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Dear Chandan,
I am NOT a Muslim baiter --- I am opposed to
INVADERS.
The invading army that attacked Assam in Saraighat
included a large percentage of Hindus. They came from Indo-gangetic plains which
was an occupied territory at that time. Assam was the only India left
outside the occupation by Invaders. Assam fought back, the Battle of
Saraighat was NOT AGAINST INDIA, it was against the Invaders.
By identifying the Invaders as Muslims, you and
Saurav have done a great injustice to Indian Muslims. To protect a family during
the early period of invasion of Indo-Gangetic plains, if a family of had
five brothers, two would take conversion to Islam to protect the remaining
three. Without the protection of Indian Muslims, India would have become
completely Islamized like Persia. I have recorded this many times that, in
India, Hindus and Muslims are brothers lost in the
hurricane of History. Once that hurricane is over, the two brotrhers will shake
off their differences and unite.
By making an announcement that there is not a
single Bangladeshi infiltrator in Assam, Bangladesh Government has actually
instituted a CIVILIAN INVASIION of India where Assam the major victim. I wrote
against it, and you are turning it into Muslim baiting. Apparently you are a
supporter of the Banglasehi Civilian Invasion.
Saurav is justifying the infiltration of
Bangladeshis on economics. Every invasion has an economic aspect.
Attack by Sultan Mamud prior to 1193 were all economic ... he wanted gold
from the Jain, Hindu and Buddhist temples in India. When the British came, they
came for economic reason ... they even called it a profit-making East India
Company.
Just because they had an economic reason, we do not
have to give up our land.
Assam-net is getting ruined by your inuendos, suspicion, implication, blame,
accusation, insinuation ... and everybody seems to be in the defensive. You
accused me of being a US-Citizen ... and even after being caught
red-handed ... you continue the attack that I am camouflaging some
Hindutwa [I am once again in the defensive
to tell you that many years ago I gave up my caste and my religion. I still
respect Rik Veda (some people use a foreign word "Hindu" to mean vedic wisdom)
because there is NO GOD in Rik Veda.]
I leave it to
the assam-net readers to judge your inuendos, suspicion, implication,
blame, accusation, insinuation.
With the best
wishes,
Himendra
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2006 5:55
PM
Subject: Re: Chandan's citizenship
Dear Himen da:
>IF you based most of your
anger/outburst/antagonism/suspicion/insinuations/accusations etc. against me
on the >ground that :
*** Well, actually NONE of it was based on YOUR citizenship. Because it
was not about you. But I did assume, erroneously, that you are the beneficiary
of American citizenship, to drive home the point of the hypocrisy of
your stance on the Muslims of India.
But none of my criticism of YOUR VIEWS ( not your persona) change in any
way, shape or form, from your revelation of your citizenship status. The only
part that does not apply is the hypocrisy as relates to your OWN
citizenship. But it could in other ways, if you know what I mean?
> I did not (repeat DID NOT) take US Citizenship ... because I still
love Asomi >Ai and Mother India ...
*** But how does that justify your Muslim baiting and your not too well
camouflaged Hinduttwa agenda for Assam?
>I hope this will remove your suspicion that I am doing all these from
>the "benefits and protections of a secular society with a rule
of law" and >everything I am doing is "unbecoming,
hypocritical"
*** My assessment is NOT a mere suspicion Himen-da. You have
demonstrated very clearly what your agenda is. And unless you can give us
a whole different explanation, credibly, the impression stays. But I will give
you the benefit of a doubt, and will look forward to your explanations on how
you are not indulging in Muslim baiting, not attempting to deny them their
right to citizenship, and not attempting to peddle Hinduttwa as a tool for
preserving Assam as an Indian colony :-).
>PLEASE tell the readers what is your own
citizenship today.
*** Your got me finally, didn't you?
But NOT SO FAST , Himen-da. Most everyone in this forum knows of my
citizenship, which has been American for nearly 25 years now.
Question is,now what? Would my sins absolve you of yours :-)?
Best,
chandan
At 4:03 PM -0500 1/29/06, Himendra Thakur wrote:
Dear
Chandan,
IF you based
most of your anger/outburst/antagonism/suspicion/insinuations/accusations
etc. against me on the ground that :
"And coming from someone like yourself, who
probably claimed US citizenship with a mere five or so years in the
country, enjoying the benefits and protections of a secular society with
a rule of law,it is that much more unbecoming,
hypocritical"
I must inform you that, although I am in the
USA for the last 33 years, I did not (repeat DID NOT) take US
Citizenship ... because I still love Asomi Ai and Mother India
...
