[Assam] Assam's terror victims demand justice

[Chan Mahanta]

 >For the life of me, I haven't ever understood why any government in
 >India --- central or state --- should discuss or negotiate with any
 >Indian person or body of persons who openly declare the desire to
 >secede their region from the Indian nation


*** That is unfortunate. But the reasons are too glaring for anyone  
but the vision-impaired to miss:
It is because those whose aim was to subdue the insurgents with brute  
force FAILED . That is not
because of the might of the insurgents, but because of the people's  
support.


 >It foxes me to watch those
> " patron saints of ULFA",when they strain their every nerve to profile
> those barbarians in glorified terms.

*** I wish I could prescribe some medication. But not being licensed  
to practice medicine, I have to defer it our
goru daktor friend, Tilok Hatimuriya, DVM, FLAS. Perhaps he  could help.


 >The patriotic sentiment would be that the only way to deal with the
>
> likes of Miya Arabindo to prosecute them under the Indian Penal Code.

*** That depends upon WHOSE patriotism we are referring to. Apparently  
the people of Assam don't
seem to think that way. So it has to be them Indians, who would demand  
that.


 >But, unbelievably, the " big brothers of ULFA " of
>
> our state want them to be released from jail -- for the "healing
> touch" presumably.


*** Those who are victims of the on going violence and want peace,  
namely the people of
Assam ( as opposed to say, Indians or NRIs and NRAs), are doing the  
right thing. They can
and ought to ignore those whose primary interests are to preserve  
India's interests over Assam's
or those NRAs who, lacking self esteem , attempt to make up for it by  
mouthing off militaristic
slogans which we all know never worked.





On Jun 29, 2010, at 6:46 PM, kamal deka wrote:

