Response to C-da's takes: 1. ULFA's emergence is a very old story. Conditions which have dramatically changed. India was a doddering, economically failing state at that point. India did not inspire allegiance. And ULFA in the enthusiasm of its youth did those Robinhood acts (not connected with its movement for independence) that earned it some temporary popularity.
Things have changed. The Indian economy performs better. And Indians (including Assamese) - see a chance to "liberate" themselves. All liberation armies in Assam are more known to be extortionists than armies fighting for freedom. Anyone believes these guys truly inspire freedom? The relevant question for most people now is not about independence but about how these warring sides would leave the people alone to pursue their individual opportunities. 2. Never mind C-da's hue and cry - India's stability is not in question today. India's nationhood is real and it finds reflection in enough thinking people around the world voicing so in their opinions, in enough money moving in the right direction and enough positive activity across different human endeavors. On the other hand, the idea of Assamese nationalism as a distinct independent nation has very few takers. Precisely the reason why we have a caravan load of different liberation armies in the region. Maybe - just may be - India might have gone down the same path without any hope in the last 27 years. And just may be ULFA behaved. But neither of those happened - did it? Many will aver that the main concern of the people of Assam is that if only they were left in peace by the ULFA (and all those others), they could pursue those opportunities that exist in India and others seem to be pursuing. 3. Both as a trophy and tool an independent Assam - at least in the way I see it could possibly come about - makes no sense. As a trophy, it would come about, if at all, at a great cost given the world views of major existing nations (not just India) surrounding what could possibly be the geography of an Independent Assam. As a tool for liberation, given what we see of the "independentistas" it will be a disaster. 4. It is evident some states are getting ahead of others from both a development and economic growth perspective. If folks were not to put their blinkers on, they would realize where and how growth happens in some states despite the central government. And that it happens because that particular state is a part of India as a whole. A non Congress ruled state delivers 15% growth year after year. We have gone through this argument before but have yet to see a counterpoint from C-da. I assume he would say it is eyewash. Actually, I would like to believe if the Assam government were to be left free to do their business of governance in peace in the last 10 years (not the last 50), they might perhaps have yielded better results even in their haphazard ways. This remote control thing is hogwash and feels stale these days. Assam must not only worry about controlling its own resources but leveraging other resources awarded it as a part of India in an era of immense opportunity. It is done best as a part of India, not as a runt state in the middle of nowhere. 5. C-da's prescription for the independent state of Assam is nothing new. I guess if one were to read the constitution of India (or some mix of India and US), one would pretty much arrive at a vision of a great, noble country too. You will find pretty much the same list of reforms in some file in the PM's secretariat. It is in the execution that one will see issues. C-da's plan obviously skirts around issues that will crop up during execution. It might as well be a n point agenda to reform the Indian or Assam government under the current dispensation. It is when you start addressing issues of execution is where you have to bring in the players. From an execution perspective, the big question is - do we expect all this execution to come from the ULFA or its supporters? Finally if it is a question of having one's own control - why not take it down to an even more granular level of governing? A village or a city could declare its independence with these intentions? Obviously governance would be better at that level. Wanting to have India as an equal sovereign partner is a good statement of intent but is somewhat up there. Why in the world would India be an equal sovereign partner with an independent Assam? Heck, why in the world would Bangladesh want to be an equal sovereign partner with independent Assam? We cannot even get the hypothetical boundaries of Bodoland, independent Assam, soon to be not independent Nagalim, Manipur and Arunachal etc. (I am sure I have not even named 15% of the competing nationalities in our region) right between us - and we expect to become co-equal partners? With respect to international trading access to the sea can happen through multiple countries - anyone's guess as to how many countries would be wringing independent Assam's neck to bring it to heed. To the final point about having a violent struggle, the question that perhaps needs to debated even if for academic purposes is whether the liberation armies have done a great job of liberating? And even if a sovereign Assam were to be worth the fight, are the current liberation armies up to the job? Have they ever been? ____________________________________________________________________________________ It's here! Your new message! Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/ _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
