One of the fasting women breaks down. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, April 26: Malini Ingtipi sobbed as she took a sip from a glass of fruit juice, ending a 35-day fast that she and the wives of five more “missing” Ulfa militants had started to pressure the government into revealing the whereabouts of their husbands.

“What else could we do? The chief minister sent us a letter and the health minister personally assured us that the government would look into our demands. We hope it keeps its word,” Malini, alias Hema, said at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.

It was a long-awaited moment of relief for the government and a setback of sorts to Ulfa’s attempts to whip up public sentiments through these women. The banned outfit could come under more strain tomorrow with families of victims of violence in Assam deciding to hit the streets.

Tarun Gogoi said in his letter to the fasting women — delivered by health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma — that the government had already submitted to Gauhati High Court all information available with it about the missing Ulfa members. He promised to abide by the court’s verdict in the case, “continue” the search for information about the missing men and do everything possible to secure the future of their children.

The Ulfa members went missing from Bhutan during a military operation to flush out militants in December 2003. Malini, wife of senior Ulfa functionary Ashanta Baghphukan, said she was initially sceptical about the government’s assurances. “But we believe in human goodness and hope the government will not break our trust,” she added.

The People’s Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam, which had lined up a series of demonstrations in support of the Ulfa members’ wives, was guarded in its reaction.

“We have to know exactly what the government has promised the women,” Lachit Bordoloi, one of the leaders of the group, said.

While one drama ended, another unfolded elsewhere. Families of people who died in acts of violence by Ulfa announced that they would hold a sit-in demonstration at Dispur Last Gate tomorrow against the wave of attacks on innocents over the past decade and more. At least 184 families, including parents of children killed in the Independence Day bomb blast in Dhemaji in 2004, will participate in the demonstration.

“We have noticed that a group of people and human rights organisations have taken a one-sided stand on the Ulfa issue. We will appeal to them to take a very objective view of the whole issue,” said Akashitora Datta, whose father Kamala Saikia was killed by Ulfa militants. Abhijit Sarma of Assam Public Works, the organisation that had conducted a survey in some districts to show that most people do not support Ulfa, said slain social worker Sanjoy Ghose’s wife Sumita would address the gathering over the phone.

Ghose was killed after being abducted from Majuli, where he was involved in an anti-erosion project.