It is high time the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) should give serious thought to read the writings on the wall. The people of Assam are fed up, horror-struck and bitter with its sample of revolution and freedom struggle for an independent Assam. But oblivious to the people's aspirations, the militant group has so far not cared to show even the slightest regard to the wishes of the people for whom they are demanding a sovereign Assam. It is a clear that the people of Assam, barring a microscopic number have not authorised ULFA to forge out an independent Assam for them. The Assamese think they are already an independent people of the Indian State. Since the early 90s, the patriotic and right-thinking people of Assam have time and again been demonstrating their true feeling against mindless terrorism and killing spree of this secessionist outfit. Very recently the Asom Maha Sanmilan convened by the State's apex literary body Asam Sahitya Sabha has boldly asserted that Assam is an inalienable part of India. But the outfit is adamantly continuing its violent activities. After a series of continuous bomb blasts almost every other day, people have come out on the streets demonstrating against the ULFA-perpetrated mayhem. The exasperated people shouted slogans like, 'Drive out ULFA', 'Down with ULFA's terrorism', 'ULFA is ISI's agent' and even 'Hang Paresh and Arabinda' etc. Both in Upper and Lower Assam, people have given chase to killer ULFA cadres in recent times and even lynched them. The times have definitely changed. ULFA should think deeply over the aggressive mood of the people and realise its folly for its own good. It seems today that if the militants do not stop their armed struggle on the unarmed innocent masses of Assam, then the people may come out and rise unitedly in the form of a mass resistance against the anti-people activities of this anti-national outfit.

ULFA claims itself to be 'revolutionary' and 'liberation army' of Assam. In reality, to achieve both the above-mentioned qualifications one must be guided by high spirited ideology which alone can distinguish a revolutionary or a freedom fighter from the ordinary lot. Hence, simply taking up arms in the name of 'revolution' or 'liberation struggle' without having ideological strength can never make one worthy of the above rank. Were it so, then there would be no difference between a revolutionary and a dacoit or a liberation soldier and a murderer. While equipped with such high ideology one cannot afford to be merely trigger-happy or blood thirsty even though taking up arms sometimes becomes necessary for achieving revolutionary or patriotic cause. A revolutionary or a patriot uses arms as a last resort against a powerful opponent or enemy when all other non-violent ways have failed. Moreover, he uses arms only against an armed opponent. Unarmed, defenceless and innocent civilians can never be the target of a true revolutionary or a liberation soldier. He fights the powerful and does not attack the weak. This is the ideology for which he is different from a trigger-happy killer, and this is why his deeds are termed heroic.

But unfortunately in the case of ULFA we have seen nothing of the sort that can be termed as heroic. Instead, they have tortured and brutally killed a great many unarmed and innocent people till date with their sophisticated weapons in the name of revolution and liberation war since inception. Girish Goswami, Saurav Bora, Manabendra Sarma, Kamala Saikia, Kalipada Sen, Harlalka, T Raju, Sergei Gritchenko, Shabnam Kalita (child), Rashmi Bora, Sanjoy Ghose, Anil Baruah, Indra Mohan Hakasam and Sukleswar Medhi are some prominent names of such victims.

Mass graves discovered in many places of the State stand testimony to their ruthlessness and inhumanity. They so often talk about challenging the Indian Army. But there is not a single instance when they faced the Army heroically or fought a brave battle against the State armed machinery. As 'soldiers of Assam', the ULFA used the local villages as safe haven. But when the Army or police get wind of the fact and raid such villages to nab the militants, the latter always slip away and let the innocent and unarmed villagers face the brutality of the security forces. There is not an instance which can tell us that these 'soldiers of Assam' have faced the Indian Army with their sophisticated arms to protect the unarmed village folk- the people for whom they are supposed to liberate Assam.

So, just claiming themselves to be revolutionaries or members of a liberation army is nothing but a travesty of facts. Since the beginning of bomb blasts in cinema halls, passenger-filled buses and busy public places, besides the dastardly act of killing innocent women and children on Independence Day at Dhemaji in 2004 has established their criminal antecedents which indicates just the opposite of the word heroic. In the dictionary we find it as cowardice.

The series of bomb blasts and killing spree perpetrated by the ULFA in public places have undoubtedly proved one thing: This self-styled 'revolutionary' and 'liberation army' of Assam has no love or concern for Assam and her people, and it must have of late become a mercenary in the hands of some anti-Indian foreign force.

It is a fact that the people of Assam are against ULFA's propaganda of 'sovereign Assam'. During the Kargil War, when the Assamese rejected outright the ULFA's call to support Pakistan, the outfit should have been able to read the writing on the wall. Had they truely loved Assam, they would have shunned the path of senseless violence and secessionism, and instead concentrated in constructive activities for development of the State by showing proper respect to the people's wishes. But ULFA did just the opposite.

Secondly, those who truly love their land and the people cannot indulge in such heinous and mindless acts of violence like killing innocent masses, including children and women of their own land by bomb blasts in public places. Only a hostile foreign enemy would trigger such kind of explosions to destabilise the internal situation of a target country. India has no dearth of such enemies. If some local youth desirous of ushering in a 'revolution' in Assam have become stooges at the hands of some enemy, then they too have surely become nothing but enemies of Assam. The dastardly killing of children and women by ULFA on 15 August, 2004 at Dhemji has proved this fact beyond doubt. Since 2006, the bloodbaths caused by bomb blasts have become almost a regular affair in the State, especially in the capital city.

What can we surmise from the last 20 years of ULFA's activities? What kind of revolution, what kind of liberation war or what kind of ideology do they represent? Murder, dacoity, falsehood, hypocrisy? They challenge the Indian Army, but where do members of this self-styled 'army of Assam' hide when the Assamese people suffer so much during the devastating floods? Why do they not rescue or offer yeoman's service to the flood victims in place of the Indian Army? Since 1985 we have seen how these blood-thirsty elements have made Assam a killing field and mass grave yard. They robbed the people of Assam like thugs and dacoits and now their top brass are spending lavish lives in foreign countries. What fraternal feeling have they shown to the unemployed youths and poverty-stricken people of Assam after siphoning off crores of money from this region in the name of 'revolution' and 'liberation' of the people of Assam? We still remember vividly how the irresponsible misdeeds of this outfit heralded Army operation in Assam in the early 90s, for which the people of this region had to suffer a lot.

Today, these self-styled 'freedom fighters' have crossed limits by indulging in diabolical crimes like killing of children, women and other civilians which proves that they are nothing but mercenaries. It is also observed that they are not interested in peace talks either. It seems they just want to keep alive the chaotic and disturbed atmosphere.

But now it seems people's patience is at the tether's end.

Nevertheless, the silver lining on the dark cloud is that the conscientious and right-thinking people have started coming out unitedly in the form of mass resistance. One such example is Assam Public Works (APW)-an anti-terrorist organisation comprising mostly of relatives of ULFA victims. The time has come for ULFA and such other elements to read the writings on the wall. It is expected good sense will ultimately prevail and the wayward youths will be prudent enough to come forward for peace talks provided they have any regard for the sentiments of the Assamese people.

Courtesy: www.assamtribune.com, July 13, 2007