[Assam] An open letter to the Prime Minister

[Chan Mahanta]

Uttam:

I was NOT castigating Kamal for circulating a letter written in jest. If it were to have been a humorous 
piece, by all means. Have fun. Who am  I to pass judgement on what is good humor and what is in poor taste?

What I take issue with is about the POLITICAL content of the piece. It was unquestionably a political
commentary. But before one makes such a political comment, one is expected to know what he is commenting
about. We may disagree, that will be different. But if it is vacuous, devoid of any substance, then it is fair game.

So, WHAT is the substantive issue here? 

It is about demands of statehood by every ethnic group, regardless of its sustainability, let alone the wisdom of
it.

So, if it were you, would you not want to know WHY every ethnic group demands statehood? I certainly would.
And when you are curious, IF you are, the answers are pretty obvious. Or  they ought to be for the nominally
informed and those who care to and are able to reason.  And if one knows the reasons, then he would have 
brought them out, criticized them and/or suggested ways to correct them.

But that curiosity, the minimum requirement before one mouths off one's political opinions, is clearly absent in this
instance. I don't know if it is by design or if it is because of  ignorance born out of an absence of curiosity. But it does not
matter.

Kamal, on the other hand is NOT such a clueless  one. I disagree with him a lot. But I know he is neither uninformed
nor unable to reason . That is why I chided him for circulating a piece that is so devoid of any merit.

But if he was impressed by the writer's writing skills, never mind the substance, and that is why he posted it, he ought
to have clarified that, as YOU too should :-).

c-da








On Aug 11, 2010, at 3:40 AM, uttam borthakur wrote:

> 
>  
>  
> Dear Chandan Da,
>  
> At first, let me make it clear that I can only try to understand your disapproval of KJD's circulation of the letter.
>  
> But, let me tell you this. In Assam, there are so many demands for secession, separate states, autonomous councils, districts that without of course seriously going into the causes and merits of such demands, it has become a kind of a joke amongst the people. While indulging in such jokes, caution is thrown to the winds, because, it is a kind of release in the form of NIRMAL ANAND! And perhaps some amount of levity is a part of life anyway: like I stated that I tend to enjoy a nonsensical Bond movie at times when I feel not inclined to think. Further, that letter, I may assure you, would let you feel the different beats prevalent in Assam's society. It cannot be merely wished away, this sense of exasperation. And sometimes, due to long association, we feel that we can share some trivia within a group.
>  
> The biggest folly of people, who believe that future history can be moulded in a given way, has been that they allow dissemination of only such opinions, culture, literarture etc. that they consider would be suitable for the development of the society in a given way.  
>  
> Moreover, it has been the opinion of some thinkers of the post-modern era that all actions of a man may not be coherent. It was probably one of the living conscience keepers of Assam ( I suppose it was him in some sort of a meeting, but where I have forgotten) who gave an amusing illustration. He said that suppose a respectable person riding a bicycle feels inspired and suddenly begins hooting; that may not have any reason, if the post-modernist are to be believed.!
>  
> I am writing this, so that you do not come down heavily on me, whenever I slip from rational behaviour, which I am quite prone to:-)
> 
> Uttam Kumar Borthakur
> Chan Mahanta cmahanta at gmail.com 
> Wed Aug 11 07:59:30 IST 2010 
> 
> 
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> 
> There is nothing amusing about this mindless piece of tripe.  Should our letter writer 
> have had the desire or the wherewithal to inquire about the REASONS why everyone
> wants a state of his own, then he would not have had the reason to write this piece. 
> Furthermore, HAD the editorial ranks of the rag had any clue about it themselves,
> they would not have found it worthy to publish it.
> 
> Last but not the least, I am terribly surprised that you Kamal, being one of the rare few 
> amongst us who has the ability to analyze things enough and the integrity ( even if only  
> every now and then), to acknowledge the real reasons for the state of affairs in India,
> found this piece worthy enough to circulate as something meaningful or noteworthy.
> 
> cm
> 
> 
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