>to have a name. What better than Bongal?
Bongali, Santanu. Just adding an 'i' makes it soothing to the ears.
The 'Oxomiya Bhodrolook' would say 'Bongali' - at least outside in public.
An Assamese house-wife would say 'Bongali maanuh maane, kintu khub dhuniya
siken bonaai jaana' -
I can never figure out what that 'kintu' means there - they are not supposed to
make good chicken?
:)
“In order to make spiritual progress you must be patient like a tree and humble
like a blade of grass”
- Lakshmana
> Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:01:47 -0500> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL
> PROTECTED]; [email protected]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [Assam] Who
> is the Sentinel of Freedom?> > Dear Xourov, > I will reply to your other
> mail later. But lest I open up a very old can of worms, let me say that I
> was NOT using term "Bongal" to refer to the anti-Bengali feeling in
> Brahmaputra Valley. We have talked about this before. This is actually part
> of my attempt to legitimize the term Bongal as used today. The migrants who
> speak Bengali or refer to themselves as Bengali speaking may be anywhere
> between 30 - 45% of the population of Assam (depending on how the
> na-oxomiyas are put). This is a legitimate sub-nationality of Assam - no
> matter how carefully they are ignored in the discourse of the oxomiya
> bhadralok - even the very intelligent ones. Generations have now grown up in
> Assam. Large proportion of them have not "assimilated"; they will not. They
> have, however, evolved into something different - their langauage and
> culture is going through a process of adaptation. (If only someone would
> care to look -the dynamics are fascinating for a social scientist actually).
> Most of them are really not connected to Bengal except in terms of
> historical group memory and myths. Soon they will resemble the Caribbean
> plantation workers from Bihar and Chhotanagpur that are not really Indian
> except in a mythical sense. They cannot be wished away. They are not
> indegenous but they are native now. Two hundred year from now, their
> progenies will probably be virtually indistinguishable from the children of
> indegenous peoples of Assam (no matter how irritating the thought is to
> some). Unless, some major ethnic cleansing occurs in between. Meanwhile,
> they need to have a name. What better than Bongal? > Take care ->
> Santanu-da. > > > > > > -----Original Message-----> From: xourov pathok
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tue 7/31/2007 6:57 AM> To: Roy, Santanu;
> [email protected]; Dilip/Dil Deka> Subject: RE: [Assam] Who is the Sentinel
> of Freedom?> > > --- "Roy, Santanu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:> > > > > >
> And then all this talk about Bangladeshi versus> > Indian migration. If> >
> Bongals had not filled up the land, > > bongals.> > by using the word
> bongals, i guess you are referring> to the anti-bengali feelings in assam.
> you might> recall that that word has a history. in days past,> before the
> british came along, bongal was used to> refer to foreigners. specifically,
> the turk and afghan> rulers of bengal. > > then, after the demise of the
> ahom kingdom, the> bengali babus, mostly hindus, came along and became> the
> symbol of colonialism. they too were called> bongals, maybe to anoint them
> with the same abhorence> of earlier times. it was not the ahom rulers who
> used> the word this time though. a different set of> people---the newly
> emerging assamese middle class> aspiring the jobs held by the bengali
> babus---used the> word. > > but the bengali babus had come to assam much
> earlier> than the muslim peasants. and skipping much of> history, we can say
> that the word bongal never much> caught on for the muslim peasants. i
> believe mainly> because the assamese middle class did not quite aspire> for
> the muslim peasants' job. > > social history is complex. the muslim
> peasants> mentioned assamese as their mother tongue in the> census. at least
> some of them. and guess what, some> of them have gone ahead formed the asam
> chor-chapori> sahitya sabha. if you have watched "angst at large"> by
> shankar barua, he talks to a young assamese (a> sarma, who i have met in
> delhi) who calls them> na-asamiya. by all indications, some of them have>
> indeed taken to assamese. whereas the assamese send> their children to
> english schools today, some of these> muslim peasants send their children to
> assamese> schools.> > this is also something i want the people to talk>
> about, beyond the usual rhetoric.> > some more later :-)> > cheers,> x> > >
> > Counterfactual history is always dangerous. But> > think about it for a> >
> moment. If walls of fire were erected to prevent> > people from coming to> >
> Assam from East Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1947, the> > Indian constitution>
> > would not have defended the state from potential> > migration that the> >
> economic mechanism would have engineered instead> > from mainland India.> >
> The pace would be different. The fact that the poor> > arid regions of> >
> central and eastern India do not have the skills to> > exploit wet areas> >
> would have been a factor. In the long run, however,> > the socio-economic> >
> picture would probably not be very different. The> > faces would have> >
> looked different. Less of lungis, less Bengali, more> > Hindi, more Hindu> >
> possibly. > > > > > > > > > > > Then, what remains of the 1979 agitation?
> Perhaps,> > an awareness of the> > reality that just won't go away. A
> gnawing feeling> > in the indigenous> > soul that something has changed,
> something has been> > lost - realized in> > hard facts. For the urban
> dwellers, the veils have> > been lifted. And as> > the last thirt years have
> taught, the change is> > irretrievable. The> > politics of camouflage has
> been replaced by the> > politics of ethnic> > polarization. The middle class
> has learnt that> > language. Even the> > oxomiya bhdralok has. > > > >
> Santanu. > > > > -----Original Message-----> > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> >
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On> > Behalf Of xourov pathok> > Sent: Thursday,
> July 26, 2007 10:17 AM> > To: [email protected]; Dilip/Dil Deka> > Subject:
> [Assam] Who is the Sentinel of Freedom?> > > > > I can see you are trying to
> steer the discussion > > > to the same issues that you are so fond of and >
> > > have discussed here so many times - that India has> > > totally failed
> and Assam will be better off by> > > opting out of India.> > > > dilip-da,
> that is c-da, not me. could you show me> > where i have argued assam is
> better off opting out> > of> > india? the possibility of that happening is
> too> > remote, imho, and there is not point in speculating> > on> > it. it
> is not going to happen. period.> > > > i am trying to keep to the issue of
> immigration, and> > not going on a tangent on freedom. independence.> >
> principles. or thought experiments. > > > > i am trying to focus on the
> failure of the assam> > agitation and what it means for assam. also, i am> >
> trying to focus on the mechanism how immigration is> > happening. what
> sustains it. etc.> > > > > On your email below - All of your allegations
> are> > > valid, not always but in many instances. India is> > > still
> experimenting with democracy > > [snipped]> > > > i am not interested in the
> discussion on indian> > democracy in the present context. i am strongly> >
> interested in the issue of democracy, of course. > > but> > that is an
> entirely different issue.> > > > x> > > > > > > >>
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