Letter No.3 To Assams Miyan Intelligentsia of Independent Thought, like Dr. Bakshi H.A. Ahmed sahib et al. Dear Professor Ahmed sahib, Thanks for kindly sending me an image of your article. I have gone through it, and I must express my opinion that your article is scholarly, something rare in Assamese and certainly absent among Assams Bengali community (except the Bengali Hindu community). I can almost feel your pain at the gross apathy that Assams Bengali community has received from the mainstream Axomiya Raiz. The word mainstream need to be re-evaluated, in my humble opinion. I hope you will agree with me that irrespective of the plethora of names forced or suggested to characterize the Bengali Muslims (and Bengali Hindus) of Assam, there is no denying the FACT that these people have their own Mother Language: Bangla, to be precise, from time immemorial to time infinity, the temporary switch on paper as Axomiya not withstanding. So let us call a spade a spade, shall we? Then let us turn to our great Constitution of India, which recognizes the Right to Mother Language first and foremost, and not only that, the Constitution also mandated since its inception that the Independent India be reconstructed on the basis of linguistic majority over regions. These provisions, enshrined in the Constitution of India are as natural and beneficial as the sun and the moon. No excuses under cover of political expediency, downright appeasement, or cowardly surrender of linguistic identity are acceptable. You had mentioned the word Identity Crisis at the beginning of your well-thought article, but I wish you had also emphasized the framework of Identity. And how Inwish that you also had indicated that the appeal of the old adage, Honesty is the best Policy deserves to be changed to Honesty is a Principle that must not be compromised. The so-called Miyan people of Assam, by their foolish or cowardly act of hiding the truth about their Mother Language lost,mat their own peril, the dignity that the word Miyan denoted and stil retains its proper meaning in etimolgy, and if the Axomiya Raize use it as a racial slur, then I believe the Bengali Muslim community of Assam doesnt deserve any better. This community must taste the bitter medicine that it formulated for itself. But then few individuals like you and I strongly believe I should be counted,too, as having a non-compromising stand for truth, and endowed with knowledge by God Almighty, must endeavor to re-establish the truth about the true IDENTITY of Assams Bengali Muslims. I hope youve read my articles on Mother Language Day celebration in Assams Bengali dominated areas, and the underlying objective. This new movement must be initiated without any delay, and must encompass both Muslims and Hindus who speak Bangla at home. One doesnt have to be a scholar of language to understand that all dialects like Ujani, Bhatia, Sylhetti, etc. are the regional variations of a common language, whose academic form is called Bangla. With this, my fact-finding mission about the various linguistic, political and other outfits that exist among the Bangla communities of Assam comes to an end, and with a heavy heart I have to say that the Bangla communities of Assam have not endeavored to cease to burry their heads under the sand. I feel so lonely, but I know God is with those who do not trade Truth for worldly expediency. I will create the Bangla Academy of Lower Assam, insha-Allah. The phrase Lower Assam is well-thought. Out of these will come out, Allah willing, may be forty or eighty years from now (or maybe never!), a new State in Lower Assam, by invoking the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India. I have articulated this undeniable proposition time and again, without a single taker among the educated youths of Assams Bangla communities. For once, I thought that my thought was perhaps ahead of time, but having realized the stupefying ground realities in Assam, now I firmly believe that my thoughts are NOT ahead of time; its the Bangla communities mindset thats BEHIND time. ....And when God the Almighty asks me one of the fundamental questions that all Bani Adam will be asked, about what good use of Knowledge did I make, I shall say, O Allah! I tried to restore the true IDENTITY of my people, as much as your beloved Prophet Musa (AS) had tried with his people! Respectfully, Dr. Mohammad Rafiqul Awal (aka as Gedar Baap)
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 18:20:11 +0000