[Reader-list] The Migration, the Fear and Hatred of the Outsiders

[mahmood farooqui]

What was the jonoki-era-which years.
How did they negotiate the term Aryan race-and who,
when, where, how takes place the alienation of the
Mongolid? When, how, who etc...

wrote:

> The Migration, the Fear and Hatred of the Outsiders
> and the issue of Development and Progress in the
> Early Formation of Assamese Identity: Probing the
> text of Jonaki
> 
> 						By: Uddipan Dutta
> 
> The Times of India 
> New Delhi, Friday, May, 13, 2005
> Youths ‘evict’ illegal migrants from Assam
> TIMES NEWS NETWORK
> Dibrugarh: Herding them into buses, tempos and
> rickshaws, groups of young Assamese men began
> forcing suspected illegal Bangladeshi migrants from
> Dibrugarh town and neighbouring districts. By the
> end of the day, nearly 15,000 people were evicted.
>  Maintaining that “government tied down with vote
> bank politics, will not do anything to solve an
> issue that is threatening demography social fabric
> of Assam,” the groups of young men in Dibrugarh said
> they were forced to “devise the drastic” action
> because political leaders would not do anything
> about it. 
> As the Bangladeshis exited Dibrugarh, police did not
> take any action because there was no violence and no
> complaint had been made about threats of
> intimidation. “We could not take any action against
> any group or individual because no one is being
> dragged or forced out,” said superintendent of
> police Pradip Chandra Saloi.
> 
> Many of you must have read, heard or seen this news
> in the newspapers, radio channels or TV channels.
> Although this news item does not tell much on the
> overall affairs of the things in the state, anybody
> who remembers the past events rocking the state
> would be startled by one commonality in the event –
> the ‘local’ resentment against the ‘outsiders’. For
> quite a long time Assam is in the news for the
> violent manifestation of the ‘local’ resentment
> against the outsiders. In November 2003 a violent
> campaign was started by the ULFA (United Liberation
> Front of Assam) militants against the Hindi populace
> in Assam particularly the Bihari labourers. The
> problem started when the Assamese students demanded
> 100% reservation in the Group D jobs in the
> Northeastern Frontier Railways. Bihari students were
> obstructed from taking written examination in
> Guwahati. In rebound passengers from the North East
> were attacked in the trains which pass through
> Bihar. A girl was allegedly raped in a railway
> station in Bihar and many female passengers were
> molested. The situation took a very violent turn
> when the insurgent group ULFA unleashed a reign of
> terror on the Hindi speaking populace particularly
> the Bihari labourers. 
> 
> The apprehension that the ‘natives’ of Assam would
> be very soon overwhelmed economically, outnumbered
> politically and over swamped culturally can be
> traced even to the early days of the formation the
> Assamese  identity in the nineteenth century itself
> and this feeling got percolated through the
> collective unconsciousness of the Assamese middle
> class and the manifestation of this apprehension is
> seen in the various movements rocking the state
> ranging from language to refinery agitations  before
> the starting of the Assam Movement also known as
> Anti Foreigner’s Movement. Some of the ideas
> disseminated about the threat of the outsiders still
> holds good in the popular mindset of the people of
> Assam. One just gets wonderstruck how well the
> threat of the large scale migration to Assam was
> prognosticated by some authors of the ‘Jonaki Era’.
> Whenever we talk of Assamese nationalism in the
> present context we cannot overlook this threat
> perception and also we must concentrate on how that
> threat was perceived by these early architects
> Assamese nationalism. What is important here is to
> remember the fact that this fear was expressed
> usually in the context of development or progress of
> the region. How to achieve “Unnoti” (Development or
> progress) was one of the most seriously discussed
> and debated topics in the pages of “Jonaki”.  The
> issue of the outsiders and the imminent danger of
> them swarming the region were cropped up again and
> again. My modest endeavour would be to find out this
> perception of threat in the early construction of
> Assamese identity manifested in the pages of Jonaki.
> I won’t dwell much on the detailed nitty-gritty of
> the different migrations taking place in Assam after
> the advent of the British and the consequent
> demographic changes (but would give a sketchy
> picture of it for the convenience of the readers). I
> don’t even have a solution to offer to this issue of
> migration. Pages have already been written on this
> issue and a lot of researchers are engaged on
