The ‘Apology’

It has taken ULFA ‘c-in-c’ Paresh Baruah over five years, since the cowardly Dhemaji blast of August 15, 2004 that killed 15 schoolchildren, to ‘‘apologize’’ for, what he said in an e-mail, ‘‘the darkest chapter in ULFA’s history’’. He said that the ULFA leadership ‘‘was misled by those involved in the attack directly’’. Was the ULFA leadership in Bangladesh also misled by cadres back home in every single of the attacks on innocent people? But what is more pertinent is whether ULFA cadres organize mass killing of innocent people without the sanction of the top leadership. Then what kind of organization is this, in which the ‘c-in-c’ is in the dark about major terror plans and a motley group of ULFA members and operatives go about bombing innocent people, sparing not even children, so rampantly?

An apology for the heinous act, that too after five long years, cannot redefine Paresh Baruah’s status as the recalcitrant ‘c-in-c’ of an insurgent-turned-terror outfit. A civilized society cannot forgive a crime of the Dhemaji enormity. Therefore, Baruah’s highly belated apology does not really matter. What matters is how in the aftermath of the Dhemaji incident the people of the State were introduced to the ULFA’s true colour — an outfit that had mutated to a sheer terror front desperate to prove its might by going to the extent of killing even children. What matters is how the people of the State, especially the younger generation, have rejected the ULFA’s ‘sovereignty’ notion. What matters is the idea of India in the mind of the aspiring Assamese youth, who is a proud Indian. THE SENTINEL