by Nava Thakuria
Guwahati: Observing the Sibsagar incident, where a community was compelled to apologise for a crime committed by some individuals in the presence of a State minister, Patriotic Peoples’ Front Assam (PPFA) expressed dismay that some people continue the same old theory of hatred against outsiders (non-Assamese Indians) since the days of Assam agitation.
The forum of nationalist citizens in northeast Bharat also pointed out that those Assamese-centric agitators would never raise legitimate voices against the illegal foreigners from Bangladesh, who have slowly challenged the entire Assamese culture with changing demography since 1951.
“First thing first the accused individuals (who physically assaulted a minor female arm wrestler at Babupatty in Sibsagar of eastern Assam on 13 August 2024) must be punished under the law, and due legal process has already begun.” But how can the entire community (read Marwari) of those accused persons be made responsible and apologise to the locals?
More shockingly, how an Assam minister could endorse such an act (where some aged males & females had to kneel for the public apology) in his presence?” said a media statement issued by the PPFA, putting a valid question- if tomorrow some Assamese youths, working outside the State, do crimes, should the entire community has to tender regrets.
The forum argues that the agitators, who instigated thousands of residents to hit the streets demanding justice for the victim girl, may now stand behind a corrected National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam with the nationally approved base year. Since the days of the historic Assam movement, it’s observed that the local community leaders remain apprehensive about the Hindi-speaking residents in the State. Still, they are too soft for the illegal migrants. The classic example was the Assam Accord (signed in the presence of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to culminate the six years of agitation in 1985 after hundreds made supreme sacrifice), which agreed to recognise hundreds of thousands of East Pakistani nationals (who entered Assam till 21 March 1971) as Indians and to allow to live in Assam, concluded the PPFA statement.
(The Author is a PEC award winning journalist based in Guwahati, India; can be contacted: navathakuria@gmail.com)
