Celebrate Republic Day without fear

Ours is the biggest democracy in the world and on this day of 26th January, 1950, we the Indian people accepted our Constitution which formally and officially declared India as a democratic country. Therefore, January 26 is a sacred day for all of us. Republic Day reminds the people of their fundamental rights and responsibilities and their duties too. No doubt democracy has certain merits and demerits as well, but the merits certainly have been working meaningfully and successfully to make India a country regarded highly throughout the world. We enjoy our rights to establish our views and ideology and our stand also and we have the right to criticise our government whatever its political colour. So this is a day of national festival for us. But in Assam, for the last few decades, Republic Day has been celebrated under the threat of insurgent groups like Ulfa and various others. They have deprived the people of Assam from attending and celebrating this important national festival. The majority of the people of Assam have stayed away from Republic Day functions against their will. They did not have the right to salute their national flag. We hope the situation will change in the near future. This time we have seen that most of the leaders of Ulfa now are in custody and it is also expected that the leaders will certainly be concerned about the desire of the people of Assam and come forward to have formal talks with the government to resolve the three-decade-long problem. But Paresh Barua, the chief of the military wing of Ulfa, has asked the people not to participate or celebrate Republic Day. He has even threatened stern action against those who go against this diktat. In these circumstances, the question for the people is whether they can still participate in tomorrow’s Republic Day functions. But I feel that though the few Ulfa cadres scattered in the state can create not only nuisance but also havoc in some places, the people will come forward and celebrate Republic Day. I personally feel that there is no greater force than the united stand of the general people. And moreover, the stand of the Ulfa commander-in-chief is not one that is heartily supported by a majority of Ulfa leaders. And the government as well as the administration should be extra vigilant so that Ulfa cadres cannot create a big problem by playing with the lives and property of the peace loving people of Assam.

The writer is a former president of Asam Sahitya Sabha