By Jenniefer Dkhar
Some bewildering questions and curiosities of little ones left me startled and dumbfounded. What is a petrol bomb? Why was he burnt? What did he do? Who are they? Will they burn me too? The questions did not only pierce my ears but my heart and mind. How am I to answer and fulfil their curiosity? What scientific explanation can I give about what a petrol bomb is and how does it work and what are its effects? What answer do I give to the logic of why the man was burnt? What answer do I give to the query of what mistake did he make? What exactly did he do? How could I tell them that the ones responsible for this are human beings with flesh and blood and the power to reason and think? What pricked me the most is the fear in the voice that asked if they may also meet the same fate. I am speechless, fear struck and saddened. Whether we like it or we hate it the fact of the matter remains that these are some questions that are lurking in the minds of children who are made to come face to face with such painful happenings in their surroundings. Children are not only innocent but most importantly they are vulnerable. Therefore it becomes important that they are brought up in a safe and secure environment and ambience. Ironically the questions have evolved not only out of curiosity but also fear. This is terrifying because the fear is not against any extra terrestrial influence but against each other. Man now has to be careful and cautious of another man. A human being has now to be careful of another human being less something untoward happens or befalls.
A pertinent question is why do we fear one another? We fear one another because of the presence of hatred, anger and intolerance. When the heart is corrupted by the vices of hatred there is no place for love, peace and harmony. When there is anger there is a lack of reasoning and logic. When there is intolerance there will definitely be violence. When all of these are brought in together what emerges is insecurity of the individual, instability of the mind and the system and above all there will be a disregard of human life. There will be no inhibitions, no inner voice to gnaw our minds and certainly the hand will not deter and quiver while performing inhuman acts of brutality, bloodshed and slaughter. What will evolve is mayhem and pandemonium that will certainly lead to annihilation and complete destruction of mankind itself. Do we really want all of this to befall on mankind and this earth? It takes a human being to protect and safeguard another human being. Therefore each one of us must realise and value each other.
The present grieving situation in our beautiful state for the last two months will redefine its existence because those at the helm of affairs and the agitators do not weigh the pros and cons of the needs and requirements of the people and the state as a whole. In this tug of war it has been and most certainly, it is the common man that faces the brunt. What good has emerged out of destruction of government property? What great achievement could have been achieved after mercilessly burning a human being? What good has disruptive violence been to anyone? The answers to all the above queries are negative besides loss of life and property and harassment to all. The death of Vikash Nandwal was a terrible and an irreparable loss to his parents, his family, relatives and near and dear ones. It is the loss of a son, a brother, an uncle, a friend and above all a human being that has been ripped apart by none other than the cold and bloody hands of another human being. While we commiserate his death and sympathise with his bereaved family who seem to have risen above the situation and have no grudges against the murderers of their son yet the loss of their son leaves a void deep and dark in their hearts and souls. No amount of consolation will help bridge the pain and emptiness of the family. One wonders if the hands that committed this insanity did not tremble then and if today their hearts are not throbbing with agony, regret and remorse.
What emerges as the ramifications of such inhuman acts is the confluence of unrest and disturbance in the state created out of a demand that is at present still at a deadlock. Freedom to express ourselves is a Fundamental Right that has been guaranteed to every citizen of the country but should this freedom infringe upon life and death? To work for the safety and security of one’s people and land is a commendable and well thought of act but not at the cost of violence and disruption? Many eminent personalities have unfolded before us, through this daily, the inadequacies that may come along with the ILP and the need for each one of us to do a lot of thinking and re-thinking, discussions and deliberations and analysis before asking for something as sensitive and consequential as the Inner Line Permit.
It has always been and will always be the common man who has to bear the brunt of any form of agitation. Certainly there seem to be no end to their protests and as a free country every citizen of the country has the right to voice his/her opinion but can’t this be done in a way that will not disturb the life and schedule of others? The call for night road blockades, thankfully, to a certain extent do not disrupt the activities of the people such as students and daily wage earners. Nor does it disrupt the smooth functioning of government offices though these blockades do hamper the free movement of people and vehicles especially commercial vehicles like night buses and also trucks laden goods that bring in victuals to our state. For instance those of us who either have to catch a flight or board a train early morning or even arrive at Gauhati late in the evening are left in the lurch as we cannot come home but spend the night in Gauhati which is not only discomforting but also tedious.
There have to be other ways of protests that the agitators should resort to if at all they feel that their demand is viable and justifiable in spite of the various reasons penned down by many over the inadequacies of their demand that is almost childish, immature and adamant. There has to be a dialogue to end this harassment that the general public are being made to fall prey to. It’s about time that the pro ILP groups come to the negotiating table with an open mind and end this climate of uncertainly for all of us.