Befitting reply to boycott call, scribes celebrate Republic Day Guwahati, January 26: Journalists and other patriotic citizens gathered in the Guwahati Press Club premises on Thursday to celebrate the Republic Day in what can be called yet another befitting reply to the boycott-mongering militants. Hoisting the National Tricolour, senior journalist Hiten Mahanta said it is the courage and determination of the people that has again and again foiled secessionist attempts to arm-twist the patriots not to celebrate the Independence and Republic Days. Because, at the end of the day, it is the people upon whose support insurgency survives. Without people’s support insurgency withers away. So, Army and other security operations are only one side of the story, Mahanta pointed out and added that insurgency is a failure because there was no taker among the people to the call for an independent Assam. Even the handful of journalists, who at one time sided with the militants, have now changed their tone in sync with the changed situation. Earlier, senior journalist Rupam Baruah explained the significance of the Day and underscored the need to remember the martyrs who died in those days to make sure the fellow countrymen could live. Baruah also deplored the move by some circles to portray Jana Gana Mana, the National Anthem, as a composition by Rabindra Nath Tagore to eulogize George the Fifth. It was a great patriotic song dedicated to the people of India, he asserted. Later, a procession was taken out, where the participants raised slogans upholding the concept of the Indian nationhood and condemning all moves to denounce it. Those who attended programme included Nava Thakuria, Ranen Kumar Goswami, Mukul Kalita, Sabita Lahkar, Dhiren Baruah, Jagadindra Ray Choudhury, Soumyadeep Dutta and Kishor Giri. _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
