[Assam] Assam's terror victims demand justice

[Ram Sarangapani]

C'da,

>**** I love big pictures! In wide screen and in Technicolor

You are behind the times - these days we have 70 mm, and 3-D stuff. :-)

>*** And there are those sections living safely in foreign lands with a rule
of law,
>pooh-poohing the REAL concerns of our violence torn people, demanding
>a military victory and selective justice.  It will be interesting to see
whose
>desires will win.

You mean telling the GOI/GOA & India what to do? :-)

No one (as far as I know) has demanded selective justice. In fact, once
again, if there are military men, Govt. officials etc, who are also
similarly charged (as the ulfa has), then they too ought to go through the
same legal process.

Have seen this kind of round-robin argument time and again. the tactic seems
to be to hold up an issue,which no one has stood for (like ONLY punish ULFA
and not other criminals), and then argue to no end about it. I guess the
argument is designed to make others take a defensive posture. :-)


>>Now, all they can hope for is go for the next best thing, secure the
release of these leaders, get as
>>much as they possibily get from the GOI/GOA, and then declare victory.

>*** Would it be better for Assam to get nothing for the blood of its 15 to
20 thousand
who gave their lives in the struggle?  I dare the Indian apologists to
answer that.

First off, no one in Assam asked the ULFA to fight for any cause, least of
all their separation from India.
Many ulfa cadres were killed when they tried to hit & run trying to kill
security personnel. Did you expect the CRP to just stand still and let the
ulfa keep killing?

Does this figure of 15-20 thousand also include those killed by the ULFA? -
the SOFT targets. Does it include the children killed by the brave ulfa at
Dhemaji? or the countless others killed because they just happened to be
there - the numerous bombings conducted by the ulfa, all over Assam.
These bombings most of the time killed common people (not military or
police).

>>fan out ambassadors to showcase the ULFA in the best possible light, show
readily admitted crimes >>(like Dhemaji) in palatable shades & hues, in
>>essence, get the ULFA out of the mess they are in, and save face.

>**** Who should have the last word on it? The people of Assam or its Indian
bosses and
>NRA apologists?

What Indian bosses? The people of Assam are Indians, they are their own
bosses. In spite of the fact that some would like to see two separate
countries, it isn't there.

Most of the crimes committed by ULFA were against the people of Assam, their
own people.



On Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 10:12 PM, Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at gmail.com> wrote:

