Long wait for a cheque
- 92-year-old widow of Assam official to go Sharmila way OUR CORRESPONDENT
Sirajuressa Hazarika at her residence in Jorhat. Picture by
Monalisa Jorhat, March 12: The postman never turned up and 92-year-old
Sirajuressa Hazarikas wait seems to be endless. The cheque from the state
government for her late husbands pension benefits has remained elusive for 56
years for this mother of seven.
The widow, however, refuses to give up and plans to follow in the footsteps
of Irom Sharmila, the relentless crusader against the Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act in Manipur who has been on a hungerstrike since November 2000 to
press for demand of repeal of the draconian legislation.
I have heard of her fasting which has attracted the attention of the world.
Ill do the same if I dont get justice soon, she said, her voice frail but
her resolve firm.
I can die in peace only when I get the cheque. Now its not the question of
money. I feel it is an insult to my late husband, she said, her voice choking
with emotion.
After Gauhati High Court accepted Sirajuressas case, the state government
argued that her husband Aftav Hussain Hazarika did not complete a 10-year
tenure at his job which excludes him from pension benefits.
The court disposed of the case based on the state governments argument. Her
family alleges that Dispur had misled the court by not including her husbands
tenure in Shillong where he served as a secretary in the education department.
He was transferred to Jorhat in 1946 to the office of the inspector of schools.
In 1950, he was again transferred to Guwahati as special assistant officer with
the social education department. He died the following year.
She has been imploring her son Jahid to take her to chief minister Tarun
Gogois residence, about a kilometre from here, as Gogoi had reportedly assured
her of help. But her son never took it seriously.
Given her physical condition, how can I take her there? asks Jahid.
Nobody can miss the hope in her eyes whenever theres a knock on the door
during the day. Peon neki (is it the postman)? she asks.
But Sirajuressa is now ready to take the drastic step. She feels her fast,
like Irom Sharmilas, might bring Gogoi at her door.
It has been 56 years since I lost my husband but till today I havent heard
anything from the government, Sirajuressa told this correspondent at her
residence.
Her husband fell ill while accompanying then chief minister Mahendra Mohon
Choudhury to Sarthabari from Guwahati to attend a meeting. He was rushed to a
hospital in Barpeta where he died soon after. Choudhury promised that she would
get all the benefits from the state government. But it has remained just that
-- only a promise.
I pray to God that no wife of a state government employee has to face my
fate. My husband served the government with dedication. But what he did he get
in return? she asked, her eyes brimming with tears.
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