It is sad to note that taking the advantage of the poverty of the Mishing community in Majuli, Dhemaji and Jonai, numerous Mishing families are been converted to Christianity by opportunistic Christian missionaries. I am an ordinary citizen and can do nothing. As such I thought of writing this letter to your newspaper so that I might create an awareness among the Mishing tribe of Assam.
I would request my community members to learn from the mistake of our neighbouring states of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram where inspite of having seperate states, the tribes have lost their identity.
Our own traditions are no way inferior to the rich Vatican City or Pope. The poverty in Mishing councils is because of the corrupt politicians among us like Bharat Narah, Bhuban Pegu etc., not our customs, beliefs and rituals.
Missionaries can give us money and English education, but cannot return our identity when it will be lost by following Christian rituals and alien traditions in our day-to-day lives.
If religion is lost, heritage is lost. When heritage is lost, identity is lost.
It is time influential socio-cultural organizations of the Mishings, our students' union and Mahila samitis launch rigorous awareness drive among the gullible Mishings or the Mishings will go 'missing' from the cultural map of Assam.
PermalinkSubmitted by Md Akhtar Hussain on Tue, 22/07/2008 - 22:36
I am a student of religion and going to do M-Phil on Mishing tribes. I belong to Assam but studying in Delhi. I need help on behalf of this tribe.
The article is good.
PermalinkSubmitted by Sanchali Sutradhar on Tue, 28/07/2009 - 02:19
I am a student of media tech. as i am doing a assignment for my culture and society i have choosen mishing culture.So i have many friends who are mishing so if you can help me through e-mail than please help me how to get the information.thank you
PermalinkSubmitted by pranab doley on Thu, 21/01/2010 - 03:56
Thanks atleast you are concerned about 'losing our own identity'. Sir, I agree with you completely and would be very thankful to you if you help me as I am currently going to do a research on the issue of conversion of misings.
thanking you
Pranab Doley (TISS, Mumbai).
PermalinkSubmitted by lanaya pegu on Sat, 20/02/2010 - 00:39
I think the problem addressed here is not very precise. Do you mean the ethnicity or the religious? In whichever you mean if my understanding is not wrong our original religion is supposedly donyi-polo and most of us are a adopted Hinduism over some generations back, so what does it make us? Do we go back to worshipping the sun and the moon or what we have over the years progressed in civilization and accepted our own democratic and secular views of whatever religion we follow or even not follow. Is not that a sort of moral policing and too much intervention on someone's private space of belief?? I mean lets plainly accept that people have their own choice and change of religion has very little to do with our ethnicity think it is just the mindset of some orthodoxy that actually poses the problem if I am to give my opinion and change is the very necessity of life and so is identity. but religion is not an identity it is an individuals own choice of belief and perhaps it should be a private and personnel thing not a community thing. Hope this message is taken with a positive note in which I have wished to express.
PermalinkSubmitted by Peter Pegu on Fri, 02/04/2010 - 22:08
Christian people all over the world have maintained their own culture and traditions. British, French,German, Russian, Indian all have their own culture despite considerable Christian population. Religion has nothing to do with cultural identity. Rather,Christianity encourages acculturation, which means adoption of local culture as a part of Christian ethos.
We do not understand, how Nagas, Khasis, Mizos have lost their identity? Their culture is intact in the eyes of the world views.
PermalinkSubmitted by Uttam Doley on Tue, 08/06/2010 - 20:46
Thanks. There is somebody like me what i believe. As you are absolutely right; losing our own identity.If religion is lost, heritage is lost. When heritage is lost, identity is lost and if identity is lost everything is lost.
So, let us join hands to prevent these misleader.
Thanking you
PermalinkSubmitted by nirupoma kardong on Wed, 25/08/2010 - 20:43
Thanks Rongmon for your article.I am an student of cultural studies in tezpur university and i am really worried about our mishing tribes converting into christainity especially in majuli.But i am glad becouse atleast some of our ages are alert.
Nirupoma Kardong
Tezpur University
PermalinkSubmitted by Prafulla mili on Mon, 30/08/2010 - 07:36
I am a student of Dibrugarh university,i am agree with your comment but not satisfy at all bcoz I think now a days our people have almost lost our identy.About which culture and relision you are asking, the celebration of Assamese Bihu or worshiping of Hindus gods and many other Assamese culture which are not our original identity.
PermalinkSubmitted by Raktim on Mon, 30/08/2010 - 12:35
There many elements of Mising culture which has influenced what you term 'Assamese Bihu'. The 'Assamese'-ness of this dance is an amalgamation of numerous styles of dancing Bihu in Assam.
Its unfortunate for the people of Assam that we have not been able to evolve and accept our creations nor do we assert our claims to a dance form. This type of 'ours' and 'theirs' has pushed us to an Africa where nothing common has sufaced a yet. Already lobbies of different communities from other states of India have successfully divided the people of Assam with the stupid question like 'defining the Assamese'. We were a far happy people before 1947. The British never divided us in these lines like ethnicity.
