Urban governance that defies tradition

vided NNC as ten families collectively contributed to support one Naga Army. It is still believed that the Nagas would replicate such reciprocal altruism to support and sustain a peoplebased movement. Hence, it is not that the Nagas do not pay tax. On the contrary, the Nagas freely give when and where they feel it is appropriate. The sociological understanding of the Nagas is that the civil society and the community, or, to be precise, each adult individual member, share close affinity with their lands and the resources thereon. The land signifies its pride. Their landed property amounts to their identity. Being landless is incongruous with the social construction of the Nagas. In all aspects, the Government of Nagaland represents the Government of India. The Nagas, in general, have a tendency to stay aloof from paying taxes, especially on land, lest such is being categorically misconstrued as abject subordination and submission of rights to the dominant power. Therefore, so long as the Nagas identify themselves as independent although politically subjugated under the Indian Union, the Nagas may not willingly come forward and accept the tax on property being imposed, as such is liable to be interpreted as the tax on our identity and concomitant deconstruction of the very fabric of our civil society. Though the constitution has guaranteed us a complete ownership over our land and its resources and delegated to us the authority to devise a mechanism for governance based on our time-tested traditional practices, it has been empirically evident that our unmindful experimentation of public policies that are alien to us and such policies not being scanned through the rationale lens of public discourse has on multiple occasions threatened and even diluted our rights duly recognized by others. Sheer absence of women participation in decision making in the traditional village administration (prior to institutionalization of the Village Council) is a subject of academic interest. If their participation in the traditional village administration is inhibited by the assumption that they are inferior in making decisions, or by virtue of the roles they shoulder in the traditional family institution, or the inhibition is biological, such thinking is intellectually flawed and our traditional mindset needs enlightenment. Reservation, if required, must be accorded to women. Yet, such must be preceded by commissioning a study to ascertain the factors associated with low women participation in decision making bodies. For public policies suffer paralysis when policy makers inflate or do not have accurate statistics to rely on. The problem creeps in since the policy makers encounter policy paralysis as to how to go about with the governance of urban bodies. Our traditional society neither experiences urban life nor administers urban affairs. Therefore, the policy makers, without exploring alternative solutions to administrate urban affairs, casually adopt and enact an Act to experiment urban administration in haste. The end was tragic, losing precious lives.

Now, what is of immediate concern is the imposed election to the urban local bodies and the tax on land and building. Firstly, every citizen is a witness to the vices of election – from gross indulgence in offering money and kinds to influence voters’ behavior to exercising franchise in favour of the candidates offering the highest amount. Election, which is found absent in the past glorious days, does not reflect the true meaning of sending our representative to represent our voice. In today’s

Bohag-spirit at GWR

Birds chirping are one of the most relaxing and soothing sounds in nature. Such diverse melodies of the singing birds from ‘Kuli’ (Asian Koel) to ‘Keteki’ (Indian Cuckoo) signify the arrival of Bohag Bihu. ‘Kopou’ (foxtail orchid), ‘Nahar’ and ‘Togar’ flowers begin to bloom over hills and vales all through the spring, which is an integral part of Bihu’s attire. However, Assamese women weave dreams on looms. Meanwhile, ‘dhuliyar dhol’ (who plays dhol) is so closely knit with the folk culture that sets the rhythm of every native to the tune of ‘Pepua’ (who plays pepa of buffalo horn) at ‘gosor tolor

Bihu’ (Bihu beneath the tree), while new leaves start to appear on the trees. The unique tradition of this ‘Sat