I hope this will remove your suspicion that
I am doing all these from the "benefits and protections of a
secular society with a rule of law" and everything I am doing is
"unbecoming, hypocritical"
PLEASE tell the readers what is your own
citizenship today.
With the best wishes,
Himendra
----- Original Message -----
From: Chan
Mahanta
To: Himendra
Thakur ; mc
mahant
Cc: J Kalita
; MANOJ KUMAR DAS ; [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2006 12:51 PM
Subject: Re: [Assam] RATNAKANA BARKAKOTI
SAKO
Hello Himen-da:
I know it was not meant for me, even though I do feature in it
and I don't mean to speak for my brother either. But I thought a response
is called for.
>I have come to know that
people of Nagaon has recently named a bridge over the Kolong River after
their beloved >poet and named it RATNAKANA BARKAKOTI
SAKO
*** No harm done. Names are not as problematic as building a
pedestrian bridge to Umananda, but for what?
Did Santiago Caltrava's bridge over the Sacramento river at
Redding, California (http://www.viamagazine.com/top_stories/articles/Redding04.asp
) inspire you to propose the Atan B Xako ( ABX). If it did, you can 'fess
up to it. It would demonstrate good taste.
But it would be a bad case of 'me-too-ism'.
I gave you my reasons. If they seemed without substance, you
would have surely responded. And if not you, at least all my other
net-opponent friends would have gotten on my case as could be seen daily.
You had no care about costs/ benefits ( unexpected, considering your
decades of engineering at Boston), appropriateness of building a monument
where scores of homeless families don't have the dignity of living like
humans. You are unaware of the geography, the lay of the river and what
impact it may have on navigation,or at its foot for access ramps etc. But
you can educate yourself if you download the Google Earth free-software
and go look up Guwahati from the air, quite easily.
But all that on the practicality point, provided a conceptual
justification could be made. That is where the abject failure of the idea
lies.
Your idea is rooted in the same kind of silly notion like the
monument of Lasit at the military academy in Chennai, as if Assam's
discontent is rooted on its not being noticed by India.
Suspicion? Heck no Himen-da. It is a well-known fact that the
efforts at Hinduization of Assam as a means for perpetuating Indian
occupation is what that other light( weight) general and the current one
at the guvnor's mansion are dedicated to, with a little help from Assam's
own of course.
>Chandan Mahanta came up with
Statute of Limitation in the USA about which he accused that I did
not know.
*** I don't know you much Himen da. But from what I did know
from our couple of encounters, I thought you are just as clever and
informed a person as the rest of us. And on that basis, your claim of
being clueless about my referring to the 'statute of limitations' is not
persuasive. First it was NOT about the ABX, it was about your thinly
disguised, fascist, Muslim-baiting, holding them to be invaders and
tyrants six hundred plus years after the fact and casting aspersions on if
not questioning directly their rights to citizenship in the land where
they have lived for millenia, just because a few centuries back they
changed their religious affiliation either under coercion or under free
will.
And coming from someone like yourself,
who probably claimed US citizenship with a mere five or so years in the
country, enjoying the benefits and protections of a secular society with a
rule of law,it is that much more unbecoming,
hypocritical.
>About eighty years ago, my
uncle, the late Indreswar Barthakur, drew paintings of Sati Jaimati and
Lachit. Those >paintings were very inspiring.
>I do agree that the statue of
Lachit at National Defence Academy and the portrait of Shankardeva in
Kharghuli may >not bring forth the life-force of those departed souls.
These art-works have been done by commercial artists who >may not have
felt the spirit of the departed souls.
*** Good for you. I have not seen Barthakur's paintings, and
thus will refrain from attempting to judge them on their artistic merit.
But on the intellectual aspect of requiring an icon ( or idol ) of
either to draw inspiration from is a baggage you too carry from
orthodox-Hindu traditions, something Xonkordeu tried so hard to wean the
people of Assam from, but obviously not very successfully.
>I never asked anyone to build
an ugly bridge, or to build a sore-thumb for a statue.
*** One does not have to Himen-da. We can draw inferences from
the examples of all that have been erected thus far.
>
you and Chandan Mahanta
should be members in the Selection Committee.
*** You are kind. But if I were to be anywhere near there, I
would wear a placard on my neck and demonstrate against the idea as a
ludicrous one.
>I
appeal to the artists and architects
and bridge engineers of Assam not
to copy from anybody.
*** Personally, I believe a good copy of something creative in
the realm of public structures is a whole lot better than a bad or insipid
original.
