Dear Mahanta Sir,
Here is an article for your information
(http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=199&page=14).
Regards,
Nava Thakuria,
Guwahati, India
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*Defying diktat to celebrate the Independence*
* *
*By Nava Thakuria*
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
north-east based banned armed groups namely the Kamatapur Liberation
Organisation, Manipur People's Liberation Front, Tripura People's Democratic
Front and the United Liberation Front of Assam 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 day-long 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 labourers (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. 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-hour
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. Four explosions took
place nearer to the Independence Day celebration ground at Gauripur (under
Dhubri district) and Bongaigaon in western Assam. The blasts at around nine
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 jawan was killed
there in militants' attack on August 15) and Assam 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 Assam 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.
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, Sushanta Talukdar, Dhanjit Kakoti, Pramod Kalita
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.
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