Do-Nation Theory

There can be no two opinions on the fact that Assam is a state which is governed by something called a Do-Nation Theory, and thus has a strong culture of donation. But then, what is lacking is that there is no scientific or academic study on the phenomenon or culture of donation. Gauhati University, or for that matter any other university of the state, is not known to have awarded a PhD degree to any learned scholar for carrying out pioneering research work on the culture of donation. Bhupen Hazarika, whose lyrics and songs had covered almost everything under the sun, too had not written or sung a song about the pros and cons of donation. No president of the Axam Xahitya Xabha had also mentioned about the rich Assamese tradition and culture of donations, or the impact of donations on Assamese literature. A few Assamese poets, however, are known to have composed a couple of limericks about donations, making 'sanda' (meaning donation) rhyme with 'dhanda' (or intention). But the fact remains that Assamese society is heavily dependent on donations, so much so that even the state's Education Minister too had recently appealed to the public to donate generously to strengthen infrastructure in schools and other educational institutions. Some people with a national outlook, however, have a tendency of blaming a particular organization for introducing the donation culture in Assam. But then, the fact remains that the organization emerged as influential only from the 1980s onwards. Given this truth, the question then arises as to how did the Bihu committees and puja committees organize their celebrations till the 1970s if the culture of donations in Assam was introduced only by the organization? And, how has the Axam Xahitya Xabha managed to conduct its grand gala annual events prior to the emergence of the particular organization? What, however, has come to light in recent times is that the Assamese claim of donations as a 'bapoti xahon' or exclusive inseparable culture distinct only to Assam is not entirely correct. The Government of Karnataka, for instance, has been recently toying with the idea of setting up a task force to curb the menace of donations. But before actually setting up the task force, what Karnataka should first do is to find out if the donation culture spread in that state following large-scale migration of the khar-khowa tribe there.