very thankful to you for your patience with me. Please advise whether the following apology maybe published in assam.org:
AN APOLOGY TO assam.org:I apologize for writing "They did not publish my protest" in my letter now published by "The Sentinel" because assam.org did publish my letter as a part of a letter written by Shri Chandan Mahanta. My mistake took place because I am not well versed how internet "netting" works. I hope assam.org will forgive me for my mistake. I appreciate the good work assam.org is doing in internet journalism to serve Asomi Ai whom we all love from the core of our heart.With the best wishes,Himendra
If appropriate, please help me by publishing the above apology in the assam.org.
Let me now explain how the whole thing happened:
I received this from assam.org at 7:44 PM on December 24, 2005:
You are not allowed to post to this mailing list, and your message has
been automatically rejected. If you think that your messages are
being rejected in error, contact the mailing list owner at
[EMAIL PROTECTED].
Based on this note, I thought my letter to assam.org was rejected and I forwarded my letter to the Editors of Assam Tribune and The Sentinel.
Later, at 6:09 AM on December 25, you wrote the following to me:
Hello Himnen-da:Best wishes to you and the family for the Holidays.Your note came as a complete surprise. I am NOT the editor of "assam.org", just another netter.BTW, MC Mahant is not someone you seem not to know. He is the same one from your batch at ITT-KGP. If I remember correctly I thought you know him well.Yes, he IS my brother.But I am not my brother's keeper -- even though that is a highly un-Christian thing to say on the X-mas day.Be that as it may, assamnet is forum where anyone can express himself/herself -- as they see fit. Of course that does not include personal attacks and such. I don't see Mukul Mahanta's criticism of Lyngdoh as a "personal attack". Lyngdoh is a very public persona and he has been involved in political matters. That makes him fair game for public scrutiny.That is not to suggest I endorse my brother's views - whatever those might have been in this instance. I hope my own view of Lyngdoh's comments were not hard to understand for you. And I stands behind them."How will Shri MC Mahant (complete name unknown) feel if someone disqualifies him by saying I never met an Assamese Hindu Mahanta caring for India's rapid strides towards Super-Power Status??"*** That question would be somewhat redundant under the circumstances :-).Best,Chandan
I read this on Dec 26 and saw that my letter got published in the assam.org as a part of your letter.
Now, I want to apologize publicly to assam.org for the letter that is now published in The Sentinel. The whole thing happened because I do not understand how the "netting" works. For example, Mukul probably made a comment on my article "ATAN BURAGOHAIN SAKO" when he said "History is bunk" and made an adverse remark about long articles ... but he did not give any reference to my article "ATAN BURAGOHAIN SAKO" so I did not know which remark was for whom. He has recently published an article on Bangladesh rivers which has (1) history and is (2) very long ... now I am utterly confused about his remark on history & brevity.
I am very thankful to Jugal who walked me through the computer so that the article "ATAN BURAGOHAIN SAKO" could be published. I am really thankful to him. But, I think I should stay away from the assam.org because I do not understand its format.
As for your note "Also, I would love to get a response to my note of yesterday, if you care to that is." ... I definitely care a lot and I'll write a response to you privately (not for publication as you did not publish yesterday's note) ... your English is very sharp, I admire it very much .... now you must promise me not to laugh at my "engineering english" when you receive my reply !!!
With the best wishes,
Himendra
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chan Mahanta" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2005 1:09 PM
Subject: Letter to the Sentinel
Hi Himen-da:
Happened to be browsing the Assam papers. Ran into the following:
>They did not publish my protest.
*** Is it true?
*** Also, I would love to get a response to my
note of yesterday, if you care to that is.
Best,
c
********************************************************************************Attack
on JM Lyngdoh
I am pained to see the personal attack on James
Michael Lyngdoh by MC Mahant in an internet
journal Assam.org. They did not publish my
protest. I hope you will publish my rejoinder so
that people will not go away with the idea that
we the Assamese do not know even handedness.
I met James Lyngdoh in 1997 at the Rashtrapati
Bhavan in New Delhi when he was the Principal
Secretary to the President of India and Chairman
of the Association of the IAS Officers of India.
Representing International Society Against Dowry
& Bride-Burning in India Inc., a Boston-based US
non-profit Corporation, I wanted to talk with him
on a very sensitive subject of issuing an appeal
to the IAS officers of India not to take dowry
in their marriage. Contrary to the traditional
practice of denying and covering up the matter on
behalf of other IAS officers, Mr Lyngdoh not
only granted me an hour-long interview, but also
called the General Secretary of the Association
of the IAS Officers to join the discussion. At
his initiative, the general secretary, a senior
IAS Officer from a dowry-infested area of India,
agreed to issue the appeal. I was immensely
impressed by the straightforward truthfulness of
Mr Lyngdoh.
In his interview with The Assam Tribune, Mr
Lyngdoh, a seasoned bureaucrat, said, "No doubt,
bureaucracy in our country is worst than the
politicians in matters of corruptionS" I know
many other honest bureaucrats in India who will
come up with similar openness and work for the
general well-being of the country. We do not have
to give up hope.
It is extremely unfortunate that Mr MC Mahant
wrote "I never met a Khasi Christian caring for
India's rapid strides towards superpower status"
in the internet journal Assam.org. In our search
for the truth, we should scrutinize what is being
said, regardless of who said it. Democracy is
ruined by ethnic stereotyping. By his own
behaviour, Mr Mahant has proved that Lyngdoh's
remarks on some aspects of Indian democracy were
right. How would Mr MC Mahant feel if someone
disqualifies him by saying "I never met an
Assamese Hindu Mahant caring for India's rapid
strides towards superpower status"?
India need not race "with rapid strides" towards
superpower status. Instead, India should lead
the world with the ideology of nispriha karma
(unattached work) by working for lokasangraha
(well-being of everybody) with the force of
niskama prema (selfless love) as perfected in
the teachings of Bhagavad Gita, Chandogya
Upanishad and other ancient Indian scriptures.
Himendra Barthakur,
Boston, USA.
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