Finally, on the protestations about your innocence on the
Hinduttwabadi appearance and the proof you cite to back it up--that
Hinduttwawallas attack you on your dowry abolition crusade, you forget
that we do know about the many shades that Hinduttwa exponents come in:
From the know-nothing,lumpen variety's crude and coercive methods to
the suave knowledge-brigades' slick attempts at revising history and
manufacturing pseudo-intellectual arguments like you have been indulging
in.
I don't enjoy having to resort to such strident language again
here. Even though I am very un-traditional and irreverent a kharkhowa, I
do treat my seniors with a degree of respect and deference. But you leave
me with little choice with your very poorly disguised but audacious
Muslim-baiting agenda, something you will find very few takers in Assam
Net.
Regards,
Chandan
At 8:55 AM -0500 1/29/06, Himendra Thakur wrote:
Dear
Mukul,
In response to Sauravs
question <<<how much does the statue of lachit
at saraighat inspire people?>>> you have
replied Not at all ! And we should have no Busts, Statues, Xetus,
Tombs, -all alien to our passing times. Everybody does his
best in his time--and Go.
I have come to know that people
of Nagaon has recently named a bridge over the Kolong River after their
beloved poet and named it RATNAKANA BARKAKOTI SAKO --- a fitting
tribute to a dear, adorable poet of Assamese language. In my life, I
cannot forget a bus ride I had from Nagaon to Guwahati (it took 4 hours
in those days) when I was suddenly lucky to find that I was sitting next
to poet Ratnakanta Barkakoti --- that has remained a lifetime memory for
me --- I was a young student at that time. I dont want to write about
that memory because Chandan may again accuse me for citing anecdotes
which he suspects as an effort for drumbeating personal importance. I
still think it is important (maybe even better) to talk from personal
experience where we see the things directly instead of reading in a
book. But, restrained by Chandan, I better
refrain.
There are too much of
suspicion, implication, blame, accusation, insinuation, etc. in
assam-net. The worst is stereotyping, like Christan Khasi Hindu
Guvnor Scythian subgroup thukarian, etc.
While I proposed ATAN
BURAGOHAIN SAKO and a Statue of Swargadeo Chakradhwaja Sinha, Chandan
Mahanta came up with Statute of Limitation in the USA about which he
accused that I did not know. He vehemently opposed everything that
I proposed by saying that the bridge would be ugly, the statue would
stand up like a sore-thumb, people would dump garbage on (or, from) the
bridge, etc., etc.
I never asked anyone to build
an ugly bridge, or to build a sore-thumb for a statue. Mine was an
appeal to the artists, architects and bridge-engineers
I urge the artists and architects and bridge
engineers of Assam to imagine a graceful bridge with poetry in its
geometry
.
About eighty years ago, my
uncle, the late Indreswar Barthakur, drew paintings of Sati Jaimati and
Lachit. Those paintings were very inspiring. I think those are now
lost.
I do agree that the statue of
Lachit at National Defence Academy and the portrait of Shankardeva in
Kharghuli may not bring forth the life-force of those departed souls.
These art-works have been done by commercial artists who may not have
felt the spirit of the departed souls.
The problem can be solved by
holding a competition of prototypes by the artists and architects and bridge engineers of Assam
and selecting the best
art-work
you and Chandan Mahanta should be members in the Selection
Committee.
I appeal to the artists and architects and bridge engineers of
Assam not to copy from
anybody.
As for the practice of copying
by young people, at a get-together at Shankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati
in 2004, I was asked if I had any advise for the your dramatists of
Assam. My immediate response was: Dont copy anybody. Write right from
your own heart, with your own observations. It may be difficult at the
beginning. But, very soon the mind will open up.
The prototype art-work
submitted in the competition (but not selected as the final winner)
maybe saved at a proposed riverside Museum where people will see the
noble efforts of all the artists and
architects and bridge engineers of Assam
people will be inspired, like they were
when they named RATNAKANA BARKAKOTI SAKO across our lovely Kolong
River.
Santanu Roy has objected
about simple yearning for a mythical golden past or some attempt to
turn back the clock of history and social "progress"
. I did
not propose ATAN BURGAHAIN SAKO to turn back the clock of history and
social progress"
it is very clearly stated as a graceful bridge with poetry in its geometry as a permanent
and constant reminder of what we achieved in the past. "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.
As for your comment Kudos to Saurav-he is indeed Mr.-or Dr
Logic , Dr analysis. I am proud for him
I must say that I found a
number of errors in his analyses and logic, which Ill reply later.
Right now, this letter is already too long.
With memories of good old days,
and appealing to you to give up the anti-India
attitude,
Himendra
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