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.
13 Nov 2013 - 2:43pm | Zuber Hussain
The 3rd Shillong Woolen Expo cum Exhibition at Shillong concluded recently. The event was organsied by Indian Chamber of Commerce in association with Central Wool Development Board,...
22 Jan 2008 - 9:32am | editor
Nine people have been injured while a powerful bomb exploded at Srirampur in Kokrajhar on Tuesday. According to information, the blast took place at around 11-45 in the morning besides the MVI gate....
12 Sep 2015 - 4:34pm | AT News
The Manipur High Court has summoned Bihar political leader Papu Yadav for forcibly halting a New Delhi bound train in Bihar recently in search of Manipur passengers. The court issued the notice when...
6 Jun 2008 - 1:59pm | editor
Normal life in some parts of Assam is heavily disrupted following a 12 hour bandh call by the All Assam Adivasi Students Association of Assam (AASAA) from early in the morning on Friday. According to...
Police have arrested four youths so far in connection with the molestation case of a girl in Guwahati on Monday night. Identified as Dhanraj Basfor, the youth was arrested on Wednesday evening on the basis of the footage beamed by the satellite TV news channels. Police further have also identified another three - Dhruba Jyoti Kalita, Sikandar Basfor and Dipak Dey.
Dhruba Jyoti Kalita, an employee of state government's IT development agency Amtron, was sacked on Tuesday and he is still absconding. Dhanraj and Sikandar reside in Horizon colony of the Indrapur area here and working at Gauhati Medical College Hospital. The other youth, Dipak Dey, is said to be an auto rickshaw driver who...
A major boost awaits Manas sanctuary in Assam along with the tea industry. DoNER has approved a comprehensive tourism master plan to be implemented by the North Eastern Region prepared by Tata Consultancy Services. The TMP will be implemented in three phases over a period of ten years and a total investment of Rs 3654.84 crore has been outlined for the implementation of various components and projects of the TMP. Nine inter-state tourism circuits have been identified in the TMP and will be taken up for development in the first phase.
Lawyers across the state joined their colleagues in other parts of the country by responding to the Bar Council of India's call to protest against the government's Higher Education and Research (HER) Bill on Wednesday.It will continue on Thursday also. Hundreds of lawyers gathered at the premises of the Gauhati High Court, which is currently on summer vacation, and burned copies of the bill. Similar protests were also reported from other parts of the state. The BCI had given the two-days' protest call, beginning, against the HER Bill, accusing the government of trying to usurp the power of advocates' apex statutory body to regulate the legal education and profession in the country.
Security forces recovered two Chinese hand grenades and ammunition from an encounter spot in Karbi Anglong district on Wednesday. According to information, acting on a tip-off, a joint team of army and police had launched a search operation at Rongmongwe area under Dalamara police station in the hill district on Wednesday morning, where a militant group of KPLT was hiding. The militants managed to flee from the encounter spot, but security forces recovered two hand grenades, two magazines and 30 rounds of live ammunition.
Assam agriculture minister said that the flash floods affected 2,54,000 hectares of cropland across 23 district affecting over 10 lakh families. Talking to reporters in Guwahati on Wednesday, he said that the state had lost a total crop worth over Rs. 992 crore.
According to him, the government has distributed 57,000 quintals of seeds had among the flood affected farmers and the process is on to procure more seeds from various sources to be distributed among the affected farmers.He said that the state government has sanctioned Rs.109 crore to help the flood affected farmers.
The Centre on Wednesday extended its bilateral ceasefire with the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) in North Cachar Hill districts to further extend suspension of operations for a period of six months upto September 30, 2012.According to an official release, an agreement of SoO between the security forces and DHD has been in operation with effect from January 1, 2003 and has been extended periodically and will now be valid upto September 30.Tripartite talks on the demands of DHD are continuing. A Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) headed by Joint Secretary (North-East), Ministry of Home Affairs has been constituted to review the implementation of agreed ground rules. Meetings of JMG have been held...
The Assam government is contemplating double cropping pattern in around 5 lakh hectares from next season to help the people get out of the flood aftermath. Addressing a press conference in Wednesday, agriculture minister Nilamoni Sen Deka said that the government has a slew of steps to boost the agricultural production. He said that the department has fixed the production target for autumn rice as 3,60,000 tonnes this year while the target for winter rice production stands at 48,00,000 tonnes. The department also seeks to produce 14,73,090 tonnes of jute, 14,68,800 tonnes of vegetables and 16,02,660 tonnes of sugarcane this year.
The overall flood situation in Assam marginally improved on Wednesday. The water levels of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries continue its receding trend. According to information, the water level in some of the rivers in the 27 affected districts was receding and maintaining a steady trend in some others. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and two central teams today reviewed the prevailing flood situation. Gogoi reviewed the situation with Agriculture Minister Nilamoni Sen Deka, Revenue Minister Prithibi Majhi, Additional Chief Secretary P P Verma and senior officials of the health, irrigation, revenue, finance and forest departments. Two central teams have also arrived in the state to assess...
Lawyers in Golaghat have joined the two-day nation-wide strike beginning from today, called by Bar Council of India (BCI) against the government's Higher Education and Research (HER) Bill aimed at usurping its control over the legal education. Members of Golaghat Bar Association staged a sit in demonstration in Bar premise against the draft of Higher Education and Research Bill 2011 which excludes legal education from the purview of the Bar Council of India. The Bar Council of India (BCI), the apex body representing 1.7 million lawyers in India is opposing certain provisions of the Draft Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011 and other connected bills which may have an adverse effect on...
In a huge achievement, the Sivasagar police captured a dreaded criminal on Tuesday who is allegedly involved in a number of heinous crimes. Identified as Ananta Khanikar, the notorious car lifted was apprehended by Amguri police in Nagaland on Tuesday. A number of cases are pending against him in several police stations. He was also allegedly involve in the sensational Hemanta Baruah murder case three years ago in Amguri. After marathon police interrogation, he would be produced before the court on Wednesday.
Comments
Absolute rubbish!!... like
<p>It doesn't sounds good to
The Hindus robbed the culture
Pages
Add new comment