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| The bronze statues of the 13 victims of the blast at the Children Educational and Career Development Centre at Dhemaji. A Telegraph picture |
Guwahati/Sivasagar, Dec. 13: Over five years after his cadres triggered a blast that killed 10 children during the Independence Day celebrations at Dhemaji, Ulfa commander-in-chief Paresh Barua today apologised to the people of Assam for the barbaric act.
Barua, however, blamed some of the former cadres of the outfit for the blast and said they had misled the top Ulfa leadership by saying it was done by the government machinery to defame Ulfa in the eyes of the people of Assam.
He said that on the basis of statements made by former cadres, the militant outfit had denied its involvement in the Dhemaji blast.
“Those who committed the barbaric act are presently trying to project themselves before the public as well as media as advocates for peace and that the Dhemaji blast was a blunder for Ulfa. Now that reality has come to light that our stand on the blast was wrong. So we seek forgiveness from the people of Assam,” the Ulfa military chief said in a statement.
The statement was made just days after some parents and guardians of the Dhemaji blast victims described the outfit as nothing more than murderers.
The blast that was triggered at the Dhemaji College playground, where the official Independence Day function was being held on August 15, 2004, was one of the many instances when the militant outfit earned notoriety for targeting children and other civilians
Terming the Dhemaji blast a black chapter in the history of Ulfa’s revolution for a “sovereign” Assam, Barua said the sacrifices of children were “supreme” and victims would remain as torchbearers.
“Now the only solution for the victims’ souls to rest in peace is to create an independent, sovereign Assam. For the sake of supreme sacrifices of the innocent children, we are determined to achieve our goal even at the cost of our lives,” he said.
The Ulfa military chief said the prime objective behind committing a barbaric act like the Dhemaji blast by a section of former rebels was not only to defame the rebel outfit but also to derail the revolutionary struggle of the group for the people of Assam.
He said the act was committed without any instruction from the Ulfa top brass and at the instigation of the “colonial forces of India”.
“The people of Assam has come to know the real character of the perpetrators of the Dhemaji blast who are now trying to project themselves as harbingers of peace. This bunch of former cadres of the outfit have shamelessly surrendered to the Indian forces,” he said.
Barua also appealed to the people of Assam to remain vigilant and co-operate with the militant outfit to prevent such a heinous crime by a section of “counter revolutionary” forces within the outfit at the instigation of the government machinery.
On the other hand, the family members of Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa today alleged that they had not been given permission to meet his wife and her two children even after availing permission from a Guwahati court.
The family members of Rajkhowa, including his eldest sister-in-law Bharati Rajkonwari, youngest sister-in-law Junmoni Rajkonwari, wife of his nephew Miju Gogoi had gone to meet Rajkhowa’s wife Kaberi and her two sons, who are in protective custody of the police, on December 10 with the court order.
However, the policemen guarding them refused to allow them to meet the arrested Ulfa chairman’s family.
“The biggest problem which we are facing is from my mother. After my wife and other members of the team came back from Guwahati this morning, my mother asked them many questions, repeatedly asking about Rajib’s (Arabinda) family members,” Ajoy Rajkonwar, the brother of Arabinda Rajkhowa, said.
“Why is the government adopting double standards? It has been a painful two days running from pillar to post to meet Rajib’s family,” Junmoni said.