Secret killings: The real Story

Only two words ‘secret killings’ struck no less storm across Assam 15 years back where the relatives and friends of a section of ULFA leaders went missing. The bodies were recovered later without any clue to follow the perpetrators. But strangely, protests refused to surface not to speak of police investigation.  Even nobody from the government was with the bereaved family members. One after another such incidents kept Assam’s socio political scene on the boil during the erstwhile Mahanta regime.

Congress, in 2001, was quick to make it a poll issue blaming it all on the AGP-led four party alliance government for it. The anger and resentment among the people helped Congress regain Dispur in the assembly polls. These incidents stopped happening with the change of guards in Dispur.   Since then, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, at regular intervals has been taking on AGP and Mahanta alleging their involvement in these extra judicial killings.

After coming to power the Chief Minister set up the Justice Khagendra Nath Saikia to probe into these incidents of secret killings. After conducting hearings, the KN Saikia panel indicted the then Mahanta Government. But nobody was put behind the bars. Finally, even Gogoi expressed his helplessness. Thus, the entire controversy has remained inconclusive.

But of late, the pre poll political landscape seems to have taken a different course. Of late, Chief Minister Gogoi named BJP and the then Union Home Minister LK Advani in the secret killing cases alleging that the NDA government got these people killed by the then AGP-led government. The statement assumed significance in view of the secret understanding with the regional party in the poll bound state.

AGP has also changed its stand on the secret killing cases. Party leader and former education minister Thaneswar Bodo on Wednesday told reporters that the NDA government at the Centre used the state in these incidents. Like Gogoi, Boro named LK Advani. These statements have suggested that AGP and Congress are inching closer to each other for a poll understanding. Is it the end of a cry of justice?