Bihu’ celebrates for seven days as ‘Chot’, ‘Goru’, ‘Manuh’, ‘Kutum’, ‘Senehi’, ‘Mela’ and ‘Chera’ Bihu. The rituals of bathing cows while offering lao kha, bengena kha (eat gourd, eat Brinjal) with ‘dighlati-makhilati’ (kind of shrub to protect from mosquito) and tying ‘gorur-pogha’ (new ropes) around cow’s neck are signifying the beginning of ‘Goru’ Bihu for new agricultural season. A ‘Gamosa’ is an indispensable part of indigenous Assamese life and culture with its distinctive symbolic significance – ‘Bihuwan’ that involves the tradition of seeking blessings from the elders. Who can forget the concoction of ‘ekho-ek bidh xaak’ (101 varieties of local leafy greens and herbs), that is believed to be beneficial to health. Recalling those days of our childhood, we had typical activities of another day. Our Bohag in fact arrived with the acoustical sounds of ‘Dhols’ that resonating from the horn-speaker radiated into open air. We ran and jumped over the beautiful meadow towards Bihutoli (stage). Such was our early memories of the spring festival. We stood around like Nipper listening to a wind-up disc of gramophone, while tilting heads along the trademark image of HMV. The dancing, playing and merrymaking went on late into the night. Today, digital media is making it easier for new generation to go with Rongali spirit. People socialize spending festival days with social media platforms. They watch urban Bihu on LIVE that truly connects people around the world. Who can deny the beat of Bhangra that goes global? Assamese Bihu slowly gears up for that occasion. ‘Gamosa’ gets the GI (Geographical indications) tag recently and ‘Muga’ Silk of Assam has a logo for GI.

Today, Sualkuchi referred as Manchester of East, is known as one of the world’s largest weaving villages, where thousands of local weavers create dreams on the exquisite silk fabrics of ‘Pat’, ‘Eri’ and golden thread ‘Muga’. The tradition can be traced to the 11th century Pala dynasty King Dharam Pal for sponsoring the handy craft. Ironically, the production of the white ‘Pat’ (mulberry silk) is not commercially viable now in Assam. They are produced mostly from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and J&K. Since fashion becomes fast, disposable, cheap and need to become globally competitive, the industry gives importance to affordable ‘Toss’ then to expensive ‘Pat’ and ‘Muga’. Despite, weaving industry is no longer taking to the government.

After independence on 15 August 1947, Ambedkar became the Law Minister in the Nehru Cabinet. In 1951, he resigned from the cabinet due to differences of opinion on the government’s apathy towards the Scheduled Castes, India’s foreign policy and the Hindu Code Bill. In the first Lok Sabha election in 1952, he was defeated by a Congress candidate from Mumbai. In March 1952, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha. In 1954, he stood again in the by-election from Bandra but stood third. On 15 April 1948, Ambedkar married a Brahmin girl named Dr. Sharda Kabir of Mumbai, who later came to be known as Savita Ambedkar. He was a bitter critic of the evils of Islam in South Asia and condemned child marriages, polygamy and purda system in the Muslim community. In the year 1949, he addressed the World Buddhist Conference in Kathmandu, Nepal on the topic “Marxism vs Buddhism”. In December 1950, he again participated in the World Buddhist Conference in Sri Lanka. In July 1951, he formed the Bharatiya Buddhist Jana Sangh. In September 1951, he compiled a Buddhist worship treatise called “Upasana Panth”.

In 1954, Ambedkar was nominated as a delegate to the World Buddhist Conference held in Rangoon. In May 1955, he founded the Indian Buddhist Mahasabha. On 14 October 1956, He embraced Buddhism along with 5 lakh people in a historic ceremony in Nagpur. This great activist and social reformer took the last breath of his life on 6th December 1956, leaving his colossal work.

(The Author is a technocrat and educationist)

Er. Prabhat Kishore context, leaders are the ones who own wealth, as opposed to people’s choice. Therefore, as some organizations have suggested, nomination of councilors in lieu of state-sponsored election could bring out the most capable candidates to govern the affairs connected to our urban settlements.

