Dear Himendra-da: Thank you for explaining clearly - Santanu.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Himendra Thakur Sent: Fri 1/6/2006 8:34 AM To: [email protected] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Assam] Fw: FRIENDS OF ASSAM ----- Original Message ----- From: Himendra Thakur To: Roy, Santanu Cc: Ram Sarangapani ; mc mahant ; MANOJ KUMAR DAS ; Indrajit Barua ; J Kalita ; Dilip/Dil Deka ; Dilip K. Datta ; Barua25 ; [email protected] Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 3:21 PM Subject: Re: [Assam] FRIENDS OF ASSAM To: Mr. Santanu Roy Dear Santanu, IF the infiltration of illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators into Assam is not stopped, there will be a "political collapse" of the Assamese in Assam, which will lead to collapse of Assamese civilization. I did not use the word "emulate" while citing the the example of Shiv Sena. With all regards and sympathy to the frustration that gave rise of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, I must emphasize that the Assamese must not "emulate" Shiv Sena, the Assamese can do better than that. I urge our friends in the assamnet to ponder, invent, innovate and suggest as to how the Assamese can do better than the Shiv Sena. I thank you for raising clear questions. I hope I have given clear answers. With love to everybody, Himendra To: Mr. Rajen Barua Houston, Texas Dear Rajen, I completely agree with you when you said: "When I visited this time, I met many people in Assam who will agree with us to do something staying on the democratic path. In fact we formed two informal groups in Guwahati and Jorhat (another one being formed now in Dibrugarh) to start something on grass root level. We are naming it "Friends of Assam and the North East (FANE)." I want to become a member of FANE. Kindly give me the name/telephone/email of the FANE office-bearers in Guwahati, Jorhat and Dibrugarh so that I may contact them. Reference of Lakhi Raibaruah brought in a lot of memories which make me sad because he is gone. Life is such a puzzle ... ended by death. The only way to defeat Death is to work for the Society, because, whereas individual life is always terminated by Death, the Society continues. If we can safeguard the Society, we can face Death and say: "Death, You are defeated!" .... "mrityu, tumi parasta hola" the last words of the drama "Momor Ghar." With love to everybody, Himendra ----- Original Message ----- From: Roy, Santanu To: Rajen Barua ; Himendra Thakur ; [email protected] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; MANOJ KUMAR DAS ; Dilip/Dil Deka ; Dilip K. Datta ; J Kalita Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 10:07 AM Subject: RE: [Assam] FRIENDS OF ASSAM So, just out of curiosity and since many people seem to be more or less agreed on this, in what exact sense is Assamese civilization supposed to be facing an imminent collapse? What is this "political collapse" we are talking about - the one that the ordinary people of Assam are in denial about though filled with "terrible anxiety"? The only explicit thing I could make out from the postings was "Bangladeshis!" and some call to emulate the Shiv Sena. Is that all? Santanu. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rajen Barua Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 11:43 AM To: Himendra Thakur; [email protected] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; MANOJ KUMAR DAS; Dilip/Dil Deka; Dilip K. Datta; J Kalita Subject: [Assam] FRIENDS OF ASSAM Dear Himenda: Thanks for your response. I don't know if you could connect me with my name. I am Rajen from Houston, Texas. Boonmama (Raibaruah from Kohima) , my wife's uncle is our common connection. That is why I say, you are not in touch with the NRAs. Otherwise also I am aware of your literary activities from 'Don't Burn My Daughter to various Assamese Dramas being played in Assam. Anyhow that apart, I am really glad to receive your response. Firstly I am glad to see that a talented intellectual with vision and energy like you has finally decided to act for Joi Ai Oxom. Otherwise, observing from a distance your energy being spent on 'dowry' issue all these years, I was also asking the same bottom-line question: "What is there for Oxomi Ai?" We all know, 'dowry', like caste system, is mainly a mainland Indian problem, not a problem for Assam to loose sleep. That is why I am really glad that you have decided to shift your gear to act for the cause of Assam. Secondly I am glad to see that we agree in some of the basic issues regarding the problems of Assam and what and how to act. There are many issues and problems that we need to be concerned and act for Assam. If talented Assamese like you donot think and do, who will do. We may disagree in some details. But we will have to act like Aton Buragaohain and learn his tactics how to keep the society united and act together. I will therefore highlight here the issues where I agree with you (leaving aside in some points where I dis agree). 