Skip to content Skip to navigation

Give peace a chance

By Rituparna Goswami Pande |
The northeastern states have lately reaffirmed themselves as cauldrons of violence. Instances of violence have repeatedly marred the peace of these sibling states where rebel guns have resulted in a number of casualties.

Imphal is smoldering after an ambush at Sorbung village in Phungyar sub division of Ukhrul district in the daylight hours of this Wednesday morning. One Assam Rifles officer and two jawans were killed including a Major while seven others were left wounded. The ambush took place while the Assam Rifles troops were moving from Soide village to Kasom on a routine patrol duty. Mentionably, this was the second major militant ambush in Manipur after members of the People’s Revolutionary party of Kangleipak gunned down five CRPF personnel along the Imphal-Jiribam highway recently.

Meanwhile, Meghalaya is caught in a quagmire of allegations regarding the gunning down of five suspected militants of the Hynniewtrep national Liberation Council (HNLC) in an encounter at Cleve Colony on October 31. However, local NGOs have expressed their doubts on the authenticity of the episode. Whereas, in Itanagar, armed miscreants have destroyed the peace with their unscrupulous activities, where PWD engineer SP Srivastava kidnapped by these miscreants was however released shortly after being in captivity for about 20 days.

Assam too has its own demons to fight against.

Peace initiatives though put forward have failed miserably sometimes for government apathy or rebel inflexibility. But mostly it’s the people’s complacency that is to blame for the present situation. Our parochial mindsets have further distanced us resulting in our demands of becoming autonomous bodies. The day is not far when every community or caste would vie for a state of their own and if denied new rebel outfits would be born to further move the wheel of violence.

Peace it seems has become a pipe dream for us. Our young generation have never really known peace in the true sense of the term. It seems we need to include peace studies as a subject in the school curriculum to mould the young minds and prepare them well in order to tackle with the violence of real life. Perhaps they may realize the folly of the older generation and give peace a chance.
Author info

Rituparna Goswami Pande's picture

Journalist, writer

Comments

charlie's picture

Submitted by charlie on Sat, 03/11/2007 - 08:06
give peace a change as u wrote who will hear it,nobody,the present Honb.P.M will took initiative as he elected from M.P,Rajya Sabha as he know better then us that Assam people want diologue with U.L.F.A as the central govt. can make cease fire to naga why not to U.L.F.A as u.l.f.a also willing to talk with centre but from centre and Assam govt. wonth took initiative then where peace will come both side took initiative for that then peace will come to Assam.
jaay's picture

Submitted by jaay on Tue, 11/12/2007 - 06:03
I envy the time when I could go out without fear, gone are the days when life used to dance fearlessly and children did not care about how the guns looked like and operated. Now a days, if you don’t see a uniformed person out in the street, you start wondering, is everything alright? And it is rightly said, if there is no peace, you cannot understand freedom, they are very closely related. “It seems we need to include peace studies as a subject in the school curriculum to mould the young minds and prepare them well in order to tackle with the violence of real life.” It has nothing to do with educating children; the spirit of nationalism is missing. We are confined more in regional identification, we do not care about nation, and certainly this is missing in school. Which school imparts the spirit in a child to be proud of your Nation, culture, all the poor children land up is with ‘BHARAT MATA KI JAI”, which is good till the assembly session, after that it’s up in the smoke. Another example is NCC, children just enroll for that free diet or firing the 3 not 3’s. Who will teach us that we are should be proud of the fact that we are part of the 3000 years old civilization? Who will tell our children that the fighting which is going on, is all about petty politics? But look at the result of raising children passionately, the experiment in Gujrat, in the name of ‘GURV SEY KAHO HUM HINDU HAIN’. We are treading on razor edge when we address of being passionate. The true identity if India lies from North to South, East To West, not in one culture / region or a religion. Nice article. Keep posting.

Pages

Add new comment

Assamese Translator

Assam Times seeks English to Assamese translators!
Join our volunteer team.
Email editor@assamtimes.org.

Random Stories

Saraighat film fest from Nov 1

24 Oct 2015 - 1:25pm | Ranjan K Baruah
North East Youth Foundation is organising second Saraighat Film Festival (SFF) on 1st and 2nd November in Guwahati. SFF shall screen documentaries made by young people and best documentary shall win...

Nalbari army jawan dead in J&K

16 Sep 2015 - 8:31am | AT News
After Chitra Saikia, yet another army jawan from Assam lost his life at an encounter with militants in Jammu and Kashmir. Identified as Jayanta Medhi, the army jawan  from Mukalmuwa in Nalbari...

Assam Valley Literary Award for Dr.Arupa Patangia Kalita

1 Jan 2017 - 11:59am | Shajid Khan
Novelist Dr Arupa Patangia Kalita has been selected for the prestigious Assam Valley Literary Award for the year 2016 instituted by Williamson Magor Education Trust. Expressing her happiness before...

Narrow escape for PWD engineer

11 May 2017 - 8:17pm | Dibya J Borthakur
The additional chief engineer of state PWD department had a narrow escape as the Alto car ( AS 01 DF 9185 ) he was driving turned turtle after hitting into divider on NH 37 near Raha chariali on...

Other Contents by Author

Women of Substance

This women’s day I salute those unsung ‘heroes’ who have withstood the onslaught of fickle fate. No they are not faces in the crowd rather they are the crowd whose faces we don’t remember. They are those who are living in the periphery of life, battling everyday issues of home and hearth.I bow my head in reverence to the grit of Mausam’s mother who put aside her grief after losing her only son to Ewing’s Sarcoma in order to stand as a pillar of strength to her broken husband who unable to bear the tempest of misfortune had almost lost touch with reality. I like many others was a helpless bystander of the tale of woe that had fallen like a bolt from the blue on this poor family.  But...

