***** The LAST POST by Dr. Awal (Gedar Baap): 15 August 2014 ****** With a heavy heart, I am signing off this FB account. I had opened this FB site with a view to sampling the level of awareness and drive for Identity among the Educated Middle Class (EMC) in the Bangla-speaking people that I come from among the people of East Bengal Origin (EBO) in Lower and Central Assam. I believe the sampling is complete by now, for the practical purposes that I have been carrying within myself from my student life. I have doubt if the EMC of my community in Assam has ripened to launch the Movement for West Assam State. ALLOW ME TO EXPLAIN. I have no doubt that when the chief architect of the States Reorganization Commission 1953 was sent from his Governorship in Orissa (1952-56) to Assam (1956-57) - Sir Sayyid Fazal Ali, by the then Prime Minister of India - Jawaharlal Nehru, the wisest Indian of the Century that Nehru was, had in mind an expectation that under the Governorship of Sir Sayyid Fazal Ali, the People of EBO would take cue from Orissa, which became the FIRST STATE in Independent India to be born, as a direct outcome of Sir Sayyid Fazal Alis vision. This expectation, if materialized, would not only compensate for the blunders of Gopinath Bordolois Administration of Assam (1947-50), but would also put Assam on a strong agenda a of progress for the entire Brahmaputra Valley -- by tapping the energy of the EBO People and their Brethren -- the Axomiya Raiz of Assam in a strategic and symbiotic way. Sir Sayyid Fazal Alis Vision, eternally preserved in the form of the famous and much used Act of the Parliament (Reorganization of States Act 1956; RS Act 1956, in short) unleashed the Nation-building energy locked in the diverse peoples of India, who were enslaved for over a thousand years under various foreign regimes, and now felt as Masters of their own Destiny even as their NEW IDENTITY was forged in the Spirit of Mother Language. The RS Act 1956 recognized that People of a Linguistic Majority over a region they live in should be EMPOWERED by giving them a State of their Own, so these People will be instantly freed from a thousand year long spell of Slavery, and take charge of building their Destiny with the zeal of a Master, not a Slave. Yet Sir Sayyid Fazal Ali died as the Governor of Assam (1956-59), taking his hope to the grave, his hope to see the EBO People of Assam claim their Right to Statehood under the Acts provision of Linguistic Majority in Lower Assam. That majority has since extended to Central Assam, but the systematic De-Identification of these people, started by Gopinath Bordoloi and carried forward by his successor, CM Bishnuram Medhi of Assam, extended, too. The efforts of Fakharuddin Ali Ahmed - as the MP of Barpeta for many years, and of Moinul Hoque Choudhury as the MP of Dhubri could only slow down that De-Identification process. I believe these two last stalwarts in Assams political landscape had carried similar vision. But they sure had to wait for the Educated Middle Class of the EBO People to grow to a Critical Mass....but alas! they, too, carried their unfulfilled hopes to the grave... I was born in the year Sir Sayyid had died, and from my childhood I learnt the politico-socio-economic debacles of my EBO People from my father, who did his best to be part of the social movement spurred and led by Mawlana Abdul Hamid Bhasani of Jaleswar, Dhubri during those tumultuous pre-Independence years. An uneducated and unsophisticated leader, Bhasani as a sincere Social Worker but turned politician per necessity, was no match for the brilliant politician -- Congress leader of Assam, Gopinath Bordoloi. It is an Irony for the Peoples of Assam, however, that the parochial politics that Bordoloi championed - apparently for Assams wellbeing under the prevailing circumstances, backfired as the events after his death went in a different direction, basically turning his assumptions on which he had built his political agenda, Null and Void. An analogy should best serve to illustrate this Irony: it is just when he designed a Master Whip for the future Master of Assams Chariot, the Chariot itself became obsolete, replaced by a modern Automobile, as the Nehruvian Socialism replaced the Communal Politics of India before 15 August 1947. What is more, the EBO People of Assam, who were manipulated by Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasanis communal politics, become partners of nation-building with the mainstream Axomiya Raiz in Assam. For this to happen, of course, credit must be given to Bordoloi. Bordoloi framed Bhasani over a legal issue and