[Assam] Assam's terror victims demand justice

[Chan Mahanta]

I can understand the demands of the victims of the war and their kin,  
for justice. It is not unreasonable or unnatural.

What is unnatural and one-sided is the pretension of a segment of the  
population and
of the media that the only victims of the violence in the conflict are  
those that are  perpetrated  by ULFA
or attributed to them, rightly or falsely. They conveniently overlook  
the fact that the conflict  was born of
acts of commission and omission by the AUTHORITIES, the STATE, who,  
incidentally are not aliens from
outer space.

Therefore, IF there is even a modicum of sincerity or integrity among  
these partisans  seeking
JUSTICE today on behalf  of the victims , they would seek EQUAL  
JUSTICE on behalf of those other victims
as well, whom they have conveniently shut out of their field of  
vision, like some members of our own forum.

That would open up a whole new slew of perpetrators, not just ULFA  
rank and file and leadership, but also
Indian and Assam government officials, military and police rank and  
file and officials and even members
of the public, who in cahoots with these officials, directly or  
indirectly have been instrumental to the killing, maiming,
incarceration and anguish to thousands upon thousands of the people of  
Assam.

Had there been even a semblance of JUSTICE or a functioning system of  
justice that could have been trusted
to deliver it , expected of a free and democratic state as some  
laughably claim operates in India, then the whole conflict
would never have evolved into the armed conflict it did. And only the  
seriously vision impaired or the blatant propaganda
artists would claim that it exists even today.

Having said that, I would argue that, if anyone is serious about truly  
extinguishing the embers of this conflict,
the people of Assam must demand and receive a full accounting of the  
crimes committed, not just by ULFA,
but by Indians and the people of Assam and their leaders who conducted  
the conflict.

The only way of accomplishing that in a conflict like this that is  
known to man and that holds the promise of some
success would be in the lines of what South Africa did in the  
aftermath of their struggles for freedom: A Truth and
Conciliation Commission, under the auspices of and conducted by a  
mutually acceptable international
tribunal.









On Jun 29, 2010, at 1:27 AM, uttam borthakur wrote:

>
> This is a tricky question; whether to sit for talks if the ULFA  
> abhors violence ( as stated by PC) or to catch hold of all the  
> leaders and try them according to the laws of the land on the basis  
> of charges brought against each of them. If each of them has to be  
> apprehended and brought to books that with who the talks, if any,  
> would be held.
>
> So, the choice can only be one: talk or no talk.
>
> Is there a third way?
>
>
> Uttam Kumar Borthakur
>
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