Dear Santanu Da I can't agree with you more on what you wrote. If at any point of time in the past, I conveyed my views in a way which seem contradictory to what you wrote, I don't have the slightest hesitation to self certify that I might have been a victim of C da's "Damned English Language Bug" syndrome.
I will try hard to avoid that in future. But I don't want to avoid the propounder of the theory i.e. C da. He is an absolute delight and can make assamnet debate a humdinger of a show. Take care. Mayur --- "Roy, Santanu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dear Mayur: > If it has not been clear from my postings, I think I > should make clear that I am not any kind of fan of > armed rebellion or civil violence. Personally, I am > a strong believer in radical decentralization, free > market economy and liberal western-style democracy > achieved through civil political movement of the > kind advocated by MK Gandhi and ML King. I also > believe that means are as important as the ends. I > understand there are times when people may have to > take up arms to defend their rights, but it cannot > be the basis of any kind of long term social change. > Parag, as I knew him closely till 1985, would > certainly have agreed. If Assam is to have its own > destiny, apart from being a loose appendage of the > Indian society, entitled to its meagre trickle down > that hardly transcends the chicken neck, then it > needs emerge as a political nationality that goes > beyond ethnic division and have a vision of a future > society that is realistic and promising. I don't > know when that will happen. > About 30 - 40% of the people in Assam are, like me, > Bongals (not Bengalis, but Bongals) and almost all > of them foresee nothing but ethnic cleansing out of > an ULFA success. It is immaterial why they feel that > way, what is important is that they definitely do. A > vast majority of the supporters of ULFA think, as an > important netter recently clarified, "Assamese is a > language, not a religion". Nationality building - > trancending language - based on a vision of Assam as > a salad bowl rather than a melting pot - has a long > long way to go. Just because we won't talk about the > contradictions between the ethnic groups, doesn't > mean they will go away. > Despite all this, it is important to have a process > of negotiations between the GOI and the ULFA. > First, it puts the agenda on the table reminding > mainland India about the issues. Second, it > politicises the ordinary people in Assam. Third, it > offers a hope that somehow there may be truce some > day that will allow breathing room for a more > meaningful nation building to emerge. It is > important to support this process and to encourage > it. And it is important to support human rights of > all people. > Santanu-da. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: mayur bora [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Sat 1/21/2006 9:45 PM > To: Roy, Santanu > Cc: Assam Organisation > Subject: Agradoot News Item 2 > > Is this a small step or a giant leap towards a > better, > brighter and stronger Assam ? > > For me, it is clearly a reprehensible step. > > I am not for status quo. But alternative to the > status > quo must have the promise of a better tomorrow. I > can > see a glimmer of hope in the overground mass > movement > you mentioned a few days back in assamnet. If we can > have such kind of movement (like Assam Agitation in > the past), then we don't need any armed rebellion > against the state. > > Parag da trenchantly criticised ULFA's excessive > emphasis on arms and money during their heydeys. > Ultras did not pay any heed. We have seen the > results > now. After his brutal murder in Guwahati, they > announced that the killers and conspirators have > been > identified and will be punished soon. Not to speak > of > the punishment, they have not named anyone till now > apart from dishing out some usual vague staff. My > disillusionment and serious doubt about their > capability to bring about anything good for the > state > is neither very old nor very sudden. It has > developed > over a period of time which coincided with their > fast > becoming a group of people without any genuine > concern > for the state. They dreamt something big and rosy, > strived towards it, sensed it is unattainable soon > but > unfortunately did not adopt any other alternative > method to end the status quo. This clearly shows > their > unwillingness to learn from the past and result is > visible for everyone. > > Mayur > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam > protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > > __________________________________________________ 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
