Skip to content Skip to navigation

Charged Emotions

By Rituparna Goswami Pande |
The paeans had not yet subsided regarding the communal and ethnic unity and harmony that the Indian Idol finalists had brought about in the states of Sikim and Meghalaya and the northeast for that matter that pandemonium broke loose. The fans of newly crowned Indian Idol Prashant Tamang erupted in fury at jibes made on their idol by a Radio Jockey of a Delhi based FM station. The 2000 odd fans of Tamang undertook a procession in Siliguri to submit a memorandum to the local SDO but the march turned into mayhem as they indulged into a controversy regarding the passage of an ambulance carrying a patient. The tiff led to widespread arson and triggered a chain of violence which brought in the army to retain a semblance of peace in the area. Teargas, firing and an indefinite curfew was called to control the situation.

In India the emotions are always running high sometimes for religion, ethnicity, communal divide and now even in fun and games. It seems deep down the Indians are a parochial and selfish lot always thinking firstly of individual gains later about family, then community, then religion and lastly about the country. Our minds are divided and are so fragile that small things disintegrate our unity. Perhaps this was why the imperialist nations had a field day ruling over us. And the future is not all that bright if such a tendency prevails.

India is surely a land of oxymorons where Ours is a nation of Oxymorons where law keepers break rules, politicians corrupt the government, spiritual leaders wallow in worldliness and doting fans turn into daunting fiends in no time at all.

Comments

jaay's picture

Submitted by jaay on Sat, 08/12/2007 - 04:06
“And the future is not all that bright if such a tendency prevails.” And we still think that HAMARA DESH MAHAAN. I often wonder how this nation is surviving. When I first visited Canada, the first question I asked a friend of mine was ‘This country is 5 times bigger than ours, and you have multi Ethnic society (French / British / Americans /Italians / Chinese / Fijians / Indians / Pakistanis / Sriu Lankan), I am amazed how the smoothly the systems are working.” You see the health sector, free schooling to every child irrespective of their identity (Schools are beyond our imaginations, their functioning, cleanliness, teachers, curriculum), working policies, everything seems to be so in order. Look at us, we are still struggling to define how should be the systems. Look at the government sponsored school; no person in their senses would send their children to these schools. All and every system has failed and still we cry ‘MERA DESH MAHAAN’. We fight over regions, we fight over religions, we fight on cricket, we fight on football and now on program which are mere source of entertainment and sometimes I doubt their intentions of being serious in what they beam. You are correct in identifying us as Oxymoron, but then people rule and sometimes I shiver at the thought of what we may end up with, if this continues. Nice article.

Pages

Add new comment

Random Stories

Magurmari Sacred Heart school annual day

6 Nov 2015 - 5:36pm | Hantigiri Narzary
Students from different classes of Sacred Heart English Medium School, Magurmari presented multi cultural demonstration on the occasion of annual parent day function 2015 of the school here at school...

Bohagi Bidaai celebration in Michigan

15 May 2015 - 6:20pm | Krishanu Kaushik
Assam Association Of Michigan (AAMI) celebrated  Rongali Bihu/ Bohagi Bidaai  on May 9th at the Kalakshetra Temple Of Arts in Farmington Hills, Michigan with lots of fun and fanfare. It was...

Women in Manas gears up for alternative livelihood source

7 Jan 2014 - 6:16pm | Dr M Firoz Ahmed
A process of confidence building among the women themselves seems to have started. Their increased ability to articulate their needs, as is evident, is an important aspect of their identity building...

AGP holds dharna; asks Gogoi to quit; CM questions AGP moral rights

5 Jun 2008 - 6:11pm | editor
The main Opposition Asom Gana Parishad goes for a statewide dharna on Thursday demanding Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s resignation after the arrest of his education minister Ripun Bora even as...

Other Contents by Author

Munna Bhai (Sanjay Dutt ) in Jail

Cine star Sanjay Dutt popularly known as Munna bhai was sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment for the 1993 serial blasts case by a special court in Mumbai on July 31. The curtains came down on the 13 year long trial with a sobbing Sanju baba pleading for leniency but Judge PD Kode of the TADA court cancelled Dutt’s bail plea citing that his acts were “eminently dangerous” and showed a “high element of criminality”. It is said that Justice delayed is Justice denied and justice was definitely denied to Sanjay Dutt which came a calling thirteen years after his alleged crime of illegally possessing an AK-56. No doubt that possession of Arms is illegal...

Illegal Migrants issue heating up.

The war of words rising out of the illegal migrants issue between the AASU and the AMSU is heating up by the day and the chances are that this development may push the real issue behind and turn into a political war of words. These organizations should take concrete steps by motivating the people and making them realize the consequences of the exodus of people into our territories from Bangladesh. They should leave aside the religious issues for this is not a religious battle as the Assamese people are a secular lot. This is evident in the peaceful coexistence of all religions here since decades but the continuous influx of Bangladeshis irrespective of their religious bent is causing great...

Floods In Assam - We need to wake up

It’s happening again! With the persistent fury of the rain gods many parts of Assam is reeling under flood waters for the umpteenth time. Year in and year out we witness the damage and destruction that the flash floods and monsoon rains bestow upon us and we can do little but watch in helpless horror. The relentless downpour in the hills as well as the plains of neighboring Arunachal Pradesh has made the Brahmaputra and its tributaries flow above the danger mark putting many at risk. Meanwhile the continuing rain in Bhutan has caused massive erosion on the western banks of the Aie river right from Daosri to Dhaligaon in the North of NH-31©. Frequent breaches in the embankment...

Public awareness is the need of the hour for Assam

Assam is a cauldron of violence at present . No amount of talks, prayers, or security measures is going to take away this epithet from Assam. Rebel groups were, are and will always continue the dance of death in our mother land whether we like it or not. The wellbeing of the subjects of Assam are of no concern to any extremist group as all of them are busy in achieving individual aims at the cost of the people and making them pawns in their dirty politics. After all the goal of every group is to procure the ruling chair and when one group comes overground when their aims are achieved a new dissident group will take their place. Bomb blasts have become a daily affair in our lives if not...

Kidnappings and Extortion in Assam: The numbers are staggering

The recent spurt in crime and violence in the state is a danger signal and needs to be curbed with immediate effect. There is an alarming rate of dacoities where single elderly people have been targeted resulting in their death in many cases. Kidnappings are on the rise with murdered FCI official P C Ram, Cement Corporation of India’s mining engineer KN Jha who died of cardiac arrest while in captivity and junior engineer with PWD Ajay Deka being the newest victims. The statistics of abductions in the state in the year 2006 are staggering where a total of 303 adult males and 460 adult females were abducted of which 274 males and 384 females were recovered. Moreover there were a...

Assams Pride Muga Silk has become dependent on Chinese Yarns.

The use of Muga and eri silk is quite closely associated with the culture of Assamese society and occupies a unique place in the socio economic life of the people of Assam. It is not possible to ascertain correctly the exact nature of how weaving was first introduced in Assam but in the olden days every Assamese house reverberated with the shuttles of looms and each and every women of Assam knew the art of weaving. Men folk in those days only wore those clothes which were woven by their mothers, wives or sisters. This may be attributed to the patriotic bent of the people of Assam in olden days and also deliberate measure by the government at that time for it was obligatory on the part of...

Racism – History and how incidents like the Glasgow Blasts contribute to it

Racism is a belief or doctrine that differences in physical appearance between people (such as those upon which the concept of race is based) determine cultural or individual achievement, and usually involves the idea that one's own 'race' is superior. Indians the world over have experienced racism in various forms sometimes or the other. The East India company during its hold over India had rampantly practiced racial discrimination and looked upon indians with suspicion and hatred. If we delve into thepages of History it appears that as an ideology, racism first appeared during early modern Europe in Spain during the Reconquista, and then during the 19th century, where “...

Northeasterner's woes – Booklet for students in Delhi

India’s Northeast is a rainbow land blessed by nature’s bounty. Its colourful, it’s mysterious and it boasts of a medley of diverse people. The northeast is an ethno cultural frontier, encompassing much of India’s rich but lesser known mongoloid heritage; a transition zone of linguistic, racial and religious strains. The states of Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh are the seven states that constitute the northeast. They are also known as the seven sisters. All these states were parts of a single mother state—Assam. The hill tribes of the northeast are different from their counterparts in other states. They form...

Symbol of eternal love- The Taj, one of the Seven Wonders

The timeless beauty of the Taj Mahal- the symbol of love has defied the vagaries of time. This 17th century marble mausoleum built by emperor, Shah Jehan in memory of his beloved queen Mumtaj Mahal is the epitome of Mughal architecture and also pride of every Indian. The Taj tells the story of love grief and immortality that is carved in ancient art. And therefore it is s no surprise that the Taj was included into the new list of Seven Wonders of the World. The announcements were made in a packed Benfica Stadium in Lisbon where the Taj was declared as one of the seven wonders. In a colourful ceremony in the Portuguese capital Lisbon to coincide with the date 07.07.07, Bollywood star...

Dowry cases in Assam – Shun dowry its not our culture

In an age when we are trumpetting the cause of woman emancipation, holding forth the cause of the girl child, talking about eqality of gender, the ugly blot of dowry deaths annihilate all the tall claims of suh high profile issues. Apparently these find primacy only in rhetoric rather than in reality. Bride burning , atrocities on women etc were maladies that had afflicted other parts of the country especially the northern parts iof India but slowly these have penetrated into the Assamese society as well. Earlier Assam was the only state which was untouched by the dreaded disease of dowry but today it has raised its ugly head even in our own society. A survey recently exposed that a few...