exiled him to East Bengal just before Independence was declared. And the entire EBO People, now under sway of Congress leaders like Fakharuddin Ali Ahmed and Moinul Hoque Chodhury, set on a Process of Assimilation unprecedented in the annals of Social Engineering. In the Census of 1951, the lakhs of EBO People of Independent Assam declared their Mother Language as Axomiya, keeping their own Mother Language - Bangla, as spoken language only, which is, of course, natural, like the color of skin. Even the Last Premier of Assam, Sir Sayed Sadullah of Muslim League, disbanded his party as Unnecessary after 15 August 1947. Not only that, Bordoloi and Sadullah became good friends as Bordoloi sought Sadullahs help in framing the Constitution of Assam, a much needed process that started as part of plan for Independence along with other six Provinces of British India. Assams famous journalist, Dr. Sanjoy Hazarika has chronicled this wonder but short chapter of cooperation between Bordoloi and Sadullah, in his famous book -- Strangers in the Mist. Looking back, on this day - 15 August 2014, how I wish that Bordoloi had lived many more years so he and Sadullah could embark on a Mission of Building Assam in momentous days ahead spurred by Nehruvian Socialism. Bordoloi died in 1950, and Sadullah in 1955, but without Bordoloi, Sadullah eclipsed in Assams politics in oblivion. Unfortunately, the two years before Bordoloi died was two little for him to realize that the mass eviction of EBO People from certain areas of Assam that his earlier policies had set could be handled without rash, in a gentler, kinder way, taking into account the EBO Peoples new role in rebuilding Assam that turned to happen after his death.... And how I wish Bhasani didnt subscribe to communal politics, which only hardened Bordolois suspicion of the hidden agenda of the EBO politicians. Under the circumstances, Bordolois parochial politics to protect the Language and Culture of Axomiya Raiz in the backdrop of the communal politics of the time is perfectly understandable. It is another thing that Bordolois fear did not materialize, for the strange twist of the story in 1951, just a year after Bordolois death: the entire EBO People declared their official Mother Language to Axomiya in the Census of 1951. And instead of losing their Language and Culture as feared by Bordoloi, the Axomiya Raiz in fact reaped rich dividends from this Mass Conversion, when, in 1960, the Bengali Majority Barak Valley demanded their Right to Education in Bangla to be recognized by Gauhati University. The fear of losing their language and culture remained with Axomiya Raiz justifiably so, which had lingered on from the bygone era (1835-72) of Bangla-English medium schools in Assam. As Assam Valley was limping back to normalcy after the devastation wreaked on Assam by the Burmese Invasions, the newly introduced schools of English-Bangla medium were the only option for Axomiya Raiz to educate their wards, due to the fact that these schools were established and managed by the Bengali Babus who manned the fledgling British Government Administration of Assam. It is a historical fact that the coming of the British Forces from Dhaka, Assam would be annihilated by the wave after wave of Burmese Invasions of Assam (1812-26). And there is no question that Axomiya Raiz, one of the finest nation on earth, would be forever grateful for this and the initial help they received in rebuilding the devastated Axomiya villages and towns. But I wish that the Bengali Babus had let Axomiya take its due place in schools sooner, without the struggle that the pioneers of New Assam had to undergo against the Babus organized resistance. There is no denying the fact that the Bengali Babus had considered their language and culture to be superior to that of Axomiya, and its on record that when the rising Axomiya Educated Middle Class tabled their legitimate demand, the Babus tried to convince the British officers that Axomiya was just another dialect of Bangla. Therefore, Barak Valleys demand in 1960 - although now perfectly legitimate under the new philosophy envisioned in the RSA 1956, was opposed tooth and nail by the combined Axomiya and EBO People (by then accepted as Nau-Axomiya) in the backdrop of the fear instilled a century ago. However, this assimilation of the EBO in the Axomiya Milieu proved to be temporary, arguably due to the entry of a Third Party that had entered Assam to control her natural resources, trade and commerce. With overriding political support of the powerful Central Govt, which demolished CM Bordolois perfectly legitimate demands