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Soaring Terroristic Violence in Assam
Published on September 29, 2006 By Mmehak In Welcome
Article :
Soaring Terroristic Violence in Assam

„F 379 houses are set ablaze by DHD militants in six villages of Mohendijua and Lunhnit areas in the Karbi Anglong district.
„F A group of 100 to 150 armed persons enters the Kheroni village, inhabited by the Dimasa tribe, and open indiscriminate fire killing 6 persons on the spot. Nearly 60 houses also set ablaze by the miscreants.
„F Suspected NDFB and ULFA terrorists trigger a series of bomb blasts and open indiscriminate firing at various places in lower Assam killing at least 24 people and wounding over 40.
„F ULFA triggers off a series of bomb blasts in different districts of Assam, killing 6 persons and injuring 80 others.
„F 6 civilians are killed and 55 others injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast set-off by ULFA terrorists under a passenger bus.
„F Suspected ULFA terrorists attack an oil storage depot and a gas pipeline in Tinsukia district, causing a loss of approximately Rupees 200 million to the Indian Oil Corporation.
„F Suspected ULFA terrorists near Sadiya kill 28 Hindi-speaking traders and farm workers from Bihar.
„F 22 persons -- a majority of them non-Assamese, including eight Bihari truck drivers ¡V are killed in three separate massacres in the Bongaigaon district.
„F More than 17,000 people have fled their homes in northeast India's Assam state to escape attacks on Hindi-speaking settlers by Assamese mobs and rebels. Violence erupted between the Assamese and Bihari groups. The immediate cause of the clashes is competition over jobs at the state-run railways.

This list is long, too long to be fully included. Many of the attacks are the work of rebels from the United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa).

Factually, before February 24, 1826, the Assamese nationality rather grew in isolation, and the people of Assam were proud of having their historic, racial, ethnic and cultural heritage. Later, Assam became a part of the present India, being constituted by the India Independence Act of 1947.

The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) believes that Assam was historically never a part of India. ULFA is skilled in the art of extortion, kidnapping, intimidation of common citizens and political murders. It operates from its bases in Southern Bhutan and Bangladesh. It is also part of various umbrella organizations of secessionist groups. Its functionality is active in Assam, Meghalaya and upper Arunachal Pradesh.

Need to Tackle Unemployment to Curb the Violence: When local newspapers in Maharashtra carried reports that around six lakh youth from Bihar and other northern states camping at Mumbai central railway station to try their luck for jobs in the Western Railway, Shiv Sena activists attacked the Chairman of the Railway Recruitment Board and ransacked the railway offices in Mumbai.

The incidents of mob violence in Assam are very common these days and hence must be curbed firmly, but it needs to be pointed out that the growing unemployment in the country, unless tackled, can lead to more unrest. Local youth obviously do not like ¡§outsiders¡¨ snatching away jobs, which they think are meant for them. This has led to protests and violence in the two states.

Essentially, insurgency through acts of terrorism aims to disrupt the prevalent political order and establish a new one. In order to achieve this objective, the insurgents invariably kill ordinary citizens because the state is unable to guarantee their protection against such anti-national elements. These ordinary citizens are therefore 'soft' targets unlike the ministers and other VIPs who are adequately guarded and are deemed as 'hard' targets by the militants.

PEACE PROCESSES: An NGO called Assam Public Works has begun a signature campaign, so people across the state can speak out. They say, "We are unhappy about the army operations but we can't just blame the government. The ULFA is far guiltier so we are coming to people. We will roam around for two months and collect more than 20 lakh signatures. People of Assam want to say something but they cannot because they are scared of the gun. Most of them are going against ULFA and are for the government¡¨. So far, most people have signed against ULFA. In addition, ironically, the NGO includes family members of 202 ULFA cadres.

Army deployed as violence continues in Assam: The Centre is monitoring the situation of Assam and directed the Assam Government to take all measures to check violence and provide protection to the residing public. Army has been deployed in Assam¡¦s vulnerable areas. Maintaining the peace should obviously be the first priority of the governments in the two states. Though the killings were viewed as panic acts, the Government did not take any chances and reinforced all steps to curb their activity.

The Governors of Assam and Bihar, in a joint statement called for calm, appealing to the common people and the obligation not to damage national unity and brotherhood. They said, "We are greatly pained and perturbed over the violence unleashed in both the States. We are forgetting that we are all children of Bharat Mata and there is only one citizenship. We are all Indians first and Indians last''. Both appealed to the youth for unity.

P.M. says, ¡§Time to end violence in Assam¡¨ Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in all support said the government is willing to discuss 'all issues bothering' Assam but within the framework of the Constitution. He says, ¡§I am willing to listen (to) whatever concerns that you made. I am a servant of our Constitution. The time has come to end violence in the north-eastern states. Let us work together to bring a glorious chapter for the people of Assam.¡¨

I think, all those who have a gain in keeping the State bleeding are perpetrating the violence in Assam. The insurgency is no more against the foreigners, but has become an industry for the militants. If socio-economic development has to be brought in and the security environment improved upon, then the nexus between the politicians and insurgents has to be broken. However, it is easier said then done. Only a strong determination on the part of political parties to overcome their narrow goals in the interest of the nation's integrity can restore normalcy in Assam and other parts of its region.

The violence perpetrated by the insurgents can be countered but rectification of democratic process has to come from within. As long as political expediency takes precedence over national interest, the Assam cauldron will continue to simmer.

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