Some observations:
>It is representative of Ulfa, not of the people of
Assam.
*** That is a big assertion. Obviously the Statesman expects
everyone to accept its verdict, because it says so. But is it
even a remotely credible assertion? Could ULFA operate for all these
years, without a sizable segment of the population either supporting
it directly, or helping it with sympathy? It does not take a rocket
engineer to figure out the answer.
*** It is astounding to see editorial after editorial, columnist
after columnist of the Indian English language media, displaying a
surreal expectation that the PCG, selected by the ULFA to represent
it, would be composed of people who are not sympathetic to its
cause.
>-- what the group wants today: a far cry from its heady
founding >days in 1979 >in Sibsagar--.
*** The recurring need for a segment of the Indian press and a
number of its 'intellectuals' to taunt ULFA for agreeing to
negotiations, which incidentally was refused by the Center for all
these years, speaks volumes of the quality of journalism and the
professionalism of the journalists. It is quite obvious that they are
more interested in asserting their own righteousness than real concern
for the people of Assam.
>Many have died in Assam, not only in fake encounters
organised by security >forces but also in direct clashes between
Government forces and Ulfa, as well >as in disappearances caused by
security forces which have taken away men and >women from villages
in the name of security and questioning; and many have >fallen prey
to Ulfas bullets, its intimidation and extortionist ways.
*** While it is refreshing to see an acknowledgement of the
Govts' misdeeds, the
inability or unwillingness of the the Indian press to examine
what it means is nothing less than a disgrace:
It means:
>But we support the idea of democracy, open governance,
"One nation, may >peoples".
*** Noble as the sentiments might be, it really is little more
than pithy platitude, in view of the above.
>"I am willing to listen to whatever concerns that you
have. I am a servant of >the Constitution and you should recognise
the complexity of our polity."
*** Beautifully put? Perhaps--if beauty is in the blather that
is. While one might be perfectly willing to give the PM
every chance, and a benefit of the doubt to make good on his expressed
intents, his penchant for meaningless pronouncements is appalling and
the Press' proclivity for going rah-rah over it even more so.
It is quite immaterial for those who were perfectly willing to
die for a cause. and for those who provided the support for it,
whether the PM is servant to the Constitution: a constitution whose
sanctity is little more than the purity of the waters of the Ganga,
thanks to decades of dysfunctional Indian governance ,its complete
inability to uphold the rule of law and its deliberate destruction of
the original intent and purpose to guide a federal democratic
union.
cm
PM roadmap for peace
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=14&theme=&usrsess=1&id=94488
The Prime Minister, his right arm in a sling (he was recovering from a minor operation on the hand), greeted the 11-member group which had come from Assam to talk to him on the demands of the United Liberation Front of Asom, which claims that its main goal is sovereignty for the state. That the process had gotten this far was significant itself the small group, which calls itself the Peoples Consultative Group, has been set up by Ulfa. It is representative of Ulfa, not of the people of Assam.
While we may debate on the level of support for the organisation in the rural areas of the state and there is no doubt that it does indeed exist there is little question of the groundswell of disappointment, unhappiness and confusion about what the group wants today: a far cry from its heady founding days in 1979 in Sibsagar, when it spoke in a mix of nationalism and Leftism about the need to break away from the shackles of Indias economic and political colonial structures.
The world has changed since then; so has the North-east and India; so has Assam.
Many have died in Assam, not only in fake encounters organised by security forces but also in direct clashes between Government forces and Ulfa, as well as in disappearances caused by security forces which have taken away men and women from villages in the name of security and questioning; and many have fallen prey to Ulfas bullets, its intimidation and extortionist ways.
Today, a number of Ulfa "people" men, women and children languish in jails in Assam not quite forgotten but those who were captured from Ulfa camps in Bhutanese territory in the December 2003 All Clear Operation launched by the Royal Bhutanese Army.
The tiny army smashed the organisation in the Himalayan kingdom where it had set up base for years, with the National Liberation Front of Bodoland and the Kamatapur Liberation Organization, and has forced it whether it acknowledges the fact or not to rethink its future and the strategy.
