Umesh, All this boils down to whether or not you believe only 'some' news reports and editorials. Some people tend to cherry pick such news. They may, for example choose to believe one report (or editorial) and sing its praises, while totally discounting the next day's news from the same newspaper or media.
Its difficult to get people take a 'fair and balanced' view of all these reports. In the end their biases get in the way. Its all in the game, no harm done. --Ram da On 9/18/05, umesh sharma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The Army's role here seems strange - are the accusations of drug running and > timber trafficking by army officers true. If they are then only they would > like to stall the talks - by going on an offensive. > > On the other hand - I did read about an ULFA militant killing some people in > the marketplace - even as the peacce overture was underway - which resulted > in the death of a few civilians and a police officer - militant was wlso > shot dead. > > Umesh > > Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > The following is a Sentinel Editorial. Surprising, considering the paper's > usual stance on these issues. Would be interesting to see what the Assam > Net Indian patriots think of it :-). > > cm > > Setback to Talks > > > The recent announcement of the ULFA to form a peoples' consultative > committee to prepare the ground for talks with the Central Government was > hailed as a positive move by people from all walks of life as was reflected > in their reactions expressed through the media and through various > platforms. It raised expectation that it would bring peace to the region > shattered by a quarter century of militancy and violence. It is clear by > now that a solution to the problem lies not in meeting violence with > counter-violence but in constructive dialogue between the Government and > the militant group. From 1990s, the Army has been in operation in the State > in phases but its success has been limited and peace has been elusive. From > time to time, the Government itself has been giving indications that it > welcomes a dialogue and it appeared to have responded positively when > Mamoni Roisom Goswami took the initiative. It was, therefore, not wrong to > expect a positive gesture from the Government when the ULFA announced the > formation of a consultative group, even if the Centre considered the present > ULFA overture inadequate because of the involvement of a third party. But > something very different has happened. Either with the consent of the > Government or the Army in their own wisdom decided to carry on offensive > with full vigour unconcerned about the peace overture from the ULFA. A > massive operation was launched in the Dibru-Saikhowa Forest Reserve in > search of ULFA cadre a few days back even as the people's consultative > committee was preparing to initiate the process. The Director General of > Police, Assam, recently said the operation and the talks will continue > simultaneously. Perhaps this reflects the Government's mind too and if it > is so the Government has failed to read the people's mind or does not care > for popular wisdom. The fact remains that an overwhelming majority do not > support ULFA-style violence and secession, and yet they do not support army > operations too, particularly when the people are at the receiving end in > both forms of offensive. The people would have liked to see a matching > gesture from the Government to ULFA overture but the Government's wise > advisors perhaps thought otherwise. And now the anticipated talks may not > take place. The ULFA has said that 12 of its cadre have been shot dead by > Army in the Dibru-Saikhowa Reserve in the on-going operation and it has > withdrawn its proposal for talks. This is a setback indeed. But what is > puzzling is that there is no confirmation of these deaths from the Army. > All official sources say that only one ULFA cadre died in the operation. If > it is so, how this figure got circulated and for what motive? Is it only a > lack of convergence of perceptions leading to a communication failure > between the Government and the ULFA at a crucial time or has the ULFA been > misled by a disinformation campaign carried on by forces not wanting to see > stability return to this troubled region? Without indulging in any > conjecture, we will like to say at this stage that the Government will do > well to know the pulse of the people and take initiative to restore the > almost aborted talks process. > > The ULFA has indicated that it will launch a counter-offensive in > retaliation against the Army for the killing of its cadre and has asked the > civilians to take their own guard since public safety cannot be guaranteed. > A potentially explosive situation has developed and once again the common > people will suffer. The people have already seen the Government's > helplessness against ULFA's violent offensive when in the recent past the > ULFA bombed the Government's own seat of power and breached the supposedly > most secured security area with ease and in leisure. If the Government > thinks that counter-insurgency operation is a better option than dialogue, > it must ensure two things, (1) that the wrath of the militants do not > endanger the people's lives, (2) that the rigour of Army operations does > not become so oppressive that it becomes an agonizing weight on the innocent > villagers. There are lessons to be learnt from the experience of Manipur > and the Government should learn it fast. We hope that foolhardiness on the > part of the Government will not lead it to a point of no > return._______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > > ________________________________ > How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday snaps for FREE > with Yahoo! Photos. Get Yahoo! Photos > > > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > > _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
