I did not go through the complete mail. But for long i have longed to let it known to people in this group that IF WE DELVE INTO HISTORY PROPERLY AND BY THAT I MEAN IF WE LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF ASSAM FROM PRE-AHOM TIMES WE SHOULD HOPEFULLY BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THIS VERY ELEMENTARY FACT THAT THERE WAS NO SUCH THING CALLED ASSAM BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF THE AHOMS. IT WAS KAMARUPA. AND MIGRATION TO ASSAM FROM INNER INDIA WAS GOING ON FROM A TIME MUCH EARLIER THAN THE 13TH CENTURY.
AND IN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION OF ASSAM'S HISTORY NOT BEING INCLUDED IN NCERT BOOKS ETC. I WOULD LIKE TO THROW A COUNTER QUESTION. WHY HAS AHOM HISTORY ALONE BEEN MADE INTO ASSAM HISTORY? WERE THE AHOMS THE FIRST PEOPLE TO ARRIVE IN ASSAM? ANOTHER QUESTION THAT I WOULD LIKE TO ASK IS THAT SHOULD THE ASSAMESE LANGUAGE BE CALLED 'ASSAMESE' ? THE WORD ASSAMESE USED FOR THIS LANGUAGE ITSELF IS A MISNOMER BECAUSE ASSAM WORD EVOLVED FROM THE WORD AHOM AS PER SOME RESEARCH BUT THE AHOMS ARE NOT THE ORIGINAL SPEAKERS OF THIS LANGUAGE. THEY HAVE THEIR OWN TAI LANGUAGE WHICH IS NOT AT ALL RELATED TO ASSAMESE. THEY JUST ADOPTED IT OVER TIME AND THEIR TAI LANGUAGE IS NOT EXTINCT YET. WHO IS GOING TO RECTIFY THIS PART OF THE HISTORY? On Saturday, July 2, 2016, Bg via Assam <[email protected]> wrote: > Premonitions about false Nationalism and Violence > > It occurred to me as I was ruminating about the content and tenor of > certain Facebook posts about the Naga rebel leader Isak Chishi Swu’s death > that a good number of the young generation are out rightly obscured by the > false sense of nationalism which has been time and again promoted, rather > read propagated, by Delhi since Independence of India. In specifically > mentioning Delhi I categorically blame every power that has reigned the > country from The Throne at the nation’s capital, using the same > divide-and-rule tactics taught by the Colonial rulers, which in later years > proved as the most effective tool at the hands of the wily politicians and > the crafty bureaucrats. Yet, people suffer from dangerous situations of > amnesia, as they fail not to be consumed by heightened sense of nationalism > which evades a wider understanding of an unbiased history of one's own land. > > History of the country has been long blemished through the absence of > scientific historical studies and analysis introduced to us in the nation’s > early years by one Late Dr. Kosambi and rest who followed the tall, > pioneering historian’s trail. What remained of the trail, and what came > into being at latter stages, have been conveniently erased for the > governing powers’ benefit. Minimal understanding of social realities of > particularly the marginalized areas of India, seen and treated by New Delhi > as extensions of a nation rather than deriving an inclusive outlook towards > such regions like Northeast India and Kashmir, which have incidentally, > failed to find mention even in the nation’s national anthem, cannot be seen > as mere blemish. The great river Brahmaputra which has been sustaining > civilizations across ages not finding significance in the country’s first > Noble laureate’s verse turned into an anthem of the nation is, perhaps, > symbolic of what these areas mean to the collective consciousness of rest > of the country. Telengana, parts of central India, however central it may > have physically been, along with parts of the Dravida landscape could be > added to this list of unfortunates, who remained distant from a country's > comprehensive understanding of these areas and what is conflicting in its > very definition of “mainland India”, assuming the rest to be hinterland. > For many from rest of the country, except for the sighting of the > pre-historic one-horned rhinoceros at Kaziranga, and the pious Shaivites’ > visit to Kamakhya, their motherland ends at Bengal towards the country’s > east. > > Considering such an appalling reality about my country, it is hardly > surprising for the progeny of such a reality lacking in their understanding > of what have been long infuriating the denizens of these regions considered > by the Delhi durbar and its every Home Ministry as disturbing areas of the > land. Militancy in these regions did not fall from the sky or heaven if > there is a heaven at the first place. In saying so I am, in no way remotely > trying to support militancy which has, also, become a cottage industry of > sort, certainly not without the support and nexus of the all powerful > politicians shaping a nation’s destiny. > > However, leaders like Isak Chishi Swu stood by their conviction following > the legendary Naga leader Phizo's call for resistance, just like many > others of his ilk did and signed a plebiscite to express unity through > their stand. They stood up for what they felt 'at their time' as > impingement of their independence, implicitly supported by rest of their > tribesmen. Sadly, a country which attained Independence from two centuries > old rule by colonialists, lacked in maturity to handle an issue of identity > cautiously and sensitively. it, instead, relied on a violent path applying > brute force to curb the voices of resistance which Delhi saw as > ‘disturbance’ and ‘contestation of national entity’. This enraged the > independence loving tribesmen who were, as the legend goes, forced to rebel > against Nehru and his use of force. Even in much latter years I have heard > Naga elders say that, had Mahatma Gandhi been alive they would not have had > to suffer the way them have. > > At another point of India’s unscripted history which cannot be covered > even within reams and reams of paper, the same nation used its own air > force to bomb by strafing market places belonging to its 'own countrymen' > to silence a Mizo uprising caused by a famine, and subsequent failure on > the part of governments to provide suitable basic amenities like food to > the suffering people. Instead of supplies of food what went the victims' > way can be best described as insults, which added more salt to a wound. > > Suspicion has long been a cancer distancing people from people. The > genesis of people from the regions like the Northeast and Kashmir feeling > alienated lies in a nation’s peculiar sense of suspicion towards natives > from these regions seen and treated as sub-humans at times. The callous and > militant remarks against a leader who died of ailments at old age > highlights the ills crippling a myopic section, and that is a growing list > of people suffering from a syndrome of superficial being, whose > understanding of nationalism is driven more by promises made, and charisma > of individual politicians, and politically motivated situations, rather > than deeper insight and understanding of what nationalism has globally > been. The danger lies in the fact, that ours is a nation whose destiny > would be etched and decided by many of these youth relying on their > superficiality finding expressions of a myopic being. > > Those who have suffered from arms conflicts know that forgiveness alone > can heal old wounds and help overcome miseries to reconcile for peace. > Nagaland has the longest history of arms conflict in Southeast Asia, and > the Late Swu surely knew this well as he, at his old age, continued until > his death to be an integral part of steps to derive a solution to his own > people’s sufferings, also a nation's problem. However, the sense of > intolerance that one can perceive from posts which are out rightly > unforgiving of any voice of resistance for identity, evidently harbours > hatred which is no less disturbing than what the same minds define and fear > as militant. Lack of cultural understanding of regions defined as disturbed > areas on the part of those who try and derive perspectives through a > blurred prism of suspicion and hatred, only end up contributing more > towards the different tides of intolerance wearing masks of non violence. > > > Maulee Senapati <https://www.facebook.com/maulee.senapati?fref=nf> > > > -- WebRep Overall rating
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