Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had once called Barak Valley “an island of peace” in an otherwise strife torn north east. Indeed, peace and a stable law and order situation were the only positives that the people of the valley could be proud of. However, with a spate of murders and kidnappings taking place recently in all the three districts of the valley, this last standing virtue also seems to be going away.
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| Little Sahadat's murder led to unrest in the Nagatilla area of Silchar on December 5th night (Photo: Samayik Prasanga) |
In the recent times, the entire region has turned into a safe haven for criminals, especially kidnappers and extortionists. Earlier this week, a 10 year-old school student Sahadat Hussain Mazumdar was found murdered in a house in First Link Road’s Lane number 9. This incident happened only a day after the kidnapping of a doctor named Bidyut Bhushan Nath, who was picked up while travelling from Hailakandi to Silchar. Another day earlier, 35-year-old businessman Pokhraj Jain was murdered in Badarpur.
These incidents took place close on the heels of the infamous Naaz murder case and the abduction of Badarpur based Indian railways driver Tarun Bhattacharjee near Vairobi. Karimganj youth Dipak Das who was kidnapped last year has still not been traced. Barring a few exceptions, the police seems completely clueless and incompetent to deal with the burgeoning rate of crime in the valley. The arrest of dreaded criminal Salimuddin and his brother Sultan, who are the prime accused in the Naaz murder case has come as a welcome relief. However, for the overall situation to improve, the police will have to be more vigilant.
Unfortunately, the task is much easier said than done. Backwardness has gripped the valley in such a way that vast tracts of land especially in the interiors of the Hailakandi and Karimganj districts are devoid of any communication links making it very easy for the criminals to operate. The entire Barak Valley with a population of over 30 lakhs and land area of over 7,300 sq. Kms has only 18 police stations (Cachar – 9, Hailakandi – 4 and Karimganj - 5) and 14 police outposts (Cachar – 9, Hailakandi – 2, Karimganj - 3). Thanks to the callousness of our public representatives, there are areas where even the police would need a whole day to reach in the absence of motorable roads.
However, the writing was on the wall for quite a long time. Just that, we could not anticipate it. History proves that economic backwardness has a direct relation with the rate of crime in a region. Barak Valley has long been the hub for corrupt public representatives and unscrupulous government officials who made millions by usurping funds meant for development. The public was left without any infrastructure or incentive from the government to grow. Today, when there are no jobs, no industries and absolutely no intent from the side of the government to boost the economy of the region, such criminal tendencies are bound to grow in a section of the disgruntled youth.
So, Barak Valley, which was already grappling with elephantine problems related to infrastructure, communication, identity and what not , now has a new menace to deal with. We can rest assured that our inapt rulers will disappoint us again this time like they have in the past. Therefore, its time to unite cutting across religions and castes and fight together for at least a safe Barak Valley if not a developed one............
RECENT CASES OF MURDERS AND KIDNAPPINGS IN BARAK VALLEY | ||
| NAME OF THE VICTIM | DATE | NATURE OF THE CRIME |
Sahadat Hussain Mazumdar, Silchar | December 5th | Kidnapped and murdered |
Bidyut Bhushan Nath, Silchar Pokhraj Jain, Badarpur | December 4th December 3rd | Kidnapped near Hailakandi, still untraced Found Murdered |
Tarun Kumar Bhattacharjee, Badsarpur | October 20th | Kidnapped while he was driving a train to Vairobi in Mizoram, released on November 20th |
Khrar Ahmed alias Naaz, Bhanga | November 20th | Kidnapped and found murdered on November 25th |
Dipak Das, Karimganj | December 4th, 2010 | Kidnapped near home in Karimganj, still untraced |
45 year old women and her two teenaged sons (names not revealed), near Jaipur in Cachar | November 14th | Found murdered at home |
Subroto Das, Katigorah | November 19th | Found murdered. Das was a member of the Katigorah Gaon Panchayat |
Where is the name of Pokraj who was murdered in Badarpur, day before yesterday?
ReplyDelete@Dibyendu: The information has been incorporated. Thank you for your comment
ReplyDeleteooo godness all this things are happping we were totally in miss concepition that our place is atlst out of all this things but true is some else .. Its all ready started in our place tooo ... Allah save us n may bring our place into wat it was
ReplyDeleteSome constructive journalism must be done to stop this and divert the anger politically towards absence of subsistence. Lets come together for peace.
ReplyDeleteTo have taken birth in Silchar is always a matter of proud for me, though I am always out of my motherland but my heart is always present there and to hear this is a shock to me.Its our people,its our language, our culture and our identification.... don't allow any damn insect to spoil our world.Request to all to come together and save what you are.
ReplyDeleteCachar a real destination for very calm & quite life let it be it is, as in 2 day's world u hardly can derive peace to the extent u can derive here. Hope better sense prevails and these remain only one time stray incidents. Feeling really sorry for all who had to suffer.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing, this is the only blog/website or medium through which we could get in touch with our birth place. thanks again, keep it up
ReplyDeleteI don't know who killed the dove,
ReplyDeletewho stripped off its feathers
who stained our backyards with its blood
peace was all that we had
Alas! Now we've lost it all