Sister Concern
ULFAs exiled commander-in-chief Paresh Baruahs sister is
contesting panchayat polls. She says she wants development, not a
sovereign Assam
TERESA REHMAN
Tinsukia, Assam
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main37.asp?filename=Ne260108sister_concern.asp
GO AHEAD, but be courteous and respectful to everyone. That is the
advice that Hirawati Baruah Chetia, sister of United Liberation Front
of Asom (ULFA) commander- in-chief Paresh Baruah, remembers her mother
gave her as she stepped into the fray of the panchayat polls. But isnt
she contesting under the Constitution, which her brother had rejected
in 1979 when he launched his struggle for a Sovereign Assam?
I am a simple person and have come forward to serve the people,
replies Chetia. I havent met my brother for the past 28 years nor
have I ever sought his advice. I wouldnt even recognise him if I saw
him now. Like others, I learned that he had left India to struggle for
the country from the newspapers.
An unassuming mother of three, 44-yearold Chetia is a
well-liked figure in her village, Panitola Borchapori Betoroni. Her
hopes from a panchayat election win are basic improving roads,
healthcare, education, working conditions for weavers and setting up a
rural library. As a social worker active with the Asom Gana Parishad
(AGP) for the past decade, her decision to contest for the
Baruaholagaon panchayat in Tinsukia district has surprised few.
But does she agree with her brothers principles? I dont
think I am qualified to comment on his activities. He never discussed
with us the reasons why he left everything to wage his struggle. My
parents also failed to understand why he had to do this because he
always got what he wanted, she says.
Paresh Baruah had worked as a railway porter from 1978 to 1982, and
also as a labourer for Oil India at Duliajan. He used to stay with a
group of friends in a rented house while he was working. We did not
know who he met then and what he used to discuss with them, she
recalls.
Chetia remembers Paresh, elder to her by four years, as a
strict, nononsense, short-tempered man of few words. I used to be
very scared of him. He was very particular that I not hang around and
chat with my friends after school. He would tell me to come home
straight after school got out or stop going there altogether, she
says.
We never had peace at home. One brother left home to become an
insurgent and another Dinesh who got a job in the railways through
the sports quota, was found dead after unidentified gunmen took him
away on February 19, 1994. But my mother manages to remain happy as
she feels both her sons have been sacrificed in the cause of the
country. Of course, we miss them. But we know we cant get them back.
Did her family face harassment from the security forces? Yes,
they used to trouble us, Chetia replies. I still remember a few
policemen hanging around at my wedding, hoping my brother would come.
Didnt her parents find it difficult to find a suitable match for her,
considering she was the sister of Assams most-wanted militant?
She says people did not know much about her brother then as ULFA wasnt
very well known at the time. It is her children now who keep asking about
their famous uncle.
She recalls how she and her four brothers all used to excel at
sports. You can say we had a team at home. While he was in school,
Paresh was just too busy with football and volleyball. He hardly spent
time at home. He used to go to Bombay, Calcutta, Punjab and Kashmir to
play in tournaments. He once got a jacket for me from Kashmir,
something that I still treasure.
Chetia says Paresh had a good sense of humour and would often
tease younger boys and elderly women. But his aversion for hard labour
was one of his characteristic traits. Once my mother asked him to
carry rice sheaves from the field and I still remember what he said.
He said he was ready to wash even the clothes worn by women but he
wouldnt carry a heavy load on his shoulders.
SO, DOES she expect to win? Will she get votes because she is
Paresh Baruahs sister? Her response is emphatic. No, people look at
me as Hirawati Baruah Chetia and not as Paresh Baruahs sister. People
will judge me on the basis of the service I have rendered to the
community. I have my own credentials.
Bhaben Barua, a former legislator from the constituency, is all
praise for her. She is very articulate and active. I am confident she
will win and we might even nominate her to the central committee of
the AGP. But Chetia doesnt have any such ambitions. I will contest
only the panchayat polls to help my village to develop. I will not go
beyond that as I am not educated enough and I have family
obligations, she says.
Chetia couldnt study beyond Class X as her father was ill and
wanted to marry off his only daughter. I took the Board exams once
but I failed. Maybe I was a dull student. My brother used to encourage
me to study, she says. But shes happy at the way reservation has
helped women to come forward to contest polls.
What does she think about the path of violence her brother has
adopted? I dont know much about it, she replies. I really dont
know what he discussed with his associates and why he decided to
choose this path.
WRITERS E-MAIL
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Umesh Sharma
Washington D.C.
1-202-215-4328 [Cell]
Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005
http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/index.html (Edu info)
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/ (Management Info)
www.gse.harvard.edu/iep (where the above 2 are used )
http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/
http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
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