PermalinkSubmitted by Rongmon Pegu on Mon, 30/08/2010 - 19:47
It is sad to know that Prasanta Mili terms the composite Bihu of the people of Assam as 'Assamese Bihu' and demarcates it differently. Actually it is not his fault either.
We are product of a generation which is divided on ethnic lines. Since 1985 Assam Accord, the Indian mainstream has divided the Assamese peoples into several fragments. We were a happy and better people before the faulty Assam Accord. The gesture where the female dancers place both their hands on the sides of their waists is an influence of Mising Bihu on the so called 'Assamese' Bihu (I would prefer to term it as 'Composite Bihu'.
PermalinkSubmitted by Arindom Prince ... on Mon, 25/10/2010 - 05:49
MISHING,(MIRI)the second largest community of North-east Assam.Which belong to schedule tribes but it's so deplorable that, there is no any development status about the Mishing communities. Althoug it's a colorful traditional and multi-culture customs like ( Ali-ai-ligang) crop harvesting festivel,porag,Dobir Uoi(Sun)Dodgang ,Mibu Abang etc,,and some of folk songs like oi:nitom,Anuni:tom, Gumrag (Traditonal songs and dance)Otherhand, some of delightful and flowerful dresses ie.Ege-gasor ladies wear, (Mibu-Galup)(Ugon) gents wear which is made by every Mishing Women and young girls.etc..
PermalinkSubmitted by neepa choudhury on Fri, 31/12/2010 - 06:09
dear rongmon,u r absolutely correct.i m doing research on various tribes of assam and is absolutely spellbound by the rich and distinctive and definitely beautiful culture of each ethnic group.i m grateful to rahibala dale and mr dale from guwhati to make me understand a lot about the rich mishing culture.but its sad that people from their own community are adopting other cultures.but exceptions are there like our very young robin pegu whos working a lot for preserving the mishing culture.i m a bengali and always feel proud to say dat.thus i request all dat they can find heaven in their own culture and should dedicate themselves in preserving its richness rather than pushing it towards extinction
PermalinkSubmitted by Vox Populi on Fri, 31/12/2010 - 15:44
The tradition of APONG (rice beer) has made the men of Mising community very lazy, especially in villages. You will find them under the influence of Apong, and all work has to be done by the womenfolk.
PermalinkSubmitted by TRISHA RANI DAS on Tue, 26/04/2011 - 17:59
I do agree with you. But to me in the name of securing identity we should not lost our unity. We want a single ASSAM, where every indigenous people could live with dignity and fraternity.------
TRISHA RANI DAS.
DIBRUGARH UNIVERSITY.
PermalinkSubmitted by Md. Akhtar Hussain on Tue, 10/05/2011 - 21:28
The best way of preserving any religion, culture and identity is to create awareness amongst the respective community. Though there are some organisations of the Misings but religious awareness amidst is not up to the mark. During my field study in Majuli it has been found that leaders of the community are not as much concerned as compare to the other religion. The more you work on this issue more you get positive result. Mising is a wonderful tribe having rich culture and heritage. I am impressed by it and committed to work in this regard.
PermalinkSubmitted by Priyanka on Fri, 31/10/2014 - 15:53
Absolute rubbish!!... like many of you have said above that religion has nothing to do with culture, I agree with you. A person's choice of belief is his own right. No one can take that away.
PermalinkSubmitted by Akash Taye on Sat, 05/09/2015 - 08:46
It doesn't sounds good to claim religion as a culture or identity..it has nothng to do with culture or identity,it's a person's own spiritual right of belief,one has no right to deprive one's own beliefs.we should carefully study anything in the right direction,just imagine brother,what would be the consequences of the effects of changing someone's belief..Rather we ought to focus on humanism, unity and peace,not on religions...giving some bread to the hunger people is not wrong..None can force one to convert,it's one's own personal rights.. Many wel to do rich mishing people are also christians..dear bro,my question is that did they get any privileges or opportunity?Many educated people are Christians,if u think unprivileged people are converting alone then why those who are educated and rich converting themselves.The only answer is he/she finds peace in them..i hope u won't take in negative sense..to discuss the matter u can contact me at 8812099720 by whatsap Ur article is a painful matter of discussion..Thank u b d way
PermalinkSubmitted by Dhiren on Wed, 25/01/2017 - 13:51
The Hindus robbed the culture and identity of the Misings and Christianity now is trying to re establish its name and identity. Mr. Rongmon, don't be manipulated by the Hindu Fundamentalism. They are trying to remove our tribal rights and reservations. Judge before you say.
5 May 2015 - 5:54pm | Hantigiri Narzary
A total of 468 students under Kokrajhar Sadar sub-division were given away Tablet PC in Kokrajhar district.The Tablet PC was given away to the students, who were stood second division with 50% and...