> research to find the different patterns of migration
> in Assam and to find solutions to it. 
> 
> In the very first issue of Jonaki we get the article
> titled “Jatiyo Unnoti” (National Progress/
> Development) by Kamalakanta Bhattacharya.  In the
> fifth issue of the first year another article came
> under the heading “Axomiyar Unnoti (The progress of
> the Assamese). The author was the same. Afterwards,
> he wrote a very long article which appeared in
> series, with a slight change in the name of the
> article “Axomar Unnoti” (The Development/progess of
> Assam). First it appeared on the second issue of the
> second year. Then the third issue of the second
> year, ninth issue of the second year, tenth issue of
> the second year, eleventh issue of the second year,
> and eleventh- twelfth issue ( which appeared
> together) of the fourth year. A protest article was
> written to that article on the first issue of the
> third year by Ramdas Goswami (it was the pen name of
> Ratneswar Mahanta) and a criticism to that same
> article appeared on the fourth issue of the third
> year. A protest to that protest was written
> Kamalakanta Bhattacharya which appeared on the
> seventh issue of the third issue. A similar article
> was written by Panindranath Gogoi. It appeared under
> the title of “Axomor Unnoti ne Abonoti” (Progress or
> Degeneration of Assam).
> 
> It’s clear that a lot of thought was given on what
> is progress or development and how to achieve it for
> the Assamese nationality. Naturally, the question of
> outsiders and their looming danger on the demography
> of Assam was prognosticated in the pages of Jonaki.
> 
> The author Kamalakanta Bhattacharya starts his
> article “Jatiyo Unnoti” (National Progress/
> Development) in the first year first issue with the
> following paragraph:
> 
> 
> “There are many people who want to contribute to the
> growth of the nation 
.I will discuss how to achieve
> it and what will lead to this development. Hope my
> discussion is well timed. As the material used in
> the construction of a big house must be very strong
> in order to have a strong house, the materials to be
> used in the development of a nation must also be
> strong. The most important material of this
> construction would be education. Although the growth
> of a nation or a country depends more upon the
> liberty it enjoys, but if the people of that country
> remains illiterate, the country cannot progress.” 
> 
> Citing examples from the developed countries of
> Europe he argued that the development of education
> led to the development of science which was
> facilitating trade and commerce. The wealth was
> generated by the flourishing trade and commerce. The
> educated masses of these countries became aware of
> their rights and the kings could no longer act
> arbitrarily the author argued. 
> 
> Unity is another ingredient that he identified for
> the development of a nation. Here he makes a very
> interesting comment. As there in no unity in India,
> Indians are the slaves of the others for the last
> “seven hundred” years. He was hoping that the thread
> of unity will once again be tied between the
> Indians. Two important observations can be made
> here. The author’s glaring Hindu fundamentalism and
> the recognition of India as the nation of concern
> not Assam. This is very important because till the
> ULFA gave a call for separate sovereign Assam,
> Assamese nationalism was imagined within the
> periphery of India first the British India and
> afterwards the Indian State, unlike the Naga
> nationalism. Secondly the ideology of Hindu
> nationalism has been trying to hijack Assamese
> nationalism ever since its modern incarnation.      
>  
> 
> Then he emphasizes the importance to have a national
> language. “It is a very important thing to have a
> national language. In the foreign countries when
> there is no national language there is no
> nationality. We always see that the languages of the
> developed and civilized nations also flourish. The
> English language has developed as much as the
> English people. When we look at the beauty of the
> Sanskrit language, we can well conclude that India
> in that period was hundred times developed than the
> present India.” This remark is again a pointer to
> the author’s Hindu nationalism based on a glorious
> past.  .    
> 
> Then he gave two examples of patriotism from Greek
> and Roman history and also mentions the patriotism
> of George Washington. But what is interesting here
> is the mention of Raja Rammohan Roy as the archetype
> of patriotism in India. It shows clearly how this
> author and his other contemporaries were affected by
> the Indian Renaissance ushered in by Raja Rammohan
> Roy and his followers. He concludes the article with
> remarkable 
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