>>>>> Just because some people may want that the law take it's own  
>>>>> course, or that
> there be due process does in no way mean 'retribution'<<<<
>
> It seems perverse to believe that freeing prisoners held on criminal
> charges can bring a sigh of relief to the climate of terrorism.
>
> It also appears that by playing the role " patron saint " or kindly
> "big brother" to those hoodlums ,they are only exposing the state's
> underbelly to charges of being far too tender.
>
> For the life of me, I haven't ever understood why any government in
> India --- central or state --- should discuss or negotiate with any
> Indian person or body of persons who openly declare the desire to
> secede their region from the Indian nation.It foxes me to watch those
> " patron saints of ULFA",when they strain their every nerve to profile
> those barbarians in glorified terms.
>
> The patriotic sentiment would be that the only way to deal with the
> likes of Miya Arabindo to prosecute them under the Indian Penal Code.
> But, unbelievably, the " big brothers of ULFA " of
> our state want them to be released from jail -- for the "healing
> touch" presumably.
>
> KJD.
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 11:38 AM, Ram Sarangapani  
> <assamrs at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> But, I suppose (and in fact know), he does not seek retribution.
>>
>> Just because some people may want that the law take it's own  
>> course, or that
>> there be due process does in no way mean 'retribution'.
>>
>>> I thought it was a tricky question, because it is a human  
>>> question, which
>> is not a linear equation.
>>
>> Human question as coming from the victim's families or from these  
>> leaders
>> being charged and jailed?
>>
>>> But I have seen people coming up strongly out of the morass of  
>>> personal
>> tragedies and therefore, I >have reasons to believe in the  
>> fortitude of my
>> fellow human beings.
>>
>> Sure, there are many examples of such people. But does due process,  
>> charges,
>> & prosecution listen to emotional feelings, and tailor these  
>> according to
>> what some may want?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 9:29 AM, UTTAM BORTHAKUR <uttamborthakur at yahoo.co.in
>>> wrote:
>>
>>> XXXX Mandela and his group and for that matter their adversaries,  
>>> when it
>>> dawned upon them that it did not serve to try to solve the racial
>>> question through mindless suppression, had exhibited tremendous  
>>> foresight
>>> in
>>> arriving at a conciliation. Justice, in the context of history,  
>>> may not
>>> always mean retribution, which is used as a deterrent in the usual  
>>> course.
>>>
>>> It is very hard for an individual to come to terms with the fact  
>>> that you
>>> have to live amiably with the killers of your near or dear ones.  
>>> In my life
>>> time, I have met some persons, who were led away by mob frenzy or  
>>> an idea/
>>> concept to hurt or even to try to kill me, coming back to me and  
>>> repenting
>>> on the realisation that what they had believed in was not correct.  
>>> What do
>>> I
>>> do with these persons than to forgive them, because, they acted on  
>>> a false
>>> belief but acted with conviction and in good faith. But can I  
>>> condone
>>> those,
>>> who acted on vested interest, while they killed or tried to kill my
>>> brothers
>>> for personal gains while they mouthed love for a cause to shield  
>>> their
>>> culpable acts?
>>>
>>> I have lost quite a few of my closest friends like Amitabh Rabha,  
>>> Sourabh
>>> Bora, Nripen Dutta, Kamala Gogoi...... to the bullets of ULFA.  
>>> Some of them
>>> were simply butchered surpassing all kinds of cruelty. Dr.  
>>> Debabrata Sarma,
>>> a brilliant person and great organiser, who was pumped with
>>> bullets, has been contributing to the growth and consolidation of   
>>> Assamese
>>> Language and Vernacular Schools whole-time. He's no less a fighter  
>>> for the
>>> cause of Assam than any ULFA cadre weilding a gun in the jungles.  
>>> In fact
>>> the ones who pumped bullets into him had within no time meekly  
>>> surrendered
>>> to the love of the lucre. But, I suppose (and in fact know), he  
>>> does not
>>> seek retribution. May be he is a learned man; he can look at life  
>>> with a
>>> broader perspective that we cannot expect from the person, who was  
>>> widowed
>>> by an ULFA bullet at the discretion of a local unit leader, may be  
>>> for such
>>> petty reason as not paying up a sum of money. Who can console her?  
>>> But I
>>> have seen people coming up strongly out of the morass of personal  
>>> tragedies
>>> and therefore, I have reasons to believe in the fortitude of my  
>>> fellow
>>> human
>>> beings.
>>>
>>> I thought it was a tricky question, because it is a human  
>>> question, which
>>> is
>>> not a linear equation.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *Chan Mahanta* cmahanta at gmail.com
>>> <assam%
>>> 40assamnet.org?Subject=Re%3A%20%5BAssam%5D%20Assam%27s%20terror 
>>> %20victims%20demand%20justice&In-Reply-To=%3C7A230391- 
>>> E972-41B3-98CB-7EA0B24BBE28%40gmail.com%3E<http://40assamnet.org/?Subject=Re%3A%20%5BAssam%5D%20Assam%27s%20terror%20victims%20demand%20justice&In-Reply-To=%3C7A230391-E972-41B3-98CB-7EA0B24BBE28%40gmail.com%3E 
>>> >
>>>>
>>> *Tue Jun 29 19:14:50 IST 2010*
>>>
>>>
>>>   - Previous message: [Assam] Assam's terror victims demand justice
>>>   <http://assamnet.org/pipermail/assam_assamnet.org/2010-June/026219.html 
>>> >
>>>   - *Messages sorted by:* [ date
>>> ]<
>>> http://assamnet.org/pipermail/assam_assamnet.org/2010-June/date.html#26221
>>>>
>>> [
>>>   thread ]<
>>> http://assamnet.org/pipermail/assam_assamnet.org/2010-June/thread.html#26221
>>>>
>>> [
>>>   subject ]<
>>> http://assamnet.org/pipermail/assam_assamnet.org/2010-June/subject.html#26221
>>>>
>>> [
>>>   author ]<
>>> http://assamnet.org/pipermail/assam_assamnet.org/2010-June/author.html#26221
>>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------
>>>
>>> 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.
>>>  _______________________________________________
>>> assam mailing list
>>> assam at assamnet.org
>>> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
>>>
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