Of ULFA and Peace

As news come that the ULFA has sat down somewhere in Nalbari district of Assam to discuss the proposed peace talks. We in Fried Eye have maintained a complete silence over the issue as the whole scene is somewhat murky. Nobody actually knows what is the exact solution to the problem of terrorism. The Govt. of India allegedly applied diplomatic pressure to Bhutan and Bangladesh Governments and they did clean out operations in their respective countries and the leaders of ULFA were arrested by Indian Army. Even after arresting the main leaders, peace could not be guaranteed and so it was a very delicate issue to be handled very carefully. The Govt. is showing exceptional tolerance and handling the issue diplomatically but with a strong mind.

When the leaders were arrested, Assam saw a very vulgar scene when supporters of ULFA came out in open and paid honours to these leaders as if they have done something very great. Many intellectuals condemned this, but at the same time there were some who were avoiding the fact that the leaders did not surrender at will but were a sort of arrested. The supporters should understand that they are criminals in the eyes of law and they have killed many people, and no cause however great can justify the killings of innocent peoples. Moreover, it could lead to legal actions to the supporters also.

As the leaders are out in bail, they have made it clear in their statements that they can go back if the peace talks fail. As they say, “Once a terrorist, always a terrorist.” We have to be careful on what the ULFA says. On the positive side, the year started peacefully with no substantial violence in the first month. However, we still have to be careful as anytime anything may happen.

Having said all this, I am still hopeful that peace will prevail in Assam with shrewd political leadership in place.

Pramathesh Borkotoky
Editor-in-Chief
Fried Eye

pramathesh@friedeye.com

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