Secondly, collecting tax on land and building in itself does not amount to infringement of Article 371A, as some commentators chose to believe. However, we ought to remind ourselves that our social practice is breached and the principle of Article 371A is relegated if state instrumentalities, on default of payment of tax, transfer to itself the landed property of the private citizens. For most Nagas, as discussed above, the state government is an embodiment of the GoI and hence they feel uncomfortable to share the resources with whom they deemed to have been the main oppressor of their rights. Furthermore, mismanagement of state resources is one fundamental reason why the citizens do not want to bequeath their resources to the state apparatus. Any effort to generate more revenue, be it liquor or land and building, will not augment state resources so long as resource mismanagement plague the state machineries. Nonetheless, in the event of extreme requirement of tax especially on land and building for the purpose of discharging civic duties in urban areas, a staggering fifteen percent tax proposed for land and building ought to be scaled down to the minimum possible percentage point, the decision of which may be arrived at through due consultation and/or collecting, collaging and mincing popular public opinion. Also, the current unregulated sectors such as mobile water supply, online-based delivery services may need to be regulated to ensure efficient and quality service delivery and generate revenue. And, as far as election to ULBs is concerned, it is certain to further aggravate the divide along the political fault line. Therefore, since discharging civic duties is in common interest and not in the interest of any political party, the extant process of selecting / nominating a representative as is prevalent in village units of administration offer the most viable alternative to conflict-ridden election. Nomination by consensus by the residents of the ward and the provision to recall (if needed) could well fulfill the intent and purpose of Article 371A.

Nukhosa Chüzho Kohima

a back seat after the Assam government sets to attempt a world record in Guinness book for over 11,000 Bihu ‘Nachani’ (dancer) and ‘Dhuliyas’ performing together at a single venue as the largest recital of the folkdance form, where the Prime Minister of India will grace the upcoming event on 14th April. Let GWR-2023 discover Bihu through its digitalized platform. This would surely globalize it to a new height from its age-old tradition. The diverse ethnic groups of Assam have deep roots in their indigenous culture. The origin form of Bihu continues among the Chutias, Sonowal-Kacharies and Deoris with the historical Kingdom of Sadiya. The Bodos, Dimasas, Rabhas, and Tiwas have also been celebrating Bihu since ancient times. Later Ahom King Rudra Singha gave patronage to Bihu. The buffalo fight at Rang Ghar and other sports at Rupahi Pathar are historically reminded us. The month long Bohag Bihu is round the corner and every Assamese remains nostalgic about the good old days of playing traditional instruments with ‘Dhol’, ‘Taal’, ‘Gogona’, ‘Toka’, ‘Pepa’ and ‘Xutuli’. It could be officially amazing to witness it in synchrony. There shall be a live program with the availability of broadcast technology. Bihu is itself indispensable for the lifeline of Assamese. No matter how difficult a ‘Gamosa’ is to be woven out of white threads with colourful and intricate inlays in red. It’s ‘Bihuwaan’ that could be seen at the dais of Sarusajai Stadium. It’s a matter of pride moment for Assamese on that historic day. Kamal

Baruah

Woman gets LI for poisoning boy to death

ONGOLE (AP), APRIL

14 (PTI): A court here has convicted and sentenced a woman to life imprisonment for poisoning to death a 4-year-old boy owing to previous enmity with his family.

Principal District and Session Court Judge A Bharati handed the life sentence to Velpula Jyothi (31) for poisoning the boy to death. Jyothi had approached the victim on October 27, 2017 at an Anganwadi centre in the district and fed him snack laced with rat poison, according to a release from the district police.

Elderly man mauled to death by tiger

KOTDWAR, APR 14 (PTI): A 72-year-old man was mauled to death by a tiger in a village near the Corbett Tiger Reserve here, officials said on Friday. The incident happened at around 6 pm on Thursday at Laduasain village in Rikhnikhal block close to the wildlife sanctuary, forest ranger Mahendra Singh Rawat said.

Doctor suspended for operating on wrong leg

HYDERABAD, APR 14

(IANS): The Telangana State Medical Council has suspended the license of a private doctor for six months for operating on the healthy right leg of a patient instead of the left leg. The Council suspended the license of Karan M. Patil, an orthopedician of Hyderabad. He had operated on the healthy right leg of a patient instead of the left leg. After realizing the blunder, the doctors operated on the left leg. The victim had complained to the District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO).

After an investigation, the Medical Council found the doctor guilty of negligence. An order suspending the doctor’s license for six months was issued on Thursday by Council chairman V. Rajalingam.