for Assams due share of royalty in Oil and other resources, Axomiya Raiz lost control over Assams resources to shape her Destiny in the emerging India. Right to Education in Axomiya ALONE did not fetch the development of Assam because the leading jobs in Banks, Railways, Post Offices and Shillong Secretariat were still captured by the Babus unabated since the British Raj, without any chance for the educated Axomiya. Thus usurped from all legitimate fields in her own land,the son of the soils were pushed against the wall, and when enough was enough, the burgeoning Axomiya students, in the face of a bleak future for them, took to the streets, first in 1971 against the West Indian Traders monopoly crossing limits and resulting in unbearable prices engineered through hoarding. By 1979 AASU mobilized its forces with a last ditch effort to demand and end to the unbearable hegemony of these economic usurpers of Assam. And the Twist in the Kahani, as they say, happened just then. The West Indian Traders brought in Communal Politics in Assam that was almost eradicated by then due to efforts of Mahendra Mohan Chaudhury, Fakaharuddin Ali Ahmed and Moinul Hoque Choudhury and their able colleagues, bringing and and to Bordoilian unfortunate but inevitable parochial politics. By 1985 the famous 6-yr long Assam Movement was practically hijacked due to Communal Politics of the now emerging militant Sangh Parivar and a generous pumping of funds that a section of the top AASU leaders found to tempting to their frustration-driven agitation. The classic game of communal politics was now diverted to the hapless EBO community, owing to their religion which was not favorable in Western India during the centuries of Muslim rule of India west of Assam. Perhaps it became easier now to convince most AASU leaders, to swallow the pill that the EBO People were sending more and more of their wards to school, and by early 1980s these Bangla-origin students became tough competitors in schools and colleges - this Scribe Included, who also started grabbing top government jobs through fair competition, and also appearing in Assams Legislature. Thus the ground was fertile for the Sangha Parivars evil seeds of communalism to grow.... Yes, its a fact Axomiya Raiz has understood that they have been deceived, but their awakening was of no avail, because by then militant Hindu communal politics had swept one state after another, by now almost completely overthrowing the Secular Nehruvian Socialism. Thus, under the new West India Bania-dominated government at Center, and perhaps at Dispur in 2016, Axomiya Raiz will suffer as much as the EBO, albeit in two different ways, as follows: ===> The EBO people will see an unprecedented wave of Mass Eviction and Creation of Internally Displaced People, a major portion of which may end up in concentration camps along Indo-Bangla borders, like the displaced Kashmiri Panini Pandit People in Jammu and Haryana-Delhi, the lakhs of Bihari people in camps near Dhaka, the lakhs of Rohingya people evicted from Myanmar and languishing in camps near Chittagong. ===> The Axomiya Raiz will miss socio-economic developments due to the above man-made calamity. State funds will be wasted in Law and Order maintenance, for a more powerful underground armed campaign several times severe than the ULFA decade will very much be the consequence of the communal agenda that will be driven through the would-be Sonowal BJP Govt in Dispur. Any rationale mind in Assam can see that the traditional timid Miyan people of Assam have assessed how they have been betrayed by the Upper Assam led movements, and if ULFA could play havoc in Assam with camps in Bangladesh, an armed campaign with international supports may surprise the myopic and mediocre politicians who have sold their souls to the well-known Usurpers of Assam, the militant Hindutva bandwagon from the Cowbelt. These are the WRITINGS ON THE WALL, that calls for serious heeding by the Silent Majority of Axomiya Raiz, in Proactive Partnership with the EBO Peoples Educated Middle Class. WHAT CAN ASSAM DO? As I leave this FaceBook Site once and for ever, I can see a silver lining in the emerging Axomiya Xahitya Xonmilioni, (AXX) where a combined force is taking shape. But the AXX is at a baby stage. It will take, at the current rate of growth of its sway in Assams state of affairs, over a decade to be a force to reckon with. An even if we presume, for the sake of argument, that AXX will somehow manage, against all odds, to check the onslaught of Sangh Parivars communal agenda in Assam, it will be nothing more than a temporary lull at