Headlines       Vol. 2 Issue 3-4

May 22-June 6 , 1999

Assam's Sanjoy The death of a loved one is a shattering experience, the loss being too terrible to be remembered and, yet, too true to be forgotten. The final parting may different it may be soft and silent, like the lingerng farewell given to a dear friend with whom we have had a chance meeting and of when we have little hope of seeing again, or sudden and savage, like the forceful wrenching open of a locked door. A violent and obstrusive death is difficult to mourn. It imprisons us in breathless sorrow, enchaining our souls in solid spirals of shocked confusion, unresolved anger and embittered despair. Can we ever reconcile ourselves with such a loss? Sumita Ghose found herself asking the same question when her husband Sanjoy Ghosh, a noted social activist, was abducted by ULFA on July 4, 1997. What happened to Sanjoy Ghose is still a mystery. From denying that it had anything to do with his disappearance, the ULFA prevaricated, until finally it declared that he had fallen off a cliff and died. Reports, however, indicated that he was killed by the ULFA on the same day on which he was kidnapped. As a student, Sanjoy Ghose had a choice of studying either at the Indian Institute of Management or the Indian Institute of Rural Management. He chose the latter, charting out a career so very different from that of other bright young professionals in the field who chase, woo and finally succumb to the abundant charms — wealth, power, status — of the corporate sector. From initiating community based projects in Rajasthan, Sanjoy Ghose founded AVARD-NE, a non-governmental organisation in the North East which took up the work of creating sustainable development among improverished communities in the region. His work took him to nature—ravaged Majuli, where unknown to him, he would be earning the wrath of the ULFA . Why did the ULFA kill Sanjoy Ghose? Sumita Ghose says that the ULFA “saw a real threat in the creation of an alternative mass-base” in the form of her husband. Did Sanjoy Ghosh believe in guns or slogans? In the book “Sanjoy's Assam”, a compilation of Sanjoy Ghosh's writings on his experiences in developmental activity in the Noth East, complied by Sumita Ghosh, the author writes that the solution lies not in sending more troops “because that will put the final nail in the coffin of national integration”, nor in sending more money as it “bounces off a corrupt upper crust and does not reach below”. The solution lies in creating an environment where people can take advantage of “constructive employment and industry and are allowed to sort things out for themselves”. Has Sanjoy Ghosh gone for good? No, he lives. Only to die again. Like the other day in Orissa when John Graham Steines, an Australian missionary better known for his work among the sufferers of leprosy, was burnt alive, along with his two young sons by a clueless and mixed up mob acting under patriotic compulsions to be violent. How shall we mourn Assam's Sanjoy? Or Orissa's? Or from anywhere else? Is there life before death? Sumita Ghose writes “A letter to the people of Assam...” (The Sentinel dated March 26, 1999) “It has been a difficult period on my life, since the July 4, 1997 when my husband Sanjoy went with the ULFA for a discussion, and disappeared soon after. Days and weeks and months of fear, anger, helplessness, confusion followed as we ran from pillar to post to find Sanjoy, or at least get some authentic information on his whereabouts and his well being. We tried everything, meeting politicians, buraucrats, journalists, human rights activists, social workers, and religious and spiritual leaders in our search for Sanjoy. There were numerous stories doing the rounds: The ULFA saying that Sanjoy had fallen off a cliff and died, the Assam Police saying that he was probably killed on July 4 itself, the Central Government with is various intelligence agencies unable to come up with any credible information. Gradually everyone seemed to give up all hope, and believe in the worst, even if here was no proof. Well, almost everyone. Some of us who know Sanjoy well, and retain our faith in humanity, continue to believe that he is somewhere, making the best of the circumstances that he has found himself in, and will return to us one day.... However this letter is not only about Sanjoy. It is about searching for the truth, and for answers, as well for strength in order to overcome problems and find solutions. What is our normal reaction when confronted with a very difficult, traumatic situation? Allow me to share my experience. The overwhelming feeling is of being victimised. 