Thanks for sending this. It is good to be able to read her comments and purpose of life of this brave woman - daughter of a brave mother.
“In order to make spiritual progress you must be patient like a tree and humble like a blade of grass” - Lakshmana > Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:09:09 -0800> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: > assam@assamnet.org> Subject: [Assam] Tehelka: ULFA Chief's sis wants > democracy thru elections - not guns> > Sister Concern> ULFA’s exiled > commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah’s sister is contesting panchayat polls. She > says she wants ‘development’, not a ‘sovereign Assam’> TERESA REHMAN> > Tinsukia, Assam> > http://www.tehelka.com/story_main37.asp?filename=Ne260108sister_concern.asp> > > GO AHEAD, but be courteous and respectful to everyone.” That is the advice > that Hirawati Baruah Chetia, sister of United Liberation Front of Asom > (ULFA) commander- in-chief Paresh Baruah, remembers her mother gave her as > she stepped into the fray of the panchayat polls. But isn’t she contesting > under the Constitution, which her brother had rejected in 1979 when he > launched his “struggle” for a “Sovereign Assam”? > “I am a simple person and > have come forward to serve the people,” replies Chetia. “I haven’t met my > brother for the past 28 years nor have I ever sought his advice. I wouldn’t > even recognise him if I saw him now. Like others, I learned that he had left > India to struggle for the country from the newspapers.”> An unassuming > mother of three, 44-yearold Chetia is a well-liked figure in her village, > Panitola Borchapori Betoroni. Her hopes from a panchayat election win are > basic — improving roads, healthcare, education, working conditions for > weavers and setting up a rural library. As a social worker active with the > Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) for the past decade, her decision to contest for > the Baruaholagaon panchayat in Tinsukia district has surprised few.> But > does she agree with her brother’s principles? “I don’t think I am qualified > to comment on his activities. He never discussed with us the reasons why he > left everything to wage his struggle. My parents also failed to understand > why he had to do this because he always got what he wanted,” she says.> > > > Paresh Baruah had worked as a railway porter from 1978 to 1982, and also as > a labourer for Oil India at Duliajan. “He used to stay with a group of > friends in a rented house while he was working. We did not know who he met > then and what he used to discuss with them,” she recalls.> Chetia remembers > Paresh, elder to her by four years, as a strict, nononsense, short-tempered > man of few words. “I used to be very scared of him. He was very particular > that I not hang around and chat with my friends after school. He would tell > me to come home straight after school got out or stop going there > altogether,” she says.> “We never had peace at home. One brother left home > to become an insurgent and another — Dinesh — who got a job in the railways > through the sports quota, was found dead after unidentified gunmen took him > away on February 19, 1994. But my mother manages to remain happy as she > feels both her sons have been sacrificed in the cause of the country. Of > course, we miss them. But we know we can’t get them back.”> Did her family > face harassment from the security forces? “Yes, they used to trouble us,” > Chetia replies. “I still remember a few policemen hanging around at my > wedding, hoping my brother would come.” Didn’t her parents find it difficult > to find a suitable match for her, considering she was the sister of Assam’s > “most-wanted militant”? She says people did not know much about her brother > then as ULFA wasn’t very well known at the time. It is her children now who > keep asking about their “famous” uncle.> She recalls how she and her four > brothers all used to excel at sports. “You can say we had a team at home. > While he was in school, Paresh was just too busy with football and > volleyball. He hardly spent time at home. He used to go to Bombay, Calcutta, > Punjab and Kashmir to play in tournaments. He once got a jacket for me from > Kashmir, something that I still treasure.”> Chetia says Paresh had a good > sense of humour and would often tease younger boys and elderly women. But > his aversion for hard labour was one of his characteristic traits. “Once my > mother asked him to carry rice sheaves from the field and I still remember > what he said. He said he was ready to wash even the clothes worn by women > but he wouldn’t carry a heavy load on his shoulders.”> SO, DOES she expect > to win? Will she get votes because she is Paresh Baruah’s sister? Her > response is emphatic. “No, people look at me as Hirawati Baruah Chetia and > not as Paresh Baruah’s sister. People will judge me on the basis of the > service I have rendered to the community. I have my own credentials.”> > Bhaben Barua, a former legislator from the constituency, is all praise for > her. “She is very articulate and active. I am confident she will win and we > might even nominate her to the central committee of the AGP.” But Chetia > doesn’t have any such ambitions. “I will contest only the panchayat polls to > help my village to develop. I will not go beyond that as I am not educated > enough and I have family obligations,” she says.> Chetia couldn’t study > beyond Class X as her father was ill and wanted to marry off his only > daughter. “I took the Board exams once but I failed. Maybe I was a dull > student. My brother used to encourage me to study,” she says. But she’s > happy at the way reservation has helped women to come forward to contest > polls.> What does she think about the path of violence her brother has > adopted? “I don’t know much about it,” she replies. “I really don’t know > what he discussed with his associates and why he decided to choose this > path.”> WRITER’S E-MAIL> [EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > Umesh Sharma> > Washington > D.C. > > 1-202-215-4328 [Cell]> > Ed.M. - International Education Policy> > Harvard Graduate School of Education,> Harvard University,> Class of 2005> > > http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/index.html (Edu info)> > > http://hbswk.hbs.edu/ (Management Info)> > > > > www.gse.harvard.edu/iep > (where the above 2 are used )> http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/> > > > > http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/> > ---------------------------------> Sent from > Yahoo! - a smarter inbox.> > _______________________________________________> assam mailing list> > assam@assamnet.org> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org _________________________________________________________________ Helping your favorite cause is as easy as instant messaging. 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