1) I agree with you regarding your statement that we have in Assam a "political collapse" that is coming for the Assamese, although we may define it differently. I would rather say a political vacuum or hollow ness that is happening in Assam. But we know what we are talking about. 2) I believe Assamese are going through a 'Hobo Diok' (In-Sa-Allah) and Upai Nai mentality which I will have to define better in proper time. I would like to take the 'Upai Nai' mentality in a positive manner to act something for Assam. 3) I would accept your clarification regarding mere existence of the Assamese...."I have seen a terrible anxiety at the bottom of the mind of every thoughtful person. They don't want to talk about it, they hide it, they ignore it . because they cannot do anything about it . it is a sort of escapism that is observed before the collapse of every civilization in the history of humankind. " I am glad that you could observe this inner feeling of the Assamese society. This I also observed specially in my recent visit and am very much concerned. We must act, because 'Nohole amar uapai nai'. In fact I told many individuals this time in Assam that unless we act our next generation will blame us for inaction. 'Ami ron koriboi lagibo. Nohole amar upai nai'. 4) I agree with your statement "Emotions are OK as a source of internal strength, but one must not use emotions to run public affairs. I completely understand the emotions of ULFA, but they definitely made a mistake in identifying the enemy. They can now correct that mistake by giving up arms and by working peacefully for reforming India from within." That should be our belief but I will add to that ULFA not only identified the wrong enemy but they also have no idea how to fight the enemy. In my opinion they are behaving in completely Assamese 'Hobo Diok' mentality of doing nothing for the cause of Assam. They are simply holding Assam hostage by acting as a devil's advocate. We donot have time to educate them any more time to show them the light. If they have a plan, they need to come forward and show and convince the Assamese people. We have too many important tasks to do. If they donot want to take our path, we should let them rest in haven. Amar upai nai. 5) I fully agree with your statement, "I do not support the violence and the narrow outlook of Shiv Sena. But, I want to point it out to the Assamese that, in spite of all frustration, Shiv Sena did not become anti-Indian. That's the crucial point. It was intelligent. By avoiding an anti-India attitude, Shiv Sena eventually occupied Delhi . they had a Speaker in the Parliament, and a 15-MP slice in the NDA coalition. I urge the Assamese leaders to stop the anti-India slogan. That's how they will be able to defeat Nehru's 1962 abandonment of Assam . the bottom-line of the Guruswamy-Abraham article that you sent to me. .." 6) I noted your remark, "I was a very active participant in the original Houston meeting in August 1980 where ANNA was formed to address the twin question of the illegal infiltration from Bangladesh and survival/existence of Assamese people. In the following Assam Conventions, this topic was completely dropped, and the Assam Conventions turned into a churning mill of ASA/ANNA conflict. I stopped attending the Assam Conventions, but I kept contact with friends by telephone." My comment is that by withdrawing from the community you decided to react instead of acting. Now I am glad to see that you are coming back to act. NOW how to act for the cause of Assam. I have the following path of actions for your comment; 1) First we will have to form a group of like minded people. When I say like minded I mean people who sincerely believe in the 'democratic process' is the only way at this time for us. 2) Although I donot necessarily agree with your details of Aton Buragohain Xakw, I agree with you that we need to do something to inspire and motivate the people to act. That is what we need to do. 3) For this a knowledge of history is very important. Otherwise we will be acting in the dark. History is nit bunk. History is light. 4) We should leave the organizations AANA/ASA out of it. This is not in any way to undermine the orgs. They are serving a purpose, but they are not (and should not be) designed to do something for Assam. Their main function is to unite the community here. (And I would not comment their success or failure on that goal either.). In my opinion, we should let them rest in haven. 5) In the same token, we should leave the Assam net out of it. Assam net is an intellectual platform just to debate any issue openly and intellectually. But as Ramgopal stated very eloquently all one can do here is like 'spitting in the wind'. All 'galw balw khwlakotir tal'. As you can see me and Chandan have more or less daily fight on the issues of Assam's independence. I donot know if others are enjoying any of these, but I need to debate to the end till I am proven wrong. 