Formal surrender of the Black Widow

With the formal surrender of the Jewel Gorlosa faction of the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) or Black Widow as the outfit is popularly known as, a new chapter of peace seems to begun to unfold in the beleaguered North Cachar Hills district. While this is a welcome augury after a seemingly unending orgy of senseless violence perpetrated on innocent people in the name of ‘insurgency’ that was nothing but criminal terrorism, there are apprehensions too. That is why the comment that a new chapter of peace only seems to have begun. As they say, the ability to profit from experience is intelligence, and any intelligent observer of the terrorism scenario in this part of the world would have no qualms in inferring, despite the euphoria that peace has already returned to NC Hills district, that a beginning as Friday’s at Haflong could have many directions and dimensions. In this context it will be recalled what kind of mainstream the first batch of surrendered ULFA militants had chosen — and were allowed by the Hiteswar Saikia regime to choose. Apparently the SULFA men were in the mainstream having renounced violence forever, but in reality, as everyone knows, they eventually turned out to be licensed goons. In other words, a new span of criminality, with the expedient of one having to be called a ‘reformed’ militant in the mainstream, was started thus, thanks to the government of the day that would prove its counter-‘insurgency’ worth by hook or by crook. The SULFA men were also used to follow ULFA trails and eliminate their former colleagues — as also their relatives in that notoriety called ‘secret killings’. By then, of course, the SULFA men had already become ‘kings’ — the same description that Independent MLA Jiten Gogoi, a SULFA man-turned-politician, used for himself a few months ago while asserting his right to go for fishing in a prohibited Kaziranga area and to do anything anywhere in his constituency. The point is that a mind committed to violence and bred on the glorification of violence has its own way of sustaining in different violent forms in the so-called mainstream too; the difference in violence would be one of degree, not of kind.

Given the experience and the fact that the Black Widow’s surrender is just a small beginning of a very precarious road for the Dimasa community, with the breakaway faction of the militant outfit yet to surrender, it is time for pragmatism, more so because in a civilized society the impression cannot continue that one can wage a war against the nation at any point of time, sparing not even children, and yet one can afford to go unpunished merely due to the formality called surrender. Should that be the impression, as has gained ground in recent times, militant outfits would only thrive by having to easily recruit more and more semi-educated and unemployed youth who would always have a precedent to inform their decision to join militancy; after all, there is no trial of surrendered militants, nay terrorists, whose hands are stained with the blood of innocent men, women and children. Must life be that easy for a section of hardened criminals? Must the business of ‘insurgency’ be allowed to remain so for all times? While dealing with any surrendered militant/terrorist group, let the government from now on muster courage to set a new and radical example so that anyone tempted to take to arms and flourish on the loot extracted from the people thinks at least three times before treading the cowardly path of senseless violence. And then let the government simultaneously evolve ways to end disparities and discriminations that stoke rebellion. THE SENTINEL