Assam's best kept secret revealed

Guwahati: Till five years ago, Anima Sharma did not bother herself with Assam politics. The subject didn't interest her at all.

Today, she regrets not knowing enough. On January 3, 2001, some unknown men knocked at her home in Guwahati. They were looking for her husband Jyotish Sharma, a clerk in Guwahati University.

"There were five or six of them, they were carrying arms. My husband refused to accompany them but they forced him to go with them," says she.

Her husband's bullet-ridden body was found a few days later. He was a victim of the secret killings of Assam in the late 90s in which relatives of suspected militants were killed systamatically.

Anima's husband became a victim despite having nothing to do with ULFA.

With assembly elections around the corner, more than 265 such deaths are back to haunt the state.

The Congress is saying the CBI should probe into the matter that took place during Prafulla Kumar Mahanta's rule.

However, for the families of those who were killed, this is no consolation.

Chief Minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi, says, "It would be a welcome relief if the cases are referred to the CBI. We sincerely hope that all the people involved in the killings are caught and punished."

Former CM Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, during whose regime the killings took place, has already deposed before the Saikia Commission. Besides he has also received notices from the Supreme Court on the issue.

Mahanta however says that he is being framed and the deaths, if any, were part of counter-insurgency operations.

"Some people may have lost their lives in the counter-insurgency operations but 'secret killings' is not the correct term to use and our government or the Centre were not involved in any such killings," says he.

Also under the scanner are surrendered ULFA militants, who were apparently used by the political establishment to carry out the murders. But this is hotly contested by some prominent ULFA members.

Ex-ULFA militant, Sunil Nath, says, "Till today, no one has been able to come up with evidence to establish the fact that ex-ULFA boys were instrumental in these killings."

Anima Das's husband's death shows the extent to which the state and the militant are willing to go to settle scores against each other.

It is also proof as to how mere suspicion is enough to claim an innocent life.

She and hundreds of people who have lost someone they loved continue to wait for justice.

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