6) When I visited this time, I met many people in Assam who will agree with us to do something staying on the democratic path. In fact we formed two informal groups in Guwahati and Jorhat (another one being formed now in Dibrugarh) to start something on grass root level. We are naming it "Friends of Assam and the North East (FANE)." It will be an international intellectual 'think tank' type of org to inspire and motivate the people of Assam. It is not an welfare group although welfare will be a part of it. (I think we need more than welfare in Assam now. We need to save our souls). At present we are accepting members on a invitation only very selectively based on individual's beliefs and enthusiasm, energy and motivation. I personally consider our generation to be practically a lost generation because we failed to do anything. So our hope is mainly on the next generation whom we need to show the light how to act. Our generation is like Sworgodew Joyddhoj Xinho who will die in failure but who will inspire and motivate the next generation with knowldege and wisdom. With this letter I would like to invite you to this group, because I believe your beliefs are same as that of FANE. Regards Rajen Barua (RB) Houston ----- Original Message ----- From: Himendra Thakur To: Barua25 Cc: mc mahant ; Dilip/Dil Deka ; Dilip K. Datta ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; J Kalita ; MANOJ KUMAR DAS Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 1:18 AM Subject: Re: Re: [Assam] Existence vs Prosperity Subject: EXISTENCE vs. PROSPERITY Dear RB, I am trying to give my response in the "indented" paragraphs below. As I don't know how I can post it, I'll be obliged if you post it into the assam.org. "I am sure the real cause of Assam's slow economic development is its political uncertainty. With the infiltration from >Bangladesh dangling like a Damocles' Sword, the Assamese have developed an utterly defeatist "upai nai" "hobo diyak" >attitude . they are anxious about their mere existence . economic development is a veritable 'MacGuffin' for them." Are these true? Are you really sure? These are true. I am sad to admit that I am really sure. When I find time, I'll write a detailed article to back up my inferences. I wish I was wrong. I would be very happy if I was wrong. It is a tragedy that I am right. When Assam has political uncertainity? Right now. In fact, it will be more accurate to replace the phrase "political uncertainty" with "political collapse" that is coming for the Assamese. Our Upai Nai and Hobo Diok mentality is due to infiltration of the Bangladeshis? I think I made a mistake by using the phrases Upai Nai and Hobo Diok because the se phrases have acquired a set of different meanings in the discussions & exchanges in the net. I used these phrases as "symptoms" of defeatism. I am sorry if they do not represent that sense any more. Assamese anxious about their mere existence? Where? Not in Guwahati, Jorhat or Dibrugarh. If that is your observation, I respect it. My observation is different. Even in Guwahati, Jorhat or Dibrugarh, I have seen a terrible anxiety at the bottom of the mind of every thoughtful person. They don't want to talk about it, they hide it, they ignore it . because they cannot do anything about it . it is a sort of escapism that is observed before the collapse of every civilization in the history of humankind. In our time, this happened in India in 1947 just before partition. People saw the "Direct Action" of Jinnah in August 1946 and became very anxious as to what would happen if their lands were partitioned. To cool off the anxiety, leaders gave out promises that minorities would be protected on either side of the newly formed international border. Such a promise in India in 1947 was similar to what Neville Chamberlaine (who had just arrived at 10 Downing Street at 10:30 PM on September 30, 1938 after signing the Munich Pact with Hitler) said to a group of reporters waiting to hear him: "My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time... Go home and get a nice quiet sleep." In India, in 1947, as a result of the promises by the leaders, people put up a façade of no anxiety for some time, but, events rolled very fast. In 1947, there were 23% Hindus in West Pakistan. Today, that number is zero. In 1947, there were 42% Hindus in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Today, that number is 3%. Chakma Buddhists, who were 97% in 1947 in the Chittagong Hill Districts of Bangladesh, had been living as refugees in Tripura and Arunachal since 1980s. Kashmir Hindus, the most elite Nehru kins who controlled India during his rule, had been living as refugees in the streets of Delhi and Lucknow since 1990s. That brings us to current time through all the Statute of Limitations. Seeing the rising population of Bangladeshi infiltrators, people of Assam including people of Guwahati, Jorhat or Dibrugarh, are naturally worried. In fact, it will be unnatural if they do not