best, just like the short-lived Axomiya-Nau Axomiya Gaatbandhan of 1960-70. In face of the powerful organization that the Sangh Parivar is now, financed by Indias private financial houses, the AXX cannot stand long. It is not a question if AXXs resistance will fall like a house of cards, but how fast it will fall. One must not forget how adeptly the Sangh Parivar bought with its money-power the AASU leaders of Assam Movement. Therefor, a PERMANENT SOLUTION must be forged out this time. This calls for an utmost Creative Power, an Outside-the Box proposition. Fortunately, the Constitution of India holds such a mighty solution, as laid out below. By 2016, Assams Destiny will be sealed IF the State BJP comes to power in Dispur. All India BJP (read: Sangh Parivar) may further deceive Axomiya Raiz, much the way it has deceived the entire northern India, with sugar-coated oratory of Inclusive Vikash and with a rephrase of Achchey Din Aanewale Hein! in its moribund rush to snatch the seat of governance in Dispur. It may even sideline Sonowal and bring forward PRODYUT BORA, with his shining armor of Yale School of Business, but Assam will be controlled by the Sangh Parivar, not a handful of Assamese BJP leaders. Thus, in the Final Analysis, the only peaceful, powerful and Constitutional option for Assam to survive the catastrophic days ahead is to EMPOWER the People of Lower and Central Assams EBO PEOPLE - the real brethren of Axomiya Raiz from the days of Burmese Invasions through Axomiya Bhasha Andolon, till TODAY. Any delay in recognizing this Need of the Century to help empower the EBO People on the premise of their TIME TESTED BROTHERHOOD will only give way to the monstrous Armageddon of the Sangh Parivar. WHAT FORM OF EMPOWERMENT? The only Empowerment that can nip in the bud the entire BJP Agenda is by active cooperation with the EBO People in INVOKING the powerful Act -- the RS Act 1956 (Reorganization of States Act 1956) in order to curve out a new State of WEST ASAAM, with boundaries as shown in the Map below. PLEASE MAKE NO MISTAKE: The EBO People can do it on their own, on the strength of Bangla as Linguistic Majority, as required by the RS Act 1956. The Telengana came into being two months ago, as the latest of the all other states of India created since the Act was enforced in 1956. But without the active support of Axomiya Raiz, it may take several more years, which will only help the BJPs monstrous agenda in Assam. In addition, the refusal to provide this STRATEGIC SUPPORT by the Axomiya Raiz may alienate the EBO People in desperation, and worse, may compel them to be swayed upon by the slowly but steadily rising Wahabi influence in Assam. In the chaos that will ensue, an unprecedented polarization will push Assam to an ugly situation far worse than the communal situation that rocked Pre-Independence Assam. Surely a No-No situation for both Peoples of Assam. DO WE WANT TO GO BACK TO THOSE DARK DAYS ???? I sincerely believe the Axomiya Raiz and the EBO Raiz have a wonderful CHOICE to make, a powerful choice of mutual interest here, vital interest indeed. Without exercising this choice both Linguistic Communities future is threatened like never before. And as the Burha Luit flows silently, I shall watch from here in the United States of America -- either an Assam going to the Wolves, or an Assam strategically repositioned, back to back with the envisioned West Asaam, in a strong defensive posture, capable of sending the Communal Forces of the Cowbelt reeling back to where it came from, and seeing a vibrant WEST ASAAM and ASSAM marching ahead for the first time in history since the Fall of Ahom Dynasty. At a crucial juncture of history of Assam, the EBO People came as Infantry Force of the British Garrison in Dhaka -- to drive out the Burmese Wolves from the East. And Assam is at Cross Roads again: this time the EBO People, armed with the Powerful Constitutional weapon of the RS Act 1956, are poised to driving away the Wolves from the West -- both feats once and for all. JAI HIND! Jai Aai Axom! Jai West Asaam! ***************** POST SCRIPT: I have conceived of a Common Economic Zone, with win-win propositions for the major Stack-holders, namely the states of Assam, West Asaam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, and Bangladesh, in the model of European Economic Zone that enabled post-WW-II Europe rise from the ashes. Only time will tell whether I will take my ideas to the grave, or get and opportunity to contribute. + + +
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 11:26:30 +0000
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