'Why did it have to happen to me, to us? After all we were doing everything with the best of intentions — trying help the people of Majuli'. Trying to suppress fear and panic, we rushed around doing things in reaction to what others suggested or our oppressors dictated. Fear gave way to anger, when things did not turn out the way we wished them to. It was only normal. We tried hader, calling this one, that one, met anyone even remotely concerned with Assam or with the ULFA, but found nothing reassuring. And got angrier, cynical, condemning the ULFA, for the violence and lies that they were perpetrating, blaming the government for its inaction, criticising the press for spreading rumours and stories not based on facts. The result? I met only falsehoods and more falsehoods when I looked for answers from the world outside. And then, refusing to believe the lies, and somehow just knowing that the truth was otherwise, I learned to look within myself. This happened partly as a survival instinct, in those terrible days of stress, and party as a result of help from friends, who introduced to me a whole new world of peace within. Although I have always believed in a Divine Power, I had never been religiously or spiritually inclined. I had been living my life at a mental-emotional-physical plane, without having felt the need to explore other realms of my being. And when I turned within myself for answers, for peace, I found that I had been a stranger to my real self. I started getting drawn more and more towards this self. And in the process I found glimpse of what I was searching for. Peace and the truth. However misleading and cruel the world ouside maybe, my inner being does not fail me. It gives me the strength, not only to continue and cope, but also take a fresh look at life, separating the lies from the truth. Gradually one is learning, even if it is with great difficulty, the necessity of rejecting negative emotions, feelings and thoughts. I no longer feel angry with ULFA or with the people of Assam. It has been a cleansing of sorts. Of discarding negative emotions, that only hinder, never help. The most difficult part has been getting rid of the victim syndrome. By admitting to being a victim, I was unconsciously acknowledging that the ULFA and the State had a power over me. The world outside was also reiterating that. But as I learned, more and more, to look within myself, I found that no human being, however powerful he or she may be has any power over the real me, cannot hurt the real me. So, by giving in to, and sometimes being overwhelmed by negative emotions and thoughts, I was being untrue to myself, underestimating and misunderstanding myself. And only hurting myself in the process. You will ask why I am sharing all these details about myself with you? The answer is, because all that is happening in Assam and in the rest of the country, is a reflection of what is happening within each one of us. The 16 months that we lived in Assam, before the ULFA abducted Sanjoy, allowed us a glimpse into the strengths of your State — the hardworking rural population, the natural resources, the celebration of life, not often visible to the world outside. How can it be visible? Even Assam's own people seem to be blind to her strength and beauty. Instead they have let themselves get overwhelmed by problems, and in the process also got caught in the victim syndrome, and its ensuing vicious cycle. It is easier to blame the 'enemy outside' — the immigrant labourer, the business classes, the Central Government, to get angry and take to violence. Accepting that the protests are often valid, has the violent form of protests helped in bringing the State any closer to peace and prosperity? The frequent bandhs are no big deal for those who earn regular monthly salaries, but for the thousands of labourers who have to live on daily wages, it is a difficult time to pull through. And the frequent extortions, kidnappings and murders have only aroused revulsion in the hearts of people. Further, as the track record of the ULFA shows, the very people, who take to arms to fight an inhuman system, imbibe many of the very things they are supposedly fighting against — oppression, undemocratic procedures, suppressing different views, arbitrarily using guns, just because they have them.... And worst of all, getting caught in deceiving themselves and the world. Till it gets more and more difficult, even for them, to distinguish the truth from the lies. Hate and violence has only led to darkness. The time has come now, to look for answers and for the truth, within. Only that can show the way out of the darkness and the falsehood that engulf the region. It is time to reaffirm the strengths and the true power of Assam, from within. It is time to throw away the victim syndrome, and think and work together, to work towards a new dawn, using the power of love, and based on truth, knowledge and wisdom of the land.It will be a difficult process but the only path to certain victory.

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