[Assam] Sentinel Editorial

[Ram Sarangapani]

This from the Sentinel. The questions it asks are not only serious but also
pertinent. However, it is doubtful whether the Sentinel or anyone else will
ever get straight answers.

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*ULFA'S Response: Some Posers
*ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa has finally said that his organization has
not declared a ceasefire but will show restraint in response to the Centre's
suspension of operations against the ULFA. He has also appreciated the
Centre's decision, and has warned the people about the vile moves of those
interested in scuttling the attempts to bring about a final peace to the
State. This is no doubt a move which will be welcomed by anyone who wishes
the State of Asom well. But since the ULFA chairman has said that his
organization's decision to withhold its strikes has been motivated by the
respect which it has for the people's desire for peace, one would like to
ask him: against whom were the ULFA's operations chiefly launched in recent
months? What was the purpose in blowing up schoolchildren a year ago at
Dhemaji ? Or targeting vegetable vendors in a city market ? Or killing a
mother and a daughter who had just come out of hospital after visiting a
sick child? Or throwing a grenade at unwary commuters in market areas or
traffic crossings? The list would be virtually endless and would, of course,
include all the police and security personnel whose killing the ULFA would
glorify as assaults on state power.
The ULFA is quite sensitive about being called a terrorist outfit. But its
course of action in the recent past has shown that it can make a suitable
claim to be one. For, the purpose of terrorism is to strike terror and fear
in the hearts of the civilian population and erode the credibility of the
administration by random targeting of innocent and unsuspecting civilians.
Was not the ULFA doing just that? Ever since the killings of Raju and
Gritschenko, and Kamala Saikia and Sanjoy Ghose, to mention just a few
instances, the ULFA has been trying to justify its every move in the name of
the people. So, it is not surprising that the ULFA chairman now speaks about
his concern for the people of Asom and their desire for peace. While
welcoming this concern, one would also have expected a few words of sympathy
at least for the families of those innocent civilians who were killed by the
militant outfit in random blasts carried out to make its presence felt and
bring pressure upon the Centre to initiate a ceasefire. But the impression
that is sought to be given by the organization and its supporters is that
such deaths are a part of the just struggle that is being waged for
liberating Asom from the yoke of Indian colonialism! Even the People's
Consultative Group (PCG) has been maintaining an eerie silence over civilian
deaths while expressing its righteous anger over state killings of ULFA
cadres.
Now that after 27 years of armed struggle that was increasingly taking on
terrorist characteristics, the State is moving towards the possibility of a
direct dialogue between the Centre and the ULFA, we would like to make the
following points clear : (a) that the overwhelming desire for peace on the
part of the people of Asom should not be seen as an indication of its
support for the programmes and policies of the ULFA; (b) that the PCG does
not in any way represent the voice of the civil society of Asom — it has
rather established itself as a group with clearly partisan positioning; (c)
that the elected government of the State must be involved at some stage in
the negotiations between the Centre and the militant outfit; (d) that the
question of the sovereignty of India and of Asom as a constituent State of
the Indian Union is non-negotiable; (e) that the ULFA make its position
clear regarding its equations with the Islamic militant outfits of
Bangladesh; and (f) that once the talks begin, the ULFA must commit itself
to put an end to extortions and agree to start the process for the surrender
of its weapons.
In these 27 years of militancy, thousands have lost their lives in very
tragic circumstances. Once the dialogue starts and peace gets a more or less
solid footing in the State, the people are bound to ask both the government
and the ULFA about the actual circumstances in which so many people lost
their lives. Just as the ULFA has a right to know about what happened to its
missing cadres during the Bhutan operation as also the manner in which all
the fake encounters were carried out by the security forces, similarly the
people have a right to know why the outfit carried out its killings and
targeted civilians on such a large scale. This is, therefore, not a time to
be euphoric about the cessation of hostilities. It is actually a time for
introspection, of trying to find out why the killing game took on such
frightening proportions in a State known for its civility and warmth. Given
the protracted nature of peace negotiations in neighbouring Nagaland, one
should never harbour any illusions about a speedy settlement of the ULFA-led
'insurgency' in the State. Talking peace on the part of ULFA may, in all
certainty, prove to be much more difficult than waging a protracted armed
struggle against the state in which innocent and unsuspecting civilians turn
out to be the main targets. As for New Delhi, it must realize that promoting
the illusion of a solution outside the parameters of the Constitution could
prove to be highly dangerous for the future of the Indian nation.
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