Ummid Assistant

IDB scholarship forms available at Bhopal's Companion School

IGNOU's preparatory course for students desiring higher education

Welcome Guest! You are here: Home » Views & Analysis

No Bodo, No Musalman, First Insan (Human)

Monday September 03, 2012 12:22:19 AM, Syed Ali Mujtaba, ummid.com

Related Article

Searching for Peace in Assam

The origin of the problem of illegal settlers in Assam owes to the creation of Bangladesh but there was no mechanism put in place to solve this problem. It would be naïve to expect Bangladesh to take back the illegal  »

Bangla Deshis in India: Myth and reality

Army moves to seize illegal arms in Kokrajhar

There was no positive story in the recent past that was reported on the Assam imbroglio, except one. But before telling that lets count the negatives that has shaken us from within.

First was the mass exodus of the Bengali speaking Muslims population from their shanty homes residing in the lower Assam valley? It followed the armed raid by the murderous Bodo tribe. There was much of blood letting and mayhem in this tragedy that triggered one of the largest displacements of population in the independent Indian history.

Unfortunately, Assam is too far from New Delhi, the seat of power and also far from the so called national media that’s more comfortable in reporting Anna Hazare and Ramdev. Even though five lakh people left there home and over 100 perished, the tragedy did not move the national media to report it like a national crisis.

The second important development was the angry protest by Muslim youth in Mumbai and the subsequent violence. It sparked off the question, why Muslims in Mumbai should protest for the happenings in Assam; after all they are too far away and have no connection except common religion.
 

The argument may sound fair enough, but living in Chennai, and witnessing protests in support of Tamils in Sri Lanka, who are citizens of another country, the Mumbai protest definitely make sense to me.

The protest was to tell the government and the media to do something to address the issue and not let it to recur again. This has to be seen into the context of 1983 Nellie riots in Assam, when more than 3000 people died and not an FIR was lodged against such pogrom.

However, the act of Mumbai protestors to become violent is something really condemnable. It would be prudent that those indulging in acts of vandalism must be given exemplary punishment. However, Mumbai protest also exposes the laxity of the police force that could not anticipate the situation and had not made enough preparations to handle the possible fall out if the peaceful crowd becomes unruly.

Continuing with the negative news, the story of rumor mongering mills then came in. The so called national media that could not cover the Assam story properly started giving live commentary of the fleeing northeast people from various metropolitan cities. The citizenship issue of Assam became secondary, primary was to unearth the rumor mongering factories in the country.

It was discovered that the rumors were spread through the internet using social media and the mobile phones, the modern day tools of communication. This triggered a debate how to control them from having damaging influence on the society, while others arguing that such mediums should not be controlled.

The government took the decision to put restrictions on these two sets of communication and set a precedent for future as well. Do we like to remain under such control and restricts in a democratic country is something that requires a national debate.

Oblivious of all these facts, a youth organization, in New Delhi took a bold step to cool the social temperature that was rising due the problems related to recent developments in Assam.

It assembled a large number of its volunteers at India Gate in solidarity of the people of Assam in particular and northeast in general. Youth gathered there shouted slogans of peace and non violence and harmony. They joined hands and formed human chain near Amar Jawan Joti to show the solidarity for the northeast people.

The youth shouted slogans 'we are one.’ Many placards were displayed condemning the violence and riots in Assam. One placard read; 'Na Bodo Na Muslamaan, Sabse Pehle Hai Insaan' (no Bodo, no Muslim, we all are first human beings). Many present at India Gate also joined the human chain to convey the message for restoring unity and harmony.

“This human chain is a way to show our unity and solidarity, we also want to say that these violence and riots cannot disintegrate our society and we through our unity will rise every time together,” said Shekhar Jain, of Mission Bhartiyam that organized the peace initiative.

“We are really hurt by the recent ongoing violence and thus we feel that it is us (youths) who have responsibility to come forward and to show that we are against all violence and riots,” he added.

Ansaar Ahmed from National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (NCHRO) who joined the human chain said; “This is the time of national emergency, our society is in danger and people must know that they are human first, not the Bodos, Hindus or Muslims.”

