Mega Dams and ‘Bharat Ratna’
On December 19, the Assam Assembly adopted an unanimous resolution urging the Central Government of India to confer the highest civilian award ‘Bharat Ratna’ on Bhupen Hazarika posthumously. There are worthier things to do other than wasting the tax-payers’ money in assembly sittings for ‘resolutions’ of this type. Just as Jitumoni Kalita’s winning a dance competition, Debojit Saha winning a singing competition or Ananya Banajyotsna participating in talent ‘hunt’ shows is not going to help the masses of Assam, so also Assam MLAs begging for ‘Bharat Ratna’ to Bhupen Hazarika is not going to help the cause of the state and its people.
Bhupen Hazarika was an artist of the masses. His songs echoed concern of the grassroots. The Balladeer’s departed soul would be more happy if the Assam Assembly demanded scrapping of the mega dam projects going on in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra, be it in Arunachal Pradesh or China. Will there be a resolution against mega dams on rivers of Himalayan origin? It seems shares of profit is more important than anything else in the 21st century format of nationalism. Down the last 63 years, nationalism has taken the form of crony-capitalism. The grassroots will be the worst sufferers of this medieval European concept, which will hold profit only among the political class in the coming decades.
The Members of Parliament from Kerala are demonstrating against the ‘endangered’ scheduled Mullaperiyar dam and demanding its demolition. On the other hand, people’s representatives of Assam are busy either begging for perks and awards from the central government. After Arunachal Pradesh, Assam has become the puppet state of the Indian Union. Weak leadership has made these north-eastern states have no choice, no voice. The government machinery of these states have been reduced to be mere extension of central bureaucracy, as if employed in military servitude.
Random Stories
10 Jan 2017 - 4:29pm |
AT News
Home ministry’s confusion over the move to deport 3 Hindu Bangladeshi immigrants draws no less flak from Congress and AGP leaders. Talking to Assam Talks in Guwahati, a senior Congress leader who...
5 Dec 2016 - 8:07pm |
AT Kokrajhar Bureau
An unidentified death body was recovered from railway track near Kokrajhar station today morning in Kokrajhar. The body has been suspected of hit by train late last night. The body has yet to be...
16 Sep 2009 - 2:36am |
editor
A steady peace process awaits Assam's two hills districts. The DHD(J) known as black widow rebels are surrendering the before the authorities after unleashing several years of violence in North...
29 Sep 2015 - 6:39am |
AT News Shillong
Trouble brews for a section of officers in the Meghalaya urban development after the Meghalaya High asked CBI to register cases against them for allowing the construction of high rise buildings in...
Other Contents by Author
The Bodo community of Assam is the worst sufferer of the policy of illegal migration for rise in the number of voters. This group of people are the most affected by the ‘Vote-Bank’ scheme of the Government of India in collaboration with successive Governments of Assam (demo-cratically elected since post-‘independence’). The worst affected districts of Western Assam, due to such politically motivated “Chain Migration” has got an autonomous council, but only in name. The so called ‘minority’ calls the shots when a Government is to be formed at Dispur as well as Delhi. Parts of Western Assam are facing the brunt of such myopic policies of...
In the 7th century AD, when Buddhism was strengthening its hold over North India, a group from the priest class forwarded a new concept to arrest the growth of Buddhism. Gautam Buddha was declared the ninth incarnation or 'avatar' of Lord Vishnu (the Protector God of the Hindu Trinity). That gave a death blow to the expansion of Buddhist faith and ideals in the country of its origin.
Likewise, the stories of Maoists forming forum to resist big dams cooked in the power corridors of Delhi to be fed to the masses through the'Tarun Gogoi's and 'Nabam Tuki's of weak states like Assam and Arunachal Pradesh holds no water. Here we can quote the famous lines of Abraham Lincoln, "You can fool some...
Home loan, car loan, education loan, health loan, travel loan….life on loan. 20 years down the lane of liberalization, this is where the great middle class in India finds itself. As if the burden of the three ancient ‘celebrations’ was not enough. The just mentioned trio is birth, marriage and death, of them, marriage being the most taxing. In village economy, the life of a Hindu family used to be caught in three debts owing to janma (birth), vivaha (marriage), mrityu(death). This was a cunning strategy of the priest and the ruling class to engage the working class in economic bondage. 20th century saw the springing up of cities in India. Situation remains the same, only...
Radhika Tanwar (20) is shot dead in Delhi. We see the perpetrator of the murder in the newspapers. We see protest marches brought out for the safety of women and girls.
Any rape, any murder in the city. We see the criminals.
Tarmetla, Chattisgarh. Hurre (20) is picked up by Indian government employed armed forces to the Chintalnar police station, stripped and sexually assaulted. But we donot see the perpetrators of the crime. May we request the government of the world’s largest democracy to disclose the names and pictures of security personals and policemen involved in crime?
The most unfortunate thing is the unconsciousness of the Great Indian middle class towards the pathos,...
Once one lands in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), it makes one realize why Malaysia has the distinction of having the world’s best airport. The accomplishments of this small country in South East Asia is to be seen. Being on a strategic sea route position in the tropics, Malaysia has seen different groups of people trade and travel enroute its shores. In Ptolemy’s map, ancient Malaysia was shown as “Golden Khersonese”. In 2010, it looks so, prosperous and improving constantly.
Malaysia has a tropical climate, if it shines in the morning, afternoon awaits rain. It was late in the evening when we reached Kuala Lumpur. Roads and the road-sides, all well-...
As soon as we landed at the Suvarnabhumi (pronounced ‘su-wan-na-poom’) Airport in Bangkok, the guide lead us to a tourist bus. In the bus, the tom-boyish jovial lady says to us, “Welcome to Thailand, the land of gold, the land of white elephant,.... .” Lets see for ourselves if these sobriquets are relevant. She went on, “In Thailand, 95% people are Buddhists. We eat meat.” The Buddhism in Thailand didn’t spread directly from India. The import was via Sri Lanka in 3rd century B.C. There more than 35,000 Wats (Buddhist monasteries or temples) in Thailand, a country of 513,115 sq. km. Whether these have been able to shape the life of the people in the...
Sept 23, 2010. All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Rahul Gandhi comes to Guwahati campus of IIT and makes a statement, “Construction of big dams in the North East is not ‘anti-people’and the concern of the common man is being given top priority.” It is baffling to come across such an insensitive remark when mass protests are going on against mega dams in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Three ancient tribes of the two states will suffer the most-- the Adis, the Misings and the Deuris. It seems Rahul Gandhi has not done his home work well like most politicians in India or it might be because Assam has the same party in power as at the Centre.
A...
A decade back, when in my mid-teens, I went on a trip to Kameng in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh. I knew that my generation had been very successfully indoctrinated with the concept of Indian and India. So I was looking out for an old grandpa to know the unadulterated reality of erstwhile N.E.F.A (North East Frontier Agency). My wish was answered when I met a gaonburha (village headman), with his grandchild near a hanging rope bridge. I struck a conversation with the tiny tot and his grandpa. When I asked the gaonburha whether he thought himself to be an Indian or a Chinese, I got the most amusing answer I have ever come across till date. The grand old man said, “Xeitutu moi...
Nemati ghat in Jorhat. This is one of the three main riverine routes to reach Majuli, the largest river island in Asia. The other two river fronts being Luit-Khabalu ghat from North Lakhimpur and Dhakuakhana from Dhemaji. This Bohag Bihu, we planned a trip to Majuli and reached Nemati ghat in Jorhat to avail the ferry service of 4:30 p.m. It is the last ferry for the day. The road leading to Nemati ghat was dusty, but the sight of the ghat was disappointing. It was mud, potholes brimming with water and a bumpy, unkempt place all around. This was the doorway to Majuli, the proposed UNESCO world heritage site. Once an island of 1250 sq. km., today Majuli is a shadow of its former self with...
1925. The Nagaon session of the Asam Sahitya Sabha. The then president of the premiere literary body of the state stressed the need for the spread of women’s education. Ironically, a bamboo-net barrier segregated the women from the men present in the conference. Chandraprabha went up to the dais and denounced the practice. She called upon the women to break down the barrier that confined them--- the fences were broken down and it stays so, never to come up again. This fiery lady is Chandraprabha Saikiani, the pioneer feminist in the modern history of Assam.
Chandraprabha Saikiani was born on March 16, 1901 in Doisingari village of Kamrup district in Assam. Her father Ratiram...
Comments
Pages
Add new comment