--- Begin Message ---
*Published in Weekly Blitz, Dhaka, Bangladesh*
(
http://weeklyblitz.net/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1187788182&archive=&start_from=&ucat=3&cat=3
)
*Ban to celebrate I-Day** *
* *
*Nava Thakuria reporting from Northeast*
* *
If for a section of the armed outfits of the Northeast, it becomes a ritual
to impose a ban on the celebration of the Independence Day (and the Republic
Day), the counter-reactions by media persons also emerges equally true to
form and more significantly gains momentum day by day. The journalists of
the trouble torn state of Assam has not only started disapproving such
boycott calls in their media columns, but also assembling in press club to
observe the auspicious Days of India.
As the country prepared to celebrate its 61st Independence Day, four
Northeast based banned armed groups namely the Kamatapur Liberation
Organization, Manipur People's Liberation Front, Tripura Peoples Democratic
Front and the United Liberation Front of Asom called upon the people of
the region to 'boycott and prevent the celebration in any manner'. In a
joint statement, issued on August 10, the outfits also imposed a daylong
general strike throughout the region starting the midnight of August 14 as
a 'mark of solidarity against Indian colonial occupation and repression'.
Simultaneously with the boycott call, the militants stepped up violence in
various parts of Assam. The explosions and shootings in different places had
snatched away the lives of nearly 40 people on the eve of the Independence
Day. Other hundred were wounded in the incidents. Most of the victims were
identified as the migrant laborers (Hindu and Hindi speaking) from Northern
India. The police blamed ULFA and its ally Karbi Longri NC Hills
Liberation Front (KLNLF) for the transgression.
The incident invited strong condemnation from the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan
Singh to various organizations in the State including the All Assam Students
Union and others. Meanwhile, a dawn to dusk Assam Bandh was observed in
protest against the killing of common people in the State. Called by
Purvottar Hindustani Sanmilan, Bhojpuri Yuva Chatra Parishad, Bihari Yuva
Manch and Kamrup Chamber of Commerce, the 12 hours Bandh passed off
peacefully on August 14. The ULFA militants received international media
headlines, while killing nearly hundred people in the first month of the
year on the eve of the Republic Day.
The militants belonged to ULFA did not forget to carry out expositions on
the I-Day too. Four explosions took place nearer to the I-Day celebration
ground at Gauripur (under Dhubri district) and Bongaigaon in western Assam.
The blasts at around 9 in the morning, of course, did not claim any
casualties though reportedly injuring two persons. Meanwhile, huge amounts
of explosives were recovered from Kharupetia, Mangaldoi and Sivsagar
localities.
But the violence and the diktat of militants could not prevent the people of
the region to come forward to observe the Day. The habitants of Mizoram,
Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and also the presently insurgency
stricken States like Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura (one CRPF jowan was killed
there in militants' attack on August 15) and Asom came forward and
participated in the celebration.
The journalist and citizens of Assam gathered in Guwahati Press Club
premises to mark the 61st anniversary of Indian Independence Day. Noted
litterateur Nirupama Borgohain unfurled the Tri-colour amidst an impressive
gathering. Hoisting the flag, Ms Borgohain underlined the significance of
Independence Day celebrations in today's context and she called upon the
young generations to emulate the ideals upheld by the freedom fighters. The
people should come forward overcoming all threats issued by certain quarters
to uphold the spirit of the freedom struggle, she asserted. Earlier the
veteran journalist DN Chakrabarty led the rituals to pay tributes to the
martyrs of the freedom movement, who faced all sorts of torture of the
colonial rulers to make the country free.
The participants also carried out a procession through the main streets of
Guwahati holding the banners reading 'Uphold the dignity of the National
flag.' They also chanted slogans like Vande Mataram, Jai Hind, Bharat Mata
Ki Jai. The conscious citizens in various parts of Guwahati in particular
and Asom in general demonstrated great zeal in upholding the cause espoused
by the freedom fighters on the occasion of the Day. They organized community
celebrations too at their respective localities with great enthusiasm and
hoisted the national Tri-colour atop their houses. Guwahati, for the first
time in the last two decades, witnessed community celebrations of
Independence Day in more than ten localities.
It may mentioned that 16 senior journalists and columnists of Assam had
appealed to the people to come out to defy the militants' diktat and 'hoist
the National Tricolour on the Day atop their houses and also to organize
community celebrations in their respective localities'. In a press statement
they argued that 'the people of the State have every right to celebrate the
Day'. "We have inherited the spirit of the freedom fighters who had made
immense sacrifices and a good number of whom, like Kushal Konwar and
Kanaklata, had even laid down their lives to free the country from the
clutches of colonial rulers," added in the statement.
Signed by Nirupama Borgohain (Sahitya Academy awardee columnist), DN
Bezboruah (former President, Editors Guild of India), DN Chakrabarty (former
editor of Dainik Asom) with Ajit Patowary, Rupam Baruah, Ranen Kumar
Goswami, Hiten Mahanta with others, the statement also stated that the
Independence Day this time added significance as it coincided with the birth
centenary celebrations of the great revolutionary martyr Bhagat Singh.
*Posted on 22 Aug 2007 by Root*
--- End Message ---
_______________________________________________
assam mailing list
[email protected]
http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
