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Thursday, August 09, 2012

ETHNIC VIOLENCE IN ASSAM........


Blazing houses….homeless people…emaciated children……..makeshift tents….this is not my Assam…….I abhor these images……..
What is wrong with the world? Sixty fifth Independence Day celebrations are just a few days away and this is what we get to hear from the beautiful North East ! Racial violence ! The first fifteen years of my life spent in Assam is the most magnificent chapter of my life. That is precisely the reason why I am unable to relate to this ethnic violence and hostility.
I owe a lot to this state.I will remain indebted to Assam ,especially Tezpur, where I grew up literally, getting nurtured by the nature in every step during my schooldays.Beautiful people,beautiful faces,sweetness of the language,simplicity of their mannerism, sums up Assam for me. The ample expanse of green wherever we went and the picture perfect rawness of the landscape is still very clearly etched in my memory.It is by the virtue of those well spent years in Assam that I can still wield my pen to bring out the creative best in me. Political upheavals were always there but we never got the whiff of it while interacting with the Assamese people.Infact some of my Assamese teachers who were also my mother’s colleague, would often stay with us during Assam bandhs.I do not remember a single Assamese who ever spoke to us in a discourteous or boorish manner.
The ethnic clashes have distorted and blemished the tranquility and harmony of an otherwise balanced state.I am also pretty astounded at the role that our very dynamic media is playing, specially the print.  A furore of this intensity has been relegated to the fourth page of a leading daily. Well, media rules !! Stories such as 'molestation of a Guwahati girl' occupies a prominent space in the first page,not for one but for many consecutive days. But poor, helpless citizens running helter-skelter, in dirty clothes and eyes filled with tears,perhaps,not enough to enthuse the readers.
What is more inexcusable is the insensitive attitude of the central government towards the whole issue. Our esteemed and far-sighted politicians are still thinking about sending the army to control the situation.For goodness sake…its been three weeks already!!
Right now my mind is inundated with a mixture of emotions.The excruciating pain and suffering that I see on the beautiful faces is intolerable. People have lost their homes and belongings , their near and dear ones and most of all ,their hope. It is very easy to write about this tumultuous state of affairs sitting inside the comfort of my living area .I feel so helpless and powerless. Those who have the power to bring this situation under control are busy maligning each other inside the parliament.Even the otherwise poised and well mannered Sonia Gandhi is seen behaving quite erroneously while boosting her party members to ‘shout’ against some objectionable words. But the point is, who will take care of the state which lies in the North - East and needs an immediate attention ?
I am sure, beneath such lovely and beautiful disposition of the Assamese people lies a very strong heart and an indomitable willpower.May God bless them with tolerance and love. Hopefully,with a bit of luck,life will get back to normalcy very soon.All the best Assam………..

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