Heroes rise and heroes fall. This piece is for one
such hero who has fallen from grace in such a manner that he is now a criminal
to scores of people whom he set out to emancipate. I am one of those scores of
people. And our criminal is Paresh Baruah.
The recent news of a Bangladeshi court sentencing
ULFA’S commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah to death over his involvement in a
major smuggling case in 2004, got me thinking as to how a man who was once
revered by thousands, is today remembered as perhaps one of the biggest black
sheep that Assam has produced post India’s independence. Baruah was awarded the
capital punishment along with 13 other people who included Bangladesh’s former
ministers. And all this while he is snugged up somewhere away in Myanmar and
perhaps dreaming of ruling over an independent Assam through the aegis of a
regime a la the Khmer Rouge.
The man was once more respected than feared among
the Assamese people, who saw in him their liberator. He gave the disgruntled
youth of the land a reason to fight and assert themselves. He and his comrades
once started a revolution that fired up the imaginations of the youth of the
Assamese nation. But where has it all landed today? Today the newer generation
of Assamese wants to forget all that happened about two decades back as a bad
dream and move on. A case here being our last Republic Day. Throughout my
childhood, Republic Day and Independence Day were seen as days to stay indoors,
partly because there was always calls for shutdown by the ULFA and other such groups,
and secondly nobody wanted to be blown up by some bomb. But this year, people
came out in large numbers all over Assam, enjoyed themselves and dismissed off
Paresh Baruah and the ULFA as nothing but trouble mongers. Yes, they still fear
ULFA for the bomb blasts that it can carry out from time to time. But yes, they
also regard them as traitors.
While some of his comrades were forced to move over
to the Indian government’s side some time back, Paresh and his troop of
comrades continued to carry the battle from their camps in Myanmar while being
aided by Pakistan and China. The ULFA boys had a golden run in Bangladesh for
more than a decade. They had camps there, support by the Islamists and parties
like the BNP, and had started businesses running into millions which
facilitated their campaigns against India. Baruah, under the garb of Zaman
Bhai, ran a profitable hotel business there and owned a transport business
which is perhaps one of the largest in the country. All that changed with the
coming of the Awami League to power when all their work began to be busted one
by one. And now this death sentence has come as a final blow to Baruah from
Bangladesh.
For year as Baruah and the other ULFA honchos
enjoyed the comforts in Bangladesh, embittered young boys and girls, without
proper education or employment, were being recruited in Assam to run the
organisation’s operations. The decade of 90s was particularly gloomy in this
regard. Bomb blasts and violence were a common norm, in which mostly innocent
civilians died. The ULFA began its revolution mainly on the issue of driving
away foreigners (illegal Bangladeshis) from the land. What they ended up doing
was killing poor Biharis and extorting from wealthy Marwaris. And while the Assamese
people continued to suffer, the ULFA leaders under Baruah continued to live a
wealthy lifestyle in Bangladesh and illegal Bangladeshis continued to prosper
in Assam.
Baruah’s family still reportedly lives in Bangladesh.
Having reportedly converted to Islam, the family now lives in secrecy under the
protection of the Islamists. The Indian government has not been successful in
luring them over to the Indian side of the border. Apart from Baruah’s family,
the jailed ULFA leader Anup Chetia’s family is also based in Bangladesh
currently.
Now what does the future hold for all? Well while
the surrendered ULFA faction under Arabinda Rajkhowa is slowly transforming
themselves into power breakers in Assam’s politics, ULFA-I (Independent) under
Baruah is still carrying on the fight from Myanmar while trying to lure the
youth of the state and sneaking in explosives into Guwahati and other parts.
While currently, the Bodo militants seem to have stolen ULFA’s thunder in the
state, Baruah still remains the biggest factor to instability and chaos in
Assam. This new court order is not a good sign for Baruah. With Bhutan closing
its doors towards Indian militants in 2003, Bangladesh has also decided to shut
the doors on the ULFA. Now Myanmar is their last hope and the Indian government
better act fast in this regard. Till definitive steps are taken, men like
Baruah will continue their efforts to brainwash the youth and create anarchy in
the state.
The ULFA was a revolution that has gone horribly
wrong. It was a dream that went sore after top leaders like Baruah transformed
themselves from freedom fighters to mercenaries for states like Pakistan and
China. I rarely come across a person nowadays who doesn’t curses Baruah and the
ULFA for the troubles they put Assam into. They are traitors to the Assamese
people. They are traitors to me.
One last advice to Baruah in these tough times.
Always keep a gun close to yourself. Shoot yourself before one of us does and
rips you apart.