My Waxen Wings

If I had wings and were a birdWould travel the world and orbit the EarthOr had I been a butterfly Eclectic colors would be mineI would hover over trees, flutter over blooms, On a spiritual high, I would go into a swoonShould I be a fish and swim the seaPass through oceans or haunt a reefWith beautiful corals for companyThe heart would leap at Nature’s bountyHad I been a fir tree insteadMy leaves would flutter in snow headsThe flirty wind would kiss my soulThe icy breeze to lift me up, life would be on a rollWhat if I were the season – SpringOrchid blooms, newness to ring inNo, no let me be the sky, the endless blueFar from earth, to keep a watch on youBut then my mind looks to the...

I, Kaziranga

I, KazirangaShedding tears of bloodMy children, the four leggedIn men no longer trust.God’s blessed beings are theyRoaming the wildsIn search of prey and hayOften trapped by wily menCaught unawaresBy a poaching handLeft to dieWith bleeding woundsWith their hornsCut by forest goonsNo where to runNo where to hideTheir haven encroached by thugsTheir skies taken over by two legged bugsFeigned protectionI don’t seekI, KazirangaWill continue to bleedIf there is no messiahLet my children not desireAny solace from cruel fateBut march towards extinction and Heaven’s gate.

A day for Women!

The fact that we need to celebrate Women’s Day portends that all is not well in a women’s world. Or else why would we need to single out a day for millions of women who have equal rights and status in the world they inhabit. We don’t have a men’s day which is evidence enough that all is hunky dory with their race.The UN theme for International Women's Day 2013 is "A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women," while International Women's Day 2013 has declared the year's theme as The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum. But then is it really gaining momentum?As we celebrate Women’s Day today a woman is probably being raped in our rape capital i.e. Delhi or any other...

Assam - a killing field for the wild

Lately every morning we have been waking up to screaming headlines of animal killings in the newspapers. Rhinos being poached with their horns brutally severed and left to die,elephants electrocuted or hunted down, their bodies mutilated and left to bleed to death. Gory pictures of animal atrocities splashed in every newspaper, every channel. It really makes one ponder as to how low humans can stoop to gratify their covetous desire for money. Twisted minds are targetting the animal kingdom, mute creatures, innocent beings who do not care nor bother to know how our world has become a slave to money. The world Heritage site Kaziranga National park has seen 20 rhino killings this year and a...

Prevent Animal Sacrifice this puja

All Hindus become epitomes of excitement to the run up to the festival of the auspicious Durga puja. Pandals coming up everywhere, idols being given finishing touches, revellers thronging the markets, discount offers, designer wear on sale and so on. Everyone is under the grip of puja fever and the associated excitement.But for once if we shift our focus away from ourselves and our frivolous acts and ponder over the plights of those innocent animals that would be sacrificed during the puja offerings, I am sure the smiles in our faces would be wiped off. At least the smiles would vanish from those faces who have a little compassion for the four legged. Imagine the little pigeons, a symbol...

Mobile phone radiation: A health hazard

From bedraggled beggars on the streets to the suit clad brokers on Wall Street – the ubiquitous cell phone is everywhere, in every pocket irrespective of the rich / poor status of its owners. It is no longer an item of luxury albeit it’s a must have today, a necessary evil. For technology comes with a price and the technology behind mobile phones is sure to make mankind pay a heavy price – the price of health and safety. The recent furore created in the media worldwide over the possible hazareds of mobile phone radiation has made us sit up and take note of the pros and cons of using the innocent looking mobile handset which had till date so surely and surreptitiously...

Mob dynamics

Man is an animal first and a social animal later. However, our ‘social’ status has failed to erase our animal instincts, which lies dormant in our basic dispositions. The urge to spread violence, the need to kill, and the thirst to quench our carnal desires are proof that there is still some animal in us. These urges raise their ugly heads in the form of homicides, rape and molestation incidents, and mob violence etc putting mankind to shame. The dangerous of all is our affinity towards the mob mentality that threatens to ensnare us at the slightest pretext and at the slightest of provocation. The term “mob mentality” is used to refer to unique behavioral...

Kameswari festival in Kamakhya

The mellifluous tinkle of the Sarod permeated the atmosphere under a canopy of twinkling stars and a soft breeze that emanated from the somber Nilachal hill. Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Amaan and Ayaan performed at the open amphitheatre in the Kamakhya temple premises striking a divine chord in all our hearts. The setting couldn’t have been more striking. The silhouette of the sanctuary at the backdrop and the stupendous performances of maestros were the perfect mode of the two day Kameshwari Music and Dance festival 2010. Dance and music have been an inherent part of temples in India since times immemorial. In order to appease the gods these art forms have always been...

Animals in captivity

“The Assam State Zoo encompassing over 130 hectares of land boasts of an astonishing collection of some rare and extinct species of wild animals settled comfortably in their natural habitat.” This is how a website describes the zoo in our city. However, the ‘stay’ of the animals there is far from ‘comfortable’. The captive animals in small enclosures with hardly room for free movement is a far cry from comfortable. The Assam state Zoo boasts of white tigers, one horned rhinos, Swamp tapirs and leopards to name a few. The zoo is also prosperous in the avian branch and plays host to rare species of birds. Sadly, the animals are caged for better viewing of...