“We were hurt by this violence in Assam and its after effects. Though some organizations and individuals went there and helped in relief works, we also have responsibility towards our fellow citizens. It will be a good gesture if we all can come together to tell that we are one,” said Ms Pathak, a Mission Bhartiyam activist.

“We, as citizens of this country and as human beings, condemn riots and violence in all forms. We also condemn the shock, the pain, the terror that the people had to face. We empathies with the people of northeast and show our solidarity and extend our support to them” she added.

Such developments are powerful narratives of contemporary India. It lives up the adage, that what is true of this country, the opposite of it is also true. Among the stories of hatred and violent protest this little tale, was hardly reported anywhere in the media.

If this story sends positive messages -a message of peace and harmony -a message of being human first -a message that we all are Indians and we share our joys and sorrows together, it at least deserves a glance.

 

Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com





 


 



 

Home | Top of the Page

Comments

Note: By posting your comments here you agree to the terms and conditions of www.ummid.com

Comments powered by DISQUS

i

i

 

More Headlines

Rs.500,000 reward to Pakistani school topper Kumar

One more terror suspect held in Bangalore, total now 13

Sex before marriage hampers healthy relationship

Chinese officials being grilled on live TV

Presence of CPI-M politburo member at church altar kicks up row

British soldiers to be questioned over Iraq war crimes

Exposure to PCBs worsens asthma symptoms

Mobile phones filthier than toilet seat

Raj Thackeray threatens to shut Hindi channels misquoting him

Power woes: Sonia's whisper stronger than SC order

CII against wholesale cancellation of coal blocks

Rajasthan's textiles push with nine dedicated parks

FDI in retail: Walmart and corner stores can co-exist

 

Top Stories

Army moves to seize illegal arms in Kokrajhar

AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal had also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and demanded that the BTC council be dissolved as it had failed to provide security  »

Searching for Peace in Assam

Bangla Deshis in India: Myth and reality

 

  Most Read

FDI in retail: Walmart and corner stores can co-exist

A fierce debate is raging in cyberspace over the cost and benefit of foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail as the Indian government has once again begun working for its  »

Now Raj Thackeray threatens Hindi channels

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray Sunday took potshots at Hindi news channels and said that he would shut them all down if they did not stop misquoting his speeches. "People from Hindi channels dole out news without understanding the issue. Such channels should  »

 

  News Pick

Power woes: Sonia's whisper stronger than SC order

All it took for Amethi and Rae Bareli to get uninterrupted power supply was a whisper from UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to Samajwadi Party  »

British soldiers to be questioned over Iraq war crimes

Hundreds of British soldiers will be investigated for crimes allegedly committed during the Iraq war, the Telegraph reported Sunday. Investigators with the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) have »

Poor show in parliament again - but it was not like this earlier

As another parliament session nears its end marred by continuous holdups and with little work done, the 15th Lok Sabha will go down as one that has lost over a quarter of its time to disruptions. With around 100 bills pending before  »

Supersexualised market and the new Body Politic

The supersexualised market and its mindless validation encourage the assumption that feminist and all equalitarian struggles have ended, that equality for all women and men has been achieved, and the deserving lot can  »

 

Picture of the Day

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with President of Iran Mehmoud Ahmadinejad, before a meeting, on the sidelines of the XVI Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit, in Tehran, Iran on August 29, 2012.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

RSS  |  Contact us

 

| Quick links

News

 

Subscribe to

Ummid Assistant

 

National

Science & Technology

RSS

Scholarships

About us

International

Health

Twitter

Government Schemes

Feedback

Regional

History

Facebook

Education

Register

Politics

Opinion

Newsletter

Contact us

Business

Career

Education

     

 

 

Ummid.com: Disclaimer | Terms of Use | Advertise with us | Link Exchange

Ummid.com is part of the Awaz Multimedia & Publications providing World News, News Analysis and Feature Articles on Education, Health. Politics, Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Industry etc. The articles or the views displayed on this website are for public information and in no way describe the editorial views. The users are entitled to use this site subject to the terms and conditions mentioned.

© 2012 Awaz Multimedia & Publications. All rights reserved.