> **** I love big pictures! In wide screen and in Technicolor.
>
>
> >There are these sections of people in Assam (and elsewhere) who are hell
>
>> bent in somehow telling the rest of the world that peace in Assam will
>> have
>> to come only with the release of these 'leaders'.
>>
>
> *** And there are those sections living safely in foreign lands with a rule
> of law,
> pooh-poohing the REAL concerns of our violence torn people, demanding
> a military victory and selective justice.  It will be interesting to see
> whose
> desires will win.
>
>
>
> >For them, the illusive sovereignty thang is gone. Now, all they can hope
> for
>
>>
>> is go for the next best thing, secure the release of these leaders, get as
>> much as they possibily get from the GOI/GOA, and then declare victory.
>>
>
> *** Would it be better for Assam to get nothing for the blood of its 15 to
> 20 thousand
> who gave their lives in the struggle?  I dare the Indian apologists to
> answer that.
>
>
>
> >Assam (and India) will have to answer as to what lengths they are willing
> to
>
>>
>> bend backward in trying to placate these people charged with murder, and
>> other high crimes. What is the value of peace arrived at with such such
>> costs as throwing away some of the basic principles to the winds.
>>
>
> *** The 'basic principles' were thrown to the wind by those who had the
> authority and
> responsibility to do right by the people of Assam, but who  not only were
> derelict
> in their duties, but blatantly flouted them.
>
>
>
> >I totally agree, the GOI/GOA should never negotiate with those who they
>
>>
>> consider terrorists.
>>
>
> *** Heh-heh!  It will be interesting to see how that evolves.
>
>
>
> The GOI seems to lose its
>> nerve evertime it is in this kind of situtaion - with Pakistan, and then
>> again with the Afganistan (the Taliban).  This mindset of acquesing
>>
>> If the GOI/GOA is vaccilating at this juncture, one wonders why they even
>> levelled charges against these ulfa, if they were not sure of their own
>> strategy?
>>
>
>
> **** Taunting GoI s of little use. It is not an entity that has any sense
> of shame
> or honor. Never did, and unlikely it would ever have. "Indians are like
> that only" ( sic).
>
>
>
> >In the present situation, I really do not blame the ULFA or its
> supporters.
>
>> Anyone, in their situation would, of course, try to wring out the best
>> deal,
>>
>
> **** Would it be wrong by Assam to do that?
>
>
>
> >fan out ambassadors to showcase the ULFA in the best possible light, show
>
>>
>> readily admitted crimes (like Dhemaji) in palatable shades & hues, in
>> essence, get the ULFA out of the mess they are in, and save face.
>>
>
> **** Who should have the last word on it? The people of Assam or its Indian
> bosses and
> NRA apologists?
>
>
>
> >Then the Home Montri asks who is going to be responsible if these guys
> take
>
>>
>> off. As that wasn't the answer the "Dilli Chalo" group was looking for,
>> they
>> termed it as a 'setback'. The CM, as usual seems stumped.
>>
>
> *** Desi-demokrasy's standard n bearers are always stumped by even the most
> mundane.
> Is that a surprise? Desi demokrasy is best described as garbage-in, garbage
> out.
> But why should the people of Assam take Chidua's concerns as their own?
>
>
>
> >These people want to solve this ulfa problem by trying to find an easy
>
>>
>> solution by some wishy-washy hand-wringing, feeble attempts? This is bad
>> news. This problem ain't ever getting resolved.
>>
>
>
> **** Pray, what will be the better, preferred way? Do we deserve to hear
> that?
> Or should that remain an Indian secret :-)?
>
>
>
> >One must concede that the ULFA strategy seems much better coordinated, and
>
>>
>> possible more cohesive than that put forward by the GOI/GOA and their
>> team.
>>
>
> **** if that is true, it again points to garbage-in, garbage out
> desi-demokrasy's foibles.
>
>
>
>
> On Jun 29, 2010, at 7:44 PM, Ram Sarangapani wrote:
>
> KJD,
>>
>> I sense, there is a bigger picture here.
>>
>> There are these sections of people in Assam (and elsewhere) who are hell
>> bent in somehow telling the rest of the world that peace in Assam will
>> have
>> to come only with the release of these 'leaders'.
>>
>> For them, the illusive sovereignty thang is gone. Now, all they can hope
>> for
>> is go for the next best thing, secure the release of these leaders, get as
>> much as they possibily get from the GOI/GOA, and then declare victory.
>>
>> Assam (and India) will have to answer as to what lengths they are willing
>> to
>> bend backward in trying to placate these people charged with murder, and
>> other high crimes. What is the value of peace arrived at with such such
>> costs as throwing away some of the basic principles to the winds.
>>
>> I totally agree, the GOI/GOA should never negotiate with those who they
>> consider terrorists. It sets a bad precedence. The GOI seems to lose its
>> nerve evertime it is in this kind of situtaion - with Pakistan, and then
>> again with the Afganistan (the Taliban).  This mindset of acquesing
>>
>> If the GOI/GOA is vaccilating at this juncture, one wonders why they even
>> levelled charges against these ulfa, if they were not sure of their own
>> strategy?
>>
>> In the present situation, I really do not blame the ULFA or its
>> supporters.
>> Anyone, in their situation would, of course, try to wring out the best
>> deal,
>> fan out ambassadors to showcase the ULFA in the best possible light, show
>> readily admitted crimes (like Dhemaji) in palatable shades & hues, in
>> essence, get the ULFA out of the mess they are in, and save face.
>>
>> Whom, I really blame, is the GOI, the PM, some of the Central montries,
>> and
>> GOA, the CM, and some intellectuals in Assam (who seem to have lost their
>> bearings along the way).
>>
>> The PM is quoted as saying he doesn't mind if the leaders are released,
>> the
>> CM echoes that, and some other montri too. Sonia deftly avoids the whole
>> dang thing - she ain't in government - but she will pass the requests on..
>>
>> Then the Home Montri asks who is going to be responsible if these guys
>> take
>> off. As that wasn't the answer the "Dilli Chalo" group was looking for,
>> they
>> termed it as a 'setback'. The CM, as usual seems stumped.
>>
>> These people want to solve this ulfa problem by trying to find an easy
>> solution by some wishy-washy hand-wringing, feeble attempts? This is bad
>> news. This problem ain't ever getting resolved.
>>
>> One must concede that the ULFA strategy seems much better coordinated, and
>> possible more cohesive than that put forward by the GOI/GOA and their
>> team.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 6:46 PM, kamal deka <kjit.deka at gmail.com> 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>
>>> <
>>> 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
>>> >
>>> <
>>>
>>> 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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>>>>
>>>>
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