1 Apr 2014 - 7:14pm | Hantigiri Narzary
The Songbijit faction of NDFB termed Congress party as terrorist party because the Government of India(GOI) and Govt of Assam are violating the ground rules of ceasefire done with the NDFB (R)...
6 Jul 2007 - 9:48am | editor
Australia's leading bank, National Australia Bank (NAB), has decided to offshore its 41 back office finance jobs to India by the end of this year. Confirming that NAB is planning to offshore the...
16 Jul 2008 - 9:50pm | DigantaTalukdar
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections in humans resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency...
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Saturday stressed skill development in manual labour saying that the private sector firms can play a role in it. Ramesh lauded IndiaCan, a Pearson operating company saying that it can play a very important role. According to him, around 8 per cent of the families (under MGNREGA), including in Assam, have crossed 100 days of employment .
Altogether 5 persons died at a tragic road mishap in Sonitpur on Saturday. The mishap took place in the wee hour near Gophur where Indigo vehicle carrying them to Guwahati slipped into the deep gorge at Borongabari. All the five persons died on the spot. Four of them hailed from Guwahati and two of them were identified as Arpan Kalita and Chandan Medhi.
A daylong media orientation program with an aim for encouraging and developing ethical journalism has been organized on Thursday (July 26, 2012) at Guwahati Press Club. Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, an independent journalist and educator spanning 35 years of experiences in print, radio, television and documentary film-making, will attend the program as the resource person.
The technical session will start at 10 am, which will be open for the journalist-members of Guwahati Press Club. The interested journalists should submit their names to the office of the press club by Tuesday evening.It will be followed by the Guest of the Month program at 3 pm in the same venue, where Guha Thakurta will...
The High School Leaving Certificate Examination and Assam High Madrassa (AHM) Examination, 2013 will hold from February 19. Disclosing this, education minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the exams for the next session will start on February 19 next year and continue to March 5. The result for the examinations is expected to be declared before May 15. He said the move has been taken to regain people's faith on the credibility of the Board of Secondary Education, Assam after this year's many mishaps during the examination. The forms must be submitted by September 17 and a special check list of the admit cards will be sent to the examination centres for correction by October 30 and the...
A powerful grenade rocks Diphu on Friday evening. The grenade exploded in front of the ASDC office at round 8 in the evening. There is no report of enquiry. Details are awaited.
Four persons died in miscreant attack in Kokrajhar on Friday. The gruesome incident took place at Jaipur at around 9-15 in the evening. The severed bodies were recovered by police.The deceased identified as Nipu Gayari, Jonsar Bodo, Thoba Gayari and Pradeep Boro. Immediately after the incident the miscreants managed to vanish amid darkness. Security forces are fanning in and around the area to nab the culprits.
Schopenhauer is one of those great philosophers for whom it must be said that he never received the attention that he so rightfully deserved. From his contributions to Kant, to his understanding of Indian philosophy that showed Germany and Europe the path to the East; his contributions are enormous and varied. And yet, till now, despite the study that Schopenhauer’s oeuvre generates; it falls quite short of that deserved by its writer’s tall stature. Take for example, Schopenhauer’s conspicuous absence from the curriculum of philosophy at both bachelor’s and master’s degree levels in so many leading universities of the world. Thus, in addition to a viable...
A special investigation team of police set up to probe the GS Road molestation case on Friday arrested TV scribe Gauravjyoti Neog a day after the Gauhati High Court rejected his anticipatory bail. Gaurav, who was accused of masterminding the entire incident with a bunch of miscreants was arrested from his residence by a Bhangagarh police station in the afternoon. Interrogation is going on. According to sources, he would be produced before the court likely on Saturday.
The fresh development took place a day after Gauhati High Court rejected his anticipatory bail petition who allegedly shot the video of the molestation of a girl here on July 9. A bench of Justice CR Sarma rejected the plea...
Around 5,000 people demonstrated in front of the Sivasagar Deputy Commissioner’s office on Friday demanding exemplary punishment of army jawans involved in alleged molestation of a teenage girl on July 13. Activists from 22 outfits who took out the protest demanded Rs 10 lakh compensation for the girl, removal of the Army from the district and withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. The 22 outfits include TMPK, AASU, ATASU, KMSS and BAP. They shouted slogans against the Army and asked the government to deal with the case in line with the infamous July 9 molestation case of a girl in a street of Guwahati. They demanded for immediate action against the Army jawans...
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has welcomed Rahul Gandhi for his decision to accept a ministerial berth saying that it would help the party gather more strength. Talking to reporters in Dispur on Friday, Gogoi said that the time was appropriate time for Gandhi to take more responsibility. The chief minister said that the experienced ones would help him achieve his goal. He also said Rahul's decision will attract more youths to the party.
Comments
Absolute rubbish!!... like
<p>It doesn't sounds good to
The Hindus robbed the culture
Pages
Add new comment