ULFA led by Paresh Baruah targeting Hindi speaking people in Assam is a detestable act which merits to be condemned in the strongest term by every civilized society. Insanity and absurdity are even better terms to describe killings of innocent people. Violence is never an element of nationalism. Such barbarity and misadventures are counterproductive and can take away nationalism even from the hardcore patriots. Resorting to violence will not allay fear of losing Assamese identity. We should not lose our reasoning power even in the worst of time. “The need to recognize the role of reasoning and choice in identity-based thinking is thus both exacting and extremely important,” writes Nobel laureate Amartya Sen in his book, “Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny”.Selective killings of Hindi speaking people in Assam and Manipur are not new stories. For years such barbarism is allowed to go on, thanks to the impotence of our administration. About a 100 Hindi speaking people were killed from 2000 to 2007 by ULFA militants in Assam alone, according to newspaper reports.
Concerning the latest case of Assam, ULFA(I) chief Paresh Baruah “has warned Hindi-speaking people living in Assam of serious consequences if they don’t apologize for raising slogans against his organization during a bandh.” Now, the Hindi speaking people are living gripped with fear psychosis. This whole episode was triggered by the killing of two Hindi-speaking people in Tinsukia district that sparked widespread protests.
Under the aegis of the Patriotic People’s Front of Assam (PPFA the people had carried out protest march in Guwahati on July 19. “We want to send a strong message to ULFA(I) leader Paresh Barua that they should stop its continued disruptive activities including killing of common people in Assam,” said a statement of the PPFA.
Following the slogans by Hindi speaking people during the July 19 protest ULFA (I) has “banned two Bhojpuri organisations in the state for daring to stand up to it”.
Now, as long as our political class is moved and stimulated by interest (and not by moral imperatives) we have little hope of getting respite from this nauseating scene.
