As a writer, I had to work for peace

Right from childhood I wanted to be an artist. I used to draw pictures of Jesus Christ. I wasn’t really preparing to be a writer. I learnt Assamese at a later stage. Once, the editor of a local vernacular daily asked me to write a short story. I wrote about my childhood playmate — an elephant — which was highly acclaimed. This is how I got into writing and following the advice of Kritinath Hazarika, the then editor of ‘Natun Asomiya’, I started improving my command over the Assamese language

Being independent, I always intended to chart out my own course. I lost my husband, an engineer, in Kashmir. I knew it was hard to earn a living through writings. So, I reluctantly appeared for an interview at the Delhi University (DU) where I was selected as a faculty member. I used to devote nearly four hours everyday to writing. Some of my writings were severely criticised.

Meanwhile, I lost many of my dear ones in the Assam conflict. One day, some boