A sketch of Ashis Nandy’s recent lecture at UC Berkeley. March 13, 2009
It was not hatred, but a strong undercurrent of humanity, that was the surprising finding of research on the traumatic bloodbath of the Partition, iconoclastic Indian researcher Ashis Nandy told an audience March 3 at the University of California.
Nandy made some unconventional points: Even in the terrible bloodbath that claimed the lives of millions, as many as one in four people among survivors said they were saved by the other community, and their fondest memories were still of the days when they lived with the ostensibly enemy community. He added that while those who engaged in the killings virtually got off scot-free, they paid a price in terms of mental and physical health and some even accepted culpability in their later age.
Nandy, a political psychologist and social theorist whose path-breaking work has revitalized scholarship on political psychology, the Indian encounter with colonialism, mass violence, nationalism and culture, was the featured speaker at the Sarah Kailath lecture here.
In 2008, Nandy was listed as one of the top 100 public intellectuals of the world by the magazine Foreign Policy. UC Berkeley sociology Prof. Raka Ray, chair of the Center for South Asia Studies, introduced him as an “intellectual extraordinaire” who was India’s first postcolonial theorist, calling him a “prototypical public intellectual” and India’s most famous dissenter.
“I am a little perturbed by my steady decline into respectability, and I do not know what to do about it,” quipped Nandy, who brought an avuncular bonhomie to his lecture.
Nandy highlighted his presentation with gripping stories of individuals caught in the maelstrom of murder, hatred and exile in 1946-48.
According to conservative estimates, roughly one million people died, but Nandy puts the figure to over two million.
Nandy and associates carried out a study that included about 1,300 interviews with survivors of the Partition violence of 1946-48, including 100 in-depth interviews.
“When we started the study, we depended heavily on available data on other genocides, and I must say some of the things did not fit,” Nandy said.
“The first finding that surprised us that nearly one-fourth of all survivors said that they owed their survival to somebody from the opposition,” he said. “This figure was astonishing because nowhere we have come anywhere near it — in any other genocide.”
Another surprising finding was the lack of rancor among direct victims, he said.
“The second finding is … that those who actually faced the violence, those who are direct victims, the first generation of victims, those who have been subject to the violence, those who have seen it first-hand, mostly were those who had lesser prejudice and lesser bitterness about their experience than their own children and their grandchildren because they had lived in communities where the other side was the majority,” Nandy said. “They have lived with them and they had very warm memories of that experience. Many of them have said that those were the best days of their lives, whereas the children have a packaged view mostly of those violent days and how the family survived . . . So they carry more bitterness, more hostility.”
Nandy focused on an individual to underscore some of his points. During the research on the Partition, an associate had interviewed Madan Lal Pahwa, who was raised in what is now Pakistan.
Raised in a “kattar” (orthodox) Hindu family, Pahwa grew up to become a Hindu militant. He participated in vigilante groups that killed Muslims, said Nandy, and even threw a bomb at a prayer meeting of Mahatma Gandhi five days before Gandhi’s assassination.
Many years later, during an interview for the research, Pahwa appeared to have mellowed considerably.
What was Pahwa’s most treasured memory? “It is Pak Pattan (his ancestral village in Pakistan),” Nandy said. “And what he remembers in Pak Pattan the most, not only what he called the pure air and the pure milk and the green vegetables . . . above all (Muslim Sufi spiritual leader) Baba Farid’s mazar (tomb). He used to sneak out at night from his home . . . and with his friends go to the mazar.
“That Sufi music and the singing he remembers as the most valuable moments of his life. The memory of the shared shrine, the Sufi music, the ambiance of the mazar had left a deep impression on him.”
Pahwa also subsequently revised his earlier blanket condemnation of Muslims. “Muslims were otherwise friendly people,” Pahwa reportedly said. “A small minority of Muslims were bad, the politicians.”
“In South Asia, living with multiple selves is not an exception, we don’t diagnose it as schizophrenia,” Nandy quipped.
“I don’t think you should be surprised that even Madan Lal Pahwa showed at least some awareness somewhere that he was culpable,” he said.
“Fanaticism drives a person but insaniyat — humanity — is also there,” Nandy said.
Nandy also mentioned a “third striking feature of this genocide.”
“I have yet to meet, or any of our team has yet to meet, a killer who is happy in his old age,” he said. “I am yet to meet a happy killer. Even the ones that claim to be at perfect peace with themselves either have psychosomatic ailments or other instances of mental ill health directly traceable to the experience during the violence of ’46-48. So escaping prosecution is not the last word in this matter.”
India’s pre-partition history of various communities living together was the result of a pre-Western tradition of tolerance, Nandy said. This became clear after he researched the 600-year history of communal peace in the Kerala port city of Kochi.
The initial response of people, when asked about their history of peace, was predictable.
“They gave all the responses people like us would love,” Nandy said. People said that the absence of violence was because people were secular, progressive and educated.
However, said Nandy, deeper examination revealed something else.
“Nobody liked anybody else. Tolerance, alas, was based on mutual dislike,” he said. “Every community thought they were the best. Yet in Cochin there was no instance of serious violence in 600 years of recorded history.
“And then gradually I deciphered that in a community-based society, a society where individuation has not gone beyond a point, there is bound to be this dislike and this sense of superiority. . .
“But whereas you think your community is the best you also learn the (other) community’s right to believe they are the best. That mutuality is there. Secondly, the other is not only the other, but they are a part of you, you internalize. . . . The other is crucial to your self-definition. . . There are no annihilatory fantasies. . .
“This is not the enlightenment vision of cosmopolitanism, it is the alternative form of cosmopolitanism, and I am now convinced that this is the cosmopolitanism with which societies based on communities survive.”
He said that the most bitter opponents of Gandhi, including his killers, didn’t dislike him mainly because of his perceived appeasement of Muslims. Gandhi’s critics in India hated him because they thought he was too mired in tradition to allow India to develop as a modern state, Nandy said.
However, that may have been Gandhi’s strong suit, Nandy suggested.
“Somewhere Gandhi’s strength lay not in conforming to the ideas of proper politics of modern India and middle classes, that in any case found him a liability and a problem, people like you and me, perhaps his strength lay partly in the folk traditions of India, in the realities of India that is outside the reach of modern India,” Nandy said.
Showing posts with label india. Show all posts
Showing posts with label india. Show all posts
Scaling up clinic-based tobacco cessation in India
The smoke-free policies in India were enforced since 2 October 2008 and different states are at varying levels of its implementation, yet the tobacco cessation services are still limited to very few clinics in India.
A lead article published in The Economist (7-13 March 2009) says: "tobacco is more addictive than virtually all of them [narcotic drugs]."
With tobacco being highly addictive, it is clear that for a successful implementation of the smoke-free policies, the scaling up of high-quality and reliable tobacco cessation services can no longer be ignored.
"Large areas in central and north-east India have more than 65 per cent tobacco use" said Dr Pratima Murthy, who is the Professor of Psychiatry and Chief, De-addiction centre, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. She was speaking at the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) which recently concluded in Mumbai (India). About 57 per cent men and 19 per cent women in rural areas use tobacco, both these figures are far more than the percentage of men and women who use tobacco in urban areas. Incidentally, most of the tobacco cessation services in India, are confined to urban areas. It is vital to expand tobacco cessation services in rural areas as well.
With support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, in the year 2002, thirteen tobacco cessation clinics (TCC) were established across the country in primarily cancer, psychiatry, surgical, cardiology and some non-governmental organization settings. These include the TCCs at the Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (upgraded King George's Medical College) in Lucknow, Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, and such premier healthcare institutes in India. Five more TCCs were added in the year 2005 at each of the regional cancer centres in India. Apart from delivering high quality and reliable tobacco cessation services, these TCCs were also mandated to develop intervention model for tobacco cessation for both smoking and smokeless tobacco users.
Each of these TCCs was well equipped with regular and uninterrupted drug supply, equipments like the CO monitor, and a well-trained staff in tobacco cessation. Over the past years, step-wise effective strategies for tobacco cessation evolved in these TCCs apart from providing tips to quit, behavioural counseling and pharmacotherapy.
The main sources of referral were other doctors and media. Since the year 2002, 34,741 cases were registered across the eighteen TCCs in India, and baseline details were available for 23,320, said Dr Murthy. 92 per cent of those registered in the TCCs were men, and 8 per cent were women. 65 per cent of those registered used smokeless forms, and 35 per cent used smoking forms or both (smoking and smokeless forms of tobacco). The mean age of those seeking tobacco cessation services was 37 years. About 50 per cent of those registered for seeking tobacco cessation services at the TCCs in India, had the average monthly income of about Rs 3000 per month (about USD 60).
Majority of those seeking help to quit tobacco didn't receive drugs - rather behavioural therapies, education, tips to quit, motivation to change and relapse prevention counseling were deemed most appropriate for 69 per cent tobacco quitters. About 31.1 per cent of those who registered for quitting tobacco, had successfully get rid of the deadly addiction. About 49.5 per cent of them had significantly improved by reducing the tobacco intake by over 50 per cent (compared to their baseline data). Only 8.7 per cent of those registered reported no change of tobacco cessation therapies on their addiction.
Improvement was significantly associated with being male, younger, using smokeless tobacco and receiving combined behavioural counseling and pharmacotherapy, said Dr Murthy. "Women – don't do badly but are unable to come for follow up" further explained Dr Murthy.
Dr Murthy outlines some limitations of the tobacco cessation programme in India. She says, very small number of population is covered by these TCCs in India. Most of these clinics are predominantly urban based and follow-up is variable in different TCCs. She also highlights another limitation that the use of tobacco quitting services is very limited among young people who are in varying stages of initiation.
The learnings are clear: tobacco cessation services need to be provided from a range of diverse clinical settings. The tobacco cessation service model needs to be extended in the community. There is also an urgent need for trained human resources to provide cessation services. Dr Murthy also emphasizes on the need to retain the people who want to quit tobacco use by improving follow-up.
She recommends that tobacco cessation training should be a part of the undergraduate training of medical professionals. Also there is a need to focus on basic training of all health professionals. She suggests a community based model to strengthen tobacco cessation services in India.
A lead article published in The Economist (7-13 March 2009) says: "tobacco is more addictive than virtually all of them [narcotic drugs]."
With tobacco being highly addictive, it is clear that for a successful implementation of the smoke-free policies, the scaling up of high-quality and reliable tobacco cessation services can no longer be ignored.
"Large areas in central and north-east India have more than 65 per cent tobacco use" said Dr Pratima Murthy, who is the Professor of Psychiatry and Chief, De-addiction centre, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. She was speaking at the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) which recently concluded in Mumbai (India). About 57 per cent men and 19 per cent women in rural areas use tobacco, both these figures are far more than the percentage of men and women who use tobacco in urban areas. Incidentally, most of the tobacco cessation services in India, are confined to urban areas. It is vital to expand tobacco cessation services in rural areas as well.
With support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, in the year 2002, thirteen tobacco cessation clinics (TCC) were established across the country in primarily cancer, psychiatry, surgical, cardiology and some non-governmental organization settings. These include the TCCs at the Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (upgraded King George's Medical College) in Lucknow, Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, and such premier healthcare institutes in India. Five more TCCs were added in the year 2005 at each of the regional cancer centres in India. Apart from delivering high quality and reliable tobacco cessation services, these TCCs were also mandated to develop intervention model for tobacco cessation for both smoking and smokeless tobacco users.
Each of these TCCs was well equipped with regular and uninterrupted drug supply, equipments like the CO monitor, and a well-trained staff in tobacco cessation. Over the past years, step-wise effective strategies for tobacco cessation evolved in these TCCs apart from providing tips to quit, behavioural counseling and pharmacotherapy.
The main sources of referral were other doctors and media. Since the year 2002, 34,741 cases were registered across the eighteen TCCs in India, and baseline details were available for 23,320, said Dr Murthy. 92 per cent of those registered in the TCCs were men, and 8 per cent were women. 65 per cent of those registered used smokeless forms, and 35 per cent used smoking forms or both (smoking and smokeless forms of tobacco). The mean age of those seeking tobacco cessation services was 37 years. About 50 per cent of those registered for seeking tobacco cessation services at the TCCs in India, had the average monthly income of about Rs 3000 per month (about USD 60).
Majority of those seeking help to quit tobacco didn't receive drugs - rather behavioural therapies, education, tips to quit, motivation to change and relapse prevention counseling were deemed most appropriate for 69 per cent tobacco quitters. About 31.1 per cent of those who registered for quitting tobacco, had successfully get rid of the deadly addiction. About 49.5 per cent of them had significantly improved by reducing the tobacco intake by over 50 per cent (compared to their baseline data). Only 8.7 per cent of those registered reported no change of tobacco cessation therapies on their addiction.
Improvement was significantly associated with being male, younger, using smokeless tobacco and receiving combined behavioural counseling and pharmacotherapy, said Dr Murthy. "Women – don't do badly but are unable to come for follow up" further explained Dr Murthy.
Dr Murthy outlines some limitations of the tobacco cessation programme in India. She says, very small number of population is covered by these TCCs in India. Most of these clinics are predominantly urban based and follow-up is variable in different TCCs. She also highlights another limitation that the use of tobacco quitting services is very limited among young people who are in varying stages of initiation.
The learnings are clear: tobacco cessation services need to be provided from a range of diverse clinical settings. The tobacco cessation service model needs to be extended in the community. There is also an urgent need for trained human resources to provide cessation services. Dr Murthy also emphasizes on the need to retain the people who want to quit tobacco use by improving follow-up.
She recommends that tobacco cessation training should be a part of the undergraduate training of medical professionals. Also there is a need to focus on basic training of all health professionals. She suggests a community based model to strengthen tobacco cessation services in India.
Move to develop food processing sector
Surajit khaund
GUWAHATI, Feb 15 - The Union Food Processing Ministry has identified North-east India as a potential area for development as far as processed food is concerned. The Ministry has also taken up a slew of measures, including infrastructure development and geared up the existing marketing system.
Talking to this Correspondent here today, Awadesh Kumar, Director, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, said that to explore the potential of food processing sector in the North- east, the Ministry has laid emphasis on upgrading the existing infrastructure.
"In the last fiscal, we had a budget of Rs 242 crore of which 10 per cent was allocated to the North-east", he said.
Kumar, however, observed that public-private participation is essential to develop the food processing sector in the North-east. "This region is a potential area, but due to lack of proper technology, food processing sector is yet to gain momentum for which concerned state governments should take appropriate steps in this regard," he added.
Kumar who was in the city today in connection with a seminar jointly organised by the North East Trade Promotion and Development Council (NETPDC) and Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on the occasion of 2nd Asom International Trade Fair, also suggested initiating contract farming in the region. "Contract farming with modern technology will definitely benefit the farmers in this region", he said, and added that farmers in the region have suffered post harvest loss of their produce and that needs to be brought down by providing adequate training.
He admitted that the existing marketing system has remained a major hindrance, to the development of this sector and the Central Government has, therefore, taken some actions in this respect. "To sustain in the international market, quality and packaging must be improved," he added.
Leading entrepreneurs present in the seminar highlighted the problems faced during setting up of food processing industries. "We have sufficient resources, but we do not get funds from the financial institutions while setting up of industry," a local trader of Meghalaya who has been associated with this sector told this Correspondent on the sidelines of the seminar.
Subir Ghosh, Director of Annapurna Group, underlined the need to withdraw the existing marketing tax system. "Taxation is a huge burden and that has taken a toll on the food processing industries in the North-east. We have submitted several memoranda to the authorities concerned, but in vain," he alleged.
GUWAHATI, Feb 15 - The Union Food Processing Ministry has identified North-east India as a potential area for development as far as processed food is concerned. The Ministry has also taken up a slew of measures, including infrastructure development and geared up the existing marketing system.
Talking to this Correspondent here today, Awadesh Kumar, Director, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, said that to explore the potential of food processing sector in the North- east, the Ministry has laid emphasis on upgrading the existing infrastructure.
"In the last fiscal, we had a budget of Rs 242 crore of which 10 per cent was allocated to the North-east", he said.
Kumar, however, observed that public-private participation is essential to develop the food processing sector in the North-east. "This region is a potential area, but due to lack of proper technology, food processing sector is yet to gain momentum for which concerned state governments should take appropriate steps in this regard," he added.
Kumar who was in the city today in connection with a seminar jointly organised by the North East Trade Promotion and Development Council (NETPDC) and Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on the occasion of 2nd Asom International Trade Fair, also suggested initiating contract farming in the region. "Contract farming with modern technology will definitely benefit the farmers in this region", he said, and added that farmers in the region have suffered post harvest loss of their produce and that needs to be brought down by providing adequate training.
He admitted that the existing marketing system has remained a major hindrance, to the development of this sector and the Central Government has, therefore, taken some actions in this respect. "To sustain in the international market, quality and packaging must be improved," he added.
Leading entrepreneurs present in the seminar highlighted the problems faced during setting up of food processing industries. "We have sufficient resources, but we do not get funds from the financial institutions while setting up of industry," a local trader of Meghalaya who has been associated with this sector told this Correspondent on the sidelines of the seminar.
Subir Ghosh, Director of Annapurna Group, underlined the need to withdraw the existing marketing tax system. "Taxation is a huge burden and that has taken a toll on the food processing industries in the North-east. We have submitted several memoranda to the authorities concerned, but in vain," he alleged.
PC admits demographic changes in Assam, WB
NEW DELHI, Jan 13 – Indicating stricter measures to check illegal immigration from Bangladesh, Home Minister P Chidambaram has said nationals from that country have ‘no business’ to be in India without permission and that there is ‘no reason’ why a large number of visas are being issued to them every month.
Chidambaram, who has been taking a close look at the security set up in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, voiced concern over the “very ineffective” monitoring system to check whether a Bangladeshi coming to India has returned to his country after expiry of his visa or stayed on.
Noting that illegal immigration was causing ‘unexpected’ demographic changes in Assam and West Bengal, he said, “I don’t regard a Bangladeshi as a Muslim or a non-Muslim. He is a Bangladeshi. He has no business to come to India unless he has a visa. He has no business to live here unless he has a residence permit.
“He has no business to work here unless he has a work permit. He is a Bangladeshi. His religion is completely irrelevant,” he told NDTV.
To a question on steps to end illegal immigration, the Home Minister said, “I am now looking into what is happening on our borders, passport control points...I think we issue a very large number of visas to Bangladeshis every month.
“There is no reason to issue so many visas. And there is very ineffective monitoring system (to check) whether the guy has gone back to Bangladesh or remained here,” Chidambaram said.
Chidambaram said porous borders and illegal immigration were causing “unexpected demographic changes and a lot of angst” among the native population in Assam and West Bengal.
“I am in sympathy with that contention that demographies are changing. But some parts of the history cannot be retraced. So, one has to learn to accept it. Therefore, we will have to swallow something, accept some pain and then make sure that it doesn't continue for the next five or ten years,” he said.
Observing that the intelligence system has been "more or less fixed" with the re-establishment of the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC), the Home Minister said the "best example" of that was the security agencies had prior information about a recent attack in Guwahati.
“We had information late in the afternoon of December 31. We shared (it) in real time basis with the Assam Government...I was able to speak to the Chief Minister,” he said. – PTI
Chidambaram, who has been taking a close look at the security set up in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, voiced concern over the “very ineffective” monitoring system to check whether a Bangladeshi coming to India has returned to his country after expiry of his visa or stayed on.
Noting that illegal immigration was causing ‘unexpected’ demographic changes in Assam and West Bengal, he said, “I don’t regard a Bangladeshi as a Muslim or a non-Muslim. He is a Bangladeshi. He has no business to come to India unless he has a visa. He has no business to live here unless he has a residence permit.
“He has no business to work here unless he has a work permit. He is a Bangladeshi. His religion is completely irrelevant,” he told NDTV.
To a question on steps to end illegal immigration, the Home Minister said, “I am now looking into what is happening on our borders, passport control points...I think we issue a very large number of visas to Bangladeshis every month.
“There is no reason to issue so many visas. And there is very ineffective monitoring system (to check) whether the guy has gone back to Bangladesh or remained here,” Chidambaram said.
Chidambaram said porous borders and illegal immigration were causing “unexpected demographic changes and a lot of angst” among the native population in Assam and West Bengal.
“I am in sympathy with that contention that demographies are changing. But some parts of the history cannot be retraced. So, one has to learn to accept it. Therefore, we will have to swallow something, accept some pain and then make sure that it doesn't continue for the next five or ten years,” he said.
Observing that the intelligence system has been "more or less fixed" with the re-establishment of the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC), the Home Minister said the "best example" of that was the security agencies had prior information about a recent attack in Guwahati.
“We had information late in the afternoon of December 31. We shared (it) in real time basis with the Assam Government...I was able to speak to the Chief Minister,” he said. – PTI
‘Oil strike should not occur again’
The oil industry will do “introspection” to ensure that there is no recurrence of the strike that paralyzed the economy this week, Petroleum Secretary RS Pandey said in New Delhi on Sunday.
“We have to ensure that the trauma does not occur again. The oil industry will have to undertake introspection,” Pandey told reporters at the inauguration of the media centre for the country’s premier oil and gas conference, Petrotech 2009.
Nearly 45,000 employees of the public sector energy companies went on strike from Wednesday, demanding higher salaries. It lasted three days, with retail petrol vends closing down and fertilizer and power plants shutting shop due to lack of oil supplies.
The government took a tough stand, invoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act in several places.
The state-run oil upstream major ONGC suspended 64 employees and IndianOil took action against three.
Petroleum Secretary Pandey said their fate after the strike would be decided by the companies.
Asked if the management of the oil companies would be taken to task for reportedly giving covert support to the striking employees, Pandey said: “I am not aware of any such action”.
He added that most of the gas and petrol supplies would be “completely normal by (Sunday) night”.
All IndianOil refineries are back in action and in full capacity, except for the Gujarat refinery which has been deliberately kept at a lower capacity due to technical reasons. ONGC chairman R.S. Sharma noted that the western offshore production has nearly gone back to normal.
“In the morning, the production was at 310 million barrels, compared to the regular rate of 342 million barrels,” he said.
Describing the oil sector employees as “intransigent”, the top official in the petroleum and natural gas ministry said the government has already constituted a high-level committee, chaired by Home Minister P. Chidambaram, to look into the demands of the oil sector officials.
“If they have genuine grievances, then these will be redressed,” he said. On the role of private players in the energy retail sector, Pandey said: “The government will seriously consider how to associate private players in the system. But what the decision will be, whether positive or negative, I cannot say.”
“We have to ensure that the trauma does not occur again. The oil industry will have to undertake introspection,” Pandey told reporters at the inauguration of the media centre for the country’s premier oil and gas conference, Petrotech 2009.
Nearly 45,000 employees of the public sector energy companies went on strike from Wednesday, demanding higher salaries. It lasted three days, with retail petrol vends closing down and fertilizer and power plants shutting shop due to lack of oil supplies.
The government took a tough stand, invoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act in several places.
The state-run oil upstream major ONGC suspended 64 employees and IndianOil took action against three.
Petroleum Secretary Pandey said their fate after the strike would be decided by the companies.
Asked if the management of the oil companies would be taken to task for reportedly giving covert support to the striking employees, Pandey said: “I am not aware of any such action”.
He added that most of the gas and petrol supplies would be “completely normal by (Sunday) night”.
All IndianOil refineries are back in action and in full capacity, except for the Gujarat refinery which has been deliberately kept at a lower capacity due to technical reasons. ONGC chairman R.S. Sharma noted that the western offshore production has nearly gone back to normal.
“In the morning, the production was at 310 million barrels, compared to the regular rate of 342 million barrels,” he said.
Describing the oil sector employees as “intransigent”, the top official in the petroleum and natural gas ministry said the government has already constituted a high-level committee, chaired by Home Minister P. Chidambaram, to look into the demands of the oil sector officials.
“If they have genuine grievances, then these will be redressed,” he said. On the role of private players in the energy retail sector, Pandey said: “The government will seriously consider how to associate private players in the system. But what the decision will be, whether positive or negative, I cannot say.”
Adivasis to launch party on Jan. 4
UMANAND JAISWAL
Guwahati, Dec 29 : Adivasis in Assam are finalising plans of floating a party of their own on January 4, encouraged by the electoral success of parties that represent specific communities.
The idea of a party, however, took shape more from disenchantment with established parties, especially the Congress, than the lure of electoral gains.
Since the community plays a decisive role in several Assembly constituencies, particularly in the tea belts of Upper Assam and the north bank and in lower Assam, Adivasi leaders feel they can cause maximum electoral damage to established parties.
Reeling under decades of underdevelopment, the tea tribes have been up in arms demanding Scheduled Tribe status and gradually shifting their loyalty from the ruling Congress, which the com- munity had been stead- fastly backing since Independence.
With the Assam United Democratic Front, the Bodo People’s Front and the Autonomous State Demands Committee showing electoral might, the Adivasis, too, feel that they have a fair chance as a political power.
Barring any last minute changes, the party will be launched at a convention of the community’s various associations, convened by the Adivasi Council and supported by the All Adivasi Students Association of Assam (AASAA), at Biswanath Chariali in Sonitpur district.
Though the convention will deliberate on various issues, the formation of the party will dominate the proceedings.
The president of the All Adivasi Students Association of Assam, Justin Lakra, said the launch plans were in the final stage.
“A political party for the Adivasis had become imperative for securing the welfare of the community, used as a vote bank by political parties, mainly the Congress, which has always been trying to suppress our community. Senior community leaders have failed to deliver. The Tarun Gogoi government has not been able to do anything for Assam. We will rectify the situation. The party will be launched on January 4 and it will have a national character,” Lakra said.
The government, in fact, recently announced several welfare schemes for the community in an effort to appease them but that does not seem to have cut much ice.
David Horo, general secretary of the Adivasi students’ union, said: “We (Adivasis) need to unite and we need a party instead of leaders for deliverance. See what the AUDF or the Bodo parties have achieved with their MLAs. Like them, we also want to hold the key to governance to get a fair deal. Given our population, which would be around 80 lakh according to government estimates, we are in a position to play a critical political role in the state. In fact, we are seriously thinking of contesting Tezpur and Mangaldoi Lok Sabha seats. We know we can’t win in all seats but we have the vote to damage winning candidates,” Horo said.
The tribe’s resentment against the government was evident from Saturday’s 24-hour bandh called by the Birsa Commando Force, which is in ceasefire with the government since 2004, to protest the killing of three of its cadres in Udalguri on December 21.
The Adivasis are also unhappy with the manner in which the 2007 Beltola violence was handled.
Besides the Birsa Commando Force, Adivasi students’ union and the Adivasi Council, the Adivasi Mahila Samiti, Adivasi Sewa Samiti, Orang Mahasabha, Kuruk Mahasabha, Santhal Sabha and Munda Mahasabha are among the groups which are likely to join the convention.
“The proposal to float a political party enjoys our full backing and barring last-minute changes, it could materialise on January 4,” Horo said.
The Assam Tea Tribes Students Association (ATTSA) will also participate in the convention if invited, its president Prahlad Gowala said.
POLITICAL PATH
- Adivasi leaders keen to emulate success of AUDF, BPF in the Assembly by floating their own party so as not to depend on other parties to have their say
- Proposed party to have a national character and could be floated along lines of the Jharkhand Dishum Party (JDP) and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)
- Proposed party may make electoral debut in ensuing Lok Sabha elections.May contest Mangaldoi Lok Sabha seat though Tezpur is also on their radar
- With an estimated population of over 70 lakh, the Adivasi leaders feel that they hold key to 30 per cent of the 126 Assembly seats in the state. Adivasi community in the state covers tea garden and ex-tea garden labourers
Christmas celebrated with peace prayers in Assam
Guwahati , Dec 27 : Christmas was celebrated today with prayer for peace in Assam which is still recovering from the devastating bomb blast of October 30 which claimed 88 lives.
Midnight mass and Christmas services were held at Christ Church, Guwahati Baptist Church, St Joseph Cathderal and other churches across the state with people praying for peace.
People thronged Guwahati Baptist Church, which was partially damaged in the October 30th bomb blast claiming the lives of two youths living in the premises.
Guwahati Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil urged people to pray for peace in these trying times of sorrow, anxiety and tension.
'&aposLet us learn to love and respect everybody so that peace can prevail in the state and country. All must learn to respect other cultures, love those who are different from us and those who are angry with us'', he said.
Assam governor Shiv Charan Mathur wishing the people on the occasion of Christmas said,"We must all pray on this holy day for peace".
Chief minister Tarun Gogoi also hoped that Christmas would usher in a new era of peace in the state.
Meanwhile, some youths of a local club has sculpted a 7ft long and 10 ft wide sand sculpture of Jesus Christ on the banks of Brahmaputra for the last week and a prayer service was held for peace and prosperity.
PTI
Midnight mass and Christmas services were held at Christ Church, Guwahati Baptist Church, St Joseph Cathderal and other churches across the state with people praying for peace.
People thronged Guwahati Baptist Church, which was partially damaged in the October 30th bomb blast claiming the lives of two youths living in the premises.
Guwahati Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil urged people to pray for peace in these trying times of sorrow, anxiety and tension.
'&aposLet us learn to love and respect everybody so that peace can prevail in the state and country. All must learn to respect other cultures, love those who are different from us and those who are angry with us'', he said.
Assam governor Shiv Charan Mathur wishing the people on the occasion of Christmas said,"We must all pray on this holy day for peace".
Chief minister Tarun Gogoi also hoped that Christmas would usher in a new era of peace in the state.
Meanwhile, some youths of a local club has sculpted a 7ft long and 10 ft wide sand sculpture of Jesus Christ on the banks of Brahmaputra for the last week and a prayer service was held for peace and prosperity.
PTI
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