Diwali is finally over and everything was well when a set of blasts ripped through Assam, especially Guwahati. The 2008 Assam bombings occurred on October 30, 2008, before noon in markets in Guwahati city and the surrounding area of western Assam. Reports indicated as many as eighteen bombs went off, causing at least 81 deaths and 470 injuries. This was the worst blast till date in Guwahati. This is what my friend Namrata had to say:
Friends, the act of brutality that we have witnessed is unprecedented in Assam. We all are shocked, disgusted, horrified and totally hopeless with the government structure on which our lives are dependent upon. People we know are dead – if not so this time, next time it can be and it maybe one of us. Anyone looking at the pictures of the dead is bound to have spasms in their heart. Friends, I know we all want to do something to make things better, to ensure that nothing like this is ever repeated again. To do that we need proper planning but there’s something we all can do today to show our love and care for the dead Axomiyas. There might have been Assamese speaking people, local Muslims, Marwaris, Biharis etc. among the victims but all of them are Axomiyas – this feeling of integrity is particularly essential in times like this. Let us all light a saki, diya whatever you may call it in front of our houses. It’s the least we can do to show that WE ALL CARE. Something is better than nothing my friends, please keep that in mind. We can follow it up with other events but for that we all need proper planning.
I would love to have your feedback and your comments on the events in our state. This is a small community so please forward the message to all those whom you know. I have expressed my views on the proceedings in Assam through the following lines, read it if you are interested:
“THE SOUL OF ASSAM is frozen due to the blasts. Friends, we being the students of a good school can do something to make things better. Seriously, we can make a difference and to do something we’ll have to get together: truly, unity is strength. Our people are hopeless: our government is hopeless, our police system is hopeless, and the entire government structure is flawed. Two instances I would like to give to highlight the insincerity on the part of our government:
1. The first Ganeshguri blast took place at 11:15 and was followed by the second an hour later. One hour gap: so much could have been done, but not by our policemen! Our policemen didn’t even have the common sense that the first blast may be followed by another and so the place should be cleared. What can we expect in a state where the majority of government jobs are obtained by bribing our fat MPs, MLAs and other govt. officials who in the first place came to power by bribing others??
2. Tarun Gogoi: WHAT A HOPELESS FIGURE TO LEAD US! Man, we’ve got to blame ourselves for electing him. Did you notice the indifference and proud attitude he had while commenting on the blasts saying that ‘yes, blasts do take place occasionally and we have the influx under control.” My foot, old man! Tarun knows that by handing out wine bottles and blankets to Bangladeshis the day before elections he can make it to the top. What more can we expect from a Congess man (this is not the same pre – independence Congess my friends)?
It’s a pity how people lost their lives. My relatives’ silk house was destroyed in front of the police station in Pan Bazar (that’s ironical, isn’t it? But the terrorists can plant bombs wherever they want, when ever they want (courts and police stations are no problem), we have hopeless officials to assist them!) and one person I know lost his life. Another person working there is battling for his life in GMC but chances of his survival are slim. I’ve heard that a girl who studies in our school has lost her mother. It was just fate that it wasn’t my or your mother. But the next time it can be yours. We have all the more reason to go out there and do something. Two things MUST be done:
1. First, our International border with Bangladesh should be sealed (in NE TV it was shown how stretches above 100 km were lying open with no fencing). Through these gaps, arms and ammunitions are being smuggled. I wonder how the govt. has done nothing about it? That’s probably because they’ve done nothing about anything apart from painting the road when Sonia or Manmohan arrives.
2. The security should be enhanced. In places like Ganeshguri where 19 blasts have taken place in the last 6yrs, parking vehicles shouldn’t be allowed after specific periods and vehicles should be checked regularly (I say regularly because we are living in Assam and not in Himachal Pradesh or Switzerland).
All of this is well known. But has anything been ever done? We have hopeless, greedy, pocket filling assholes sitting on the most responsible seats of our state. These people don’t know what reality is, my friends. I got this line in Amar Axom editorial, “Lankat gola ravana hoboi lagibo” or somewhat like that. Even good people become bad after getting fat bundles of money.
What more can I say? DO SOMETHING, RISE…I actually don’t find fault in people who turned to vandalism. They were those people who heard bombs exploding around them, saw people being burnt alive around them. They lost all fear of life and started protesting. What can you expect from people who’s anger upon the government, police, late arrival of ambulances and fire brigades had reached such a boiling point? Those were people who knew nothing will be done as nothing has been done all these years to stop terrorism. They knew something drastic had to be done. My heart, like yours, pains to see the skulls and limbs of people who should never have died. These were people bound to live meaningful and peaceful lives. For their sake, for our sake cause we never know if our heads or worse if our near one’s bodies will be lying charred and unidentifiable when the next string of blasts occur. If nothing is done they’ll sure occur as they’ve always occurred.”
This is what I had to say:
It is very sad to see the conditions of the people who and dead and those who are still writhing in pain in the Assam blasts. Does that remind us of something?
Yes, every time a blast has taken place, there is a confusion, a commotion and the govt just reassures the people that they will take action. But everything goes in vain. Little blasts have become such an “integrated” part of our life that they are passed off and forgotten, often without the criminals being arrested. It could possibly be the reason why the terrorists find it a very good place to try out their various experiments. Probably this is why, the most serious blast in the history of Assam took place. As usual, the bombs went of one after another, nobody in the govt was there to care. God knows what might happen in the future?
Also there is a great problem of illegal immigrants coming into India. The come in through every little gap or broken fencing in the border. The govt has taken least care to seal the border from the very beginning. Thousands of people stream into India every second, every minute, every day, every year. There is no one to put a check on them. They illegally settle here, get their ration cards and become Indian citizens. But in their heart, they really support the country they came from and do such horrendous acts. If they are citizens of India now, should they not be charged with treason?
A latest news report shows that the Border Security Forces are trying to defend the border from illegal migrants. Also, they are blocking cattle smuggling, which is a tough job. The BSF is complaining that they are spending most of their energy on stopping smuggling that they cannot block anything else. They feel that cattle smuggling should be legalised and that would solve their problems. Ok, then also legalise unchecked migration and make the border porous. Thou have no work to be done. Get lost! Let everyone stream in and out.
Now everything lies in our own hands how to solve these problems. Probably we should stage a big revolution. What do you all have to say?
What do you say?
Please don’t stay mum. Give a comment!