worry. Kindly make your own observations and please find out the truth. If anyone is not worried, it will be obvious that that person is like a baby without any experience or without any reading. That person will be like a baby who keeps on giggling when the house is on fire. The government has already released Rs 25 Lakh each to the Xotros and Rs 8 crore towards boosting the library movement in the State. (Assamese have more money than you would like to think). I am happy to read this assessment. However, this is contradictory to Assam's gloomy picture that we read in the net. Please don't mind, but I think you are away from Assam for a long time and not in touch with the NRAs here either. I was a very active participant in the original Houston meeting in August 1980 where ANNA was formed to address the twin question of the illegal infiltration from Bangladesh and survival/existence of Assamese people. In the following Assam Conventions, this topic was completely dropped, and the Assam Conventions turned into a churning mill of ASA/ANNA conflict. I stopped attending the Assam Conventions, but I kept contact with friends by telephone. I'm always eager to be in touch with my Assamese brothers and sisters (my telephone is USA-617-922-3651), but I am afraid to bore them with my interminable "survival/existence" talk !!! Although I am away from Assam, I keep in touch with uninterrupted telephone contact. I visited Assam in 1989, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003 & 2004. I collected a great deal of information about Assam's economy and development from my brother who retired from the post of Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry, my sister-in-law who retired from the post of Secretary Planning Commission, and a great numbers of administrators who are their friends. However, I never consider these information as anything complete and I'll be eager to receive more information from my friends. We should also collect information from direct experience of people and we should never accuse them as self-publicity seekers. Please read the attached Report on Assam's Economy and comment. This is a long article and I'll need to scrutinize the details before coming up with any technical comment. I am not sure when I'll be able to finish it. However, I really congratulate the writers for compiling the data for their comment that what Nehru said in giving up Assam in 1962 persists today. What Nehru said in 1962 was my personal experience. Whenever someone tries to share an autobiographical personal experience, it is criticized as an attempt of self-glorification, like Chandan did while criticizing my Lyngdo letter. I am still venturing to give you a glimpse: you will have to forgive me: The date was November 19, 1962 . not November 20 as said in the Guruswamy-Abraham article. At 7 PM on November 19, I heard Nehru saying on the radio : the exact words were " . Shela Pass is gone, Bomdila is gone . my heart goes out for the people of Assam ." There were no TVs in those days. I shut off the radio and telephoned my boss, the Principal of Jorhat Engineering College (I was working as a lecturer) that I needed station-leave because I was going to Tezpur next morning. It was evening on November 20, 1962 when I arrived Shilghat at the bank of Brahmaputra south of Tezpur. Tezpur was evacuating. We were becoming refugees. The sand- beach of Shilghat were full of refugees. As a direct taste of the life of a refugee, I stood in line and collected and ate food distributed by good Samaritans of the small town of Shilghat. That night, at about 2 AM, standing on the bank of Brahmaputra, I wrote my drama "Momor Ghar" . it took me 3 more years to complete transferring it to paper, and Abinash Sharma took 36 years to stage this drama in Guwahati in the year 2001. Emotions are OK as a source of internal strength, but one must not use emotions to run public affairs. I completely understand the emotions of ULFA, but they definitely made a mistake in identifying the enemy. They can now correct that mistake by giving up arms and by working peacefully for reforming India from within. Guruswamy-Abraham concluded their 17-page dissertation with the inference that Nehru abandoned Assam, but they failed to ask the question: "Who is this fellow Nehru ? Who gave any authority to him to abandon Assam ? Is India Nehru's real estate that he would give away a piece of Berubari to East Pakistan, or Assam to China, and so on ?" Guruswamy-Abraham's lack of question reminds me a Bhanu-Jahar joke of our time. After jointly smoking a full pot of marijuana at the Kolkata central field, Bhanu asked Jahar in a very tipsy voice, "Do you know what I think ?" Although equally intoxicated, Jahar was surprised : "Think ? You are thinking? What are you thinking ?" Elated by marijuana smoke, Bhanu ascertained, "I am thinking of buying the entire city of Kolkata !" "I will not sell it to you" was Jawahar's grim reply. Jawaharlal Nehru verily behaved