Sir,
We have always been hearing of exploitation of natural resources in a colonial pattern in north-east. Now a new resource has surfaced, the Emotional resource. Reality show winners from north-east are helping two agenda setting sectors in India. They are as follows:
1. The mobile phone companies are cashing on this resource in north-east. person working in a renowned mobile phone company once told me that since the last few years, the bosses of these companies ask their area managers to ensure that at least one candidate from the north-east states are kept going on in reality TV shows like singing and dancing in Indian TV channels. The executive heads have discovered that the people of the region are highly emotional, so much so that emotional fools can be made of them.
A Tamil person singing in a Hindi film competition is not encouraged by fellow Tamilians as they are against the invasion of Hindi in Tamil Nadu. So, the TV channels see that a Tamil contestant is out of the show as soon as possible. He does not bring any revenue to the mobile phone company because people in Tamil Nadu donot SMS vote for him. The channel also loses revenue. So, a candidate from north-east states is always there since the last 5-6 years. But none of the winners through SMS voting from north-east has been successful once the win through SMS voting is over. It is people who make it without SMS voting who have better chances later in the entertainment industry.
2. These Hindi song and dance competitions in channels like Colors, Sony TV, Zee TV etc. is making things easy for the Ministry of spreading Hindi language in north-east. In the name of showcasing talent, a silent and cunning Hindi invasion is taking place in north-east states one by one. First, the Assamese middle-class was highjacked by the All Assam Students Union (AASU) during such a show in 2005. This was followed by Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. Manipur is unlikely to fall in this trap. Nagaland will never subject to this cunning tactic of spreading a Hindi culture through medium like these contests.
The fault lies with the unquestioning and docile public. The student union leaders are the ones who misguide people. Who told these student leaders that one has to win Hindi song and dance competition to have a presence in the national scene? Pakistan has sent many singers and performers to India. They are very successful in India and are highest paid in Hindi film industry. But what is the image of Pakistan inspite of these well-known entertainers?
Assam needn’t send Hindi singers and dancers to be well-known in India. First, Assam should clean up corruption to have a better image in India and the world. How I wish the people of north-east were more rational and logical like the people in the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala! Will the people of Assam show such maturity and reasoning power? God knows how many years that will take!
Yours faithfully,
Vox populi,
Guwahati.