By Nava Thakuria*
Guwahati: Just before every Independence Day (I-Day) celebrations, it has become a habit of banned terror outfits of the Northeast to give a boycott call. They regularly direct the north-eastern people to boycott the celebrations on I-Day or Republic Day as a mark of protests against New Delhi’s ‘colonial rule’ over the region.
This I-Day is no exception. Separatist armed outfits have again given a call for a general strike from midnight of August 14 till the evening of August 15, 2023. These militant groups have asked the residents to keep inside their residences and avoid participating in any kind of I-Day celebrations in the region (they often describe it as the western part of southeast Asia).
These banned militant groups include the United Liberation Front of Assam (Independent), the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-GPRN, the Kangleipak Communist Party, Manipur, the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup, Manipur, the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak, Manipur, Revolutionary People’s Front, and The United National Liberation Front of Manipur.
Defying the diktat of separatist armed outfits, Patriotic People’s Front Assam (PPFA), a group of local intelligentsia, has urged the north-eastern citizens to hoist the national flag on August 15 and pay their respects to the martyrs, who made supreme sacrifices to create a sovereign Indian nation.
The forum of nationalists today issued a statement countering the boycott call of 77th Independence Day by some militant outfits of northeast India.
“It is our primary duty to pay respect to those martyrs who laid down their lives to free us all from the clutches of British colonial forces. When many individuals and organizations go on fighting for various rights and political benefits guaranteed by the Constitution of India, they often forget to salute the Tricolour which represents the sacrifice of millions of known and unknown martyrs during the freedom movement,” said the PPFA statement.
The likes of Moje Riba, Matmur Jamoh, Kushal Konwar, Tilak Deka, Bhogeswari Phukanani, Kanaklata Barua, Mukunda Kakati, Nidhanu Rajbangshi, Piyali Phukan, Maniram Dewan, Piyali Barua, Kamala Miri, Lerela Boro, Madan Rauta, Hemoram Patar, Gunabhi Bordoloi, Thagi Sut, Balaram Sut, Sambhudan Phonglo, Beer Tikendrajit Singh, Paona Brajabashi, Tirot Singh, Shoorvir Pasaltha Khuangchera, Rani Gaidinliu, Jitendra Chandra Paul etc from the region, who fought selflessly against the abusive imperial forces to rule India for centuries, should not be forgotten, it added.
*Senior journalist