*****
Indira Raisom Goswami, better known as Mamoni Baideau affectionately in Assam, had her first meeting with Ulfa in 1993. It later took her to a camp in Nalbari where she was impressed with the way it was trying to organise people into road building and other economic activities. She had been troubled by Ulfas killing of a childhood friend Manabendra Sarma, the trade unionist, and Girish Goswami, a bank officer who happened to be her cousin in a bank robbery, in those early days. But being a writer and person with rich experiences of India and the world, being of an open mind, she kept meeting them to hear their viewpoints.
I do not know if she is still convinced by Ulfas defence of those murders. But over the past years, she has been in touch with Ulfa and more specifically Paresh Baruah, the commander in chief of the army. And she is deeply concerned by what she saw as the human tragedy caused by the Indian security presence, the poverty in the villages of Assam and by what she calls the human hurt among families caused by the Bhutan operation. Of course, one cannot forget the hurt and bitterness caused by militant killings of those who did not agree with them.
Indira Goswami, Jyanpeeth winner and celebrated novelist and writer, wrote to the then Prime Minister AB Vajpayee opposing the Bhutan operation; several of us issued calls for the sanctity of the human rights of those captured, for the safe treatment of especially women and children who were captured by the Bhutanese and handed over to Indian authorities. We did not receive any response from the government.
But over the past year, Indira Goswami has worked tirelessly and at great personal cost: her writing has been affected as has her life, with hundreds of calls and visitors from all sides bombarding her with views, criticism, indifference, support and even anger to try and bring the Centre and Ulfa to the negotiating table. This has not happened directly so far but through a proxy group, the PCG, and this process should be supported. It should be backed so that it moves quickly to the next stage of direct negotiations between Ulfa and New Delhi.
The daily struggles of Assams marginalised and poor who are more concerned about survival and a decent life of dignity, reasonable income and honour than of a vague concept of "sovereignty".
I travel extensively through the North-east (Ive covered at least 20,000 km in the past four months): people want to live with a decent income and food security (many go to bed hungry or on one major meal a day, not two) they want better connections and road connectivity, farmers want chilling units for their meat, vegetable and fruit products so that these dont rot and processing plants next door so they can get value addition and roads and truck transport to send them to the nearest market; young people want better schools and teachers as well as interconnectivity through the Internet.
They want to compete, to move forward and out while retaining the values of the traditions. Ulfa and its acolytes must understand these ground realities. There is also a Lakshman rekha for the Government of India and Indians.
I am including people like myself who consider themselves Indians and are proud to be so, instead of getting into convoluted arguments about "layered sovereignty".
We oppose the many manipulations and schemes of government to divide people. But we support the idea of democracy, open governance, "One nation, may peoples".
Greater autonomy and freedom to the states and the people are a must and we must find ways of enabling this to happen. Otherwise India cannot progress, well have islands of prosperity and seas of despair.
The idea and theories as are coming out of the PCGs conversations with the "public" are interesting and confusing (pobably some thousand responses while the population of Assam is 27 million and a representative sample survey on such issues cannot be less than a few lakh).
They have a role in discussion and enabling the process of regional and national change.
*****
This was put beautifully by the Prime Minister on the afternoon of 26 October to the PCG (it has already had a meeting with National Security Adviser MK Narayanan for meeting Dr Manmohan Singh for about 20 minutes). He delineated the challenge, the opportunity and the hope in two exquisite sentences that took the PCG by surprise. "I am willing to listen to whatever concerns that you have. I am a servant of the Constitution and you should recognise the complexity of our polity."
Without all the noise about core issues and sovereignty, Dr Singh, with firmness and grace, laid out the roadmap to the group.
This needs support because it demonstrates goodwill, dignity and flexibility. Ulfa should show these qualities in its response and a PCG spokesman indicated that the problem could be settled "through sustained political dialogue".
The next steps: a full and unconditional ceasefire by both sides and, through more talks between the government and the PCG, enable direct dialogue between Ulfa leaders and the Centre and Assam..
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