like Jawahar Rai when he thought that he owned India. Instead of abandoning Assam in his November 19, 1962 radio speech, he should have resigned from the post of Prime Minister if he believed in the British tradition which he openly admired and used as a model. "In the name of God, go!" was what Neville Chamberlaine got from the British Parliament on September 1, 1939 when Hitler attacked Poland and Second World War started. It will be a terrible mistake on the part of Assam to cite Nehru's 1962 idiocy (and its continuation by his brain-dead followers) today as a basis of Assam's reaction to claim secession. By reacting, one goes under. If you want to win, Act, don't React. After the victory at the Battle of Saraighat (1672), Assam became the unquestionable military power of the eastern India that the Mughals could not subdue. At the same time, Maratha power became supreme in south-west India when Shivaji was crowned as Chatrapati in 1674. Shivaji died in 1680. The efforts of the Mughal Emperor to control the Marathas were initially successful, but very soon the Marathas vanquished the Mughal power and by 1705 started their own empire. Mughal Emperor Aurangjeb passed away in 1707. In contemporary Assam, King Swargadeo Gadadhar Singha (1681-1696) consolidated Assam's military strength after quelling internal palace squabbles. When his son King Swargadeo Rudra Singha (1696-1714) ascended the throne, Assam's power came to a zenith. King Swargadeo Rudra Singha wanted to send his army to the west to join the Maratha forces as a common front against the Mughals. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1714 and the plan was never materialized. This episode should be researched thoroughly by our historians. In modern times, in 1966, the Marathas felt in the same way the Assamese are feeling since 1962. Mumbai became the capital of Maharashtra, but Gujaratis and Marwaris controlled the industry and trade in Mumbai. South Indians took all clerical and other white collar jobs. Punjabis occupied taxi business, shops, restaurants. A Marathi youth felt lost in Mumbai. Same was the frustration of their working class and lower middle-class. Out of this frustration, Shiv Sena was born in 1966, which was nurtured by the cultural identity crisis similar to what Assamese are facing today. Shiv Sena often resorted to violence. I do not support the violence and the narrow outlook of Shiv Sena. But, I want to point it out to the Assamese that, in spite of all frustration, Shiv Sena did not become anti-Indian. That's the crucial point. It was intelligent. By avoiding an anti-India attitude, Shiv Sena eventually occupied Delhi . they had a Speaker in the Parliament, and a 15-MP slice in the NDA coalition. I urge the Assamese leaders to stop the anti-India slogan. That's how they will be able to defeat Nehru's 1962 abandonment of Assam . the bottom-line of the Guruswamy-Abraham article that you sent to me. Please excuse me, but the above is not in any way my comments on your proposed ABX (Aton Buragohain Xakw?) Thank you. The bridge will be a symbol of strength and unity for the future generations. RB ----- Original Message ----- From: Barua25 To: Ram Sarangapani ; Himendra Thakur Cc: ASSAMNET Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 11:09 PM Subject: [Norton AntiSpam] Re: [Assam] Existence vs Prosperity >I am sure the real cause of Assam's slow economic development is its political uncertainty. With the infiltration from >Bangladesh dangling like a Damocles' Sword, the Assamese have developed an utterly defeatist "upai nai" "hobo diyak" >attitude . they are anxious about their mere existence . economic development is a veritable 'MacGuffin' for them. Are these true? Are you really sure? When Assam has political uncertainity? Our Upai Nai and Hobo Diok mentality is due to infiltration of the Bangladeshis? Assamese anxious about their mere existence? Where? Not in Guwahati, Jorhat or Dibrugarh. The government has already released Rs 25 Lakh each to the Xotros and Rs 8 crore towards boosting the library movement in the State. (Assamese have more money than you would like to think). Please don't mind, but I think you are away from Assam for a long time and not in touch with the NRAs here either. Please read the attached Report on Assam's Economy and comment. Please excuse me, but the above is not in any way my comments on your proposed ABX (Aton Buragohain Xakw?) RB ----- Original Message ----- From: Ram Sarangapani To: Himendra Thakur Cc: ASSAMNET Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 4:43 PM Subject: Re: [Assam] Existence vs Prosperity Dear Himen da, I am forwarding your article to the Assamnet as per your request. I will certainly read the article and post my thoughts on it. I am sure other netters will do the same. Alpana is coming on Friday (I misspoke thinking it was Wednesday. We will post those photos as soon as possible. With regards, Ram EXISTENCE vs. PROSPERITY An article by Himendra Thakur [EMAIL PROTECTED] (January 3, 2006) I am sure the real cause of Assam's slow economic development is its political uncertainty. With the infiltration from Bangladesh dangling like a Damocles' Sword, the Assamese have developed an utterly defeatist "upai nai" "hobo diyak" attitude . they are anxious about their mere existence . economic development is a veritable 'MacGuffin' for them. The most significant symptom of defeatism is the development of a negative attitude, full of suspicion, skepticism, doubt, ambiguity, insecurity, indecision, hesitation . But, we don't have to give up hope . Once the Damocles' Sword is removed and people regain their sense of security, Assam will be in the fast track of economic prosperity. To talk about economic development before stopping the Bangladeshi infiltration is like putting a cart before the horse. However, Bangladeshi infiltration cannot be stopped because the political party elected to govern Assam supports the infiltrators who are their vote bank. It is very disturbing to see that many intellectuals condone and rationalize the Bangladeshi infiltration by citing a series of very intelligent and clever arguments, and by applying "Statute of Limitation" every time they drop a pencil. But, in spite of all these arguments, the solid rock sitting on our chest is the anxiety about our mere existence. Advice about economic development does not enter the ear at this time. These arguments cannot remove that rock. When Mirjumla drove away King Jayadhwaja Singha and occupied Gargaon in 1662, Assam faced a similar quandary . mere "existence" became the top priority. Politicians like Baduli Phukan, Sayal Phukan and their likeness supported Mirjumla and each one of them wanted to become a Mughal "nabab" to rule Assam. However, under a terrible harassment of guerilla attacks (daga-juddha), Mirjumla played the political coin very skillfully to extract a subservience agreement before he left Assam in 1663. Swargadev Chakradhwaja Singha inherited the throne from bhogaraja (the defeated king) Jayadhwaja Singha who died heartbroken in 1663 (or 1664.) Within 4 years, without any foreign aid, Swargadev Chakradhwaja Singha and Prime Minister Atan Buragohain readied a defeated land for its next major battle. The present quandary of "existence vs. prosperity" is tough, but we can solve it. We must first achieve security. Then go for economic growth. We will need help from India because Bangladesh is not going to help us achieve security. It is important to draw inspiration from history. I wrote an article ATAN BURAGOHAIN SAKO as a source of inspiration, but I got smacked by comments that "History is bunk". I know some well-meaning Assamese intellectuals who say that "Assam's problem is both Bangladesh and India. Just like Bangladesh can fill up the place with immigrants, India is doing so with its own immigrants of Biharis, Bengalis, Marwaris, etc." I request them to introspect and talk to their internal "instinct of security." In fact, animals and non-intellectuals like me have a greater sense of security than intellectuals who float in a fool's paradise. Symbols help revive spirit. I urged my countrymen to build a statue of Swargadev Chakradhwaj Singha who will remind us the spirit of intelligent organization, pure sincerity, an indomitable urge for freedom and a hard resolve to end the seizure of our land by foreign invaders. I also argued that "Atan Buragohain Sako" is not for crossing a river. It will take us across three centuries of Time to fill our heart with hope, glory, self-confidence, self-sacrifice and a strong determination. I beg the NRA intellectuals not to kill the idea with their intelligent and clever arguments ranging from the suspicion that this must be snake-oil, skepticism that the statue will be ugly, doubt that this will not pass the "American Statute of Limitation", ambiguity that the bridge will be an ugly, highly over-designed, squat and disproportionate structure, a wild train of thought that shortly thereafter some foreign businessman will pay some politician handsomely enough to allow building yet another UGLY north Indian style TEMPLE there with the ever accompanying trash and more human excreta to destroy it for good . so on and on .. In my article, I urged the artists and architects and bridge engineers of Assam to imagine a graceful bridge with "poetry in its geometry" as a permanent and constant reminder of what we achieved in the past . Once again, the purpose was to rebuild our self-confidence. The NRA intellectual response cited above is a symptom of the state of our disturbed mind which has turned negative under the prolonged pressure of an utterly defeatist "upai nai" attitude. At this juncture, we must find out a way to restore a positive approach with trust, confidence, faith, self-assurance, resolution and decisiveness. I have a dream that the "Atan Buragohain Sako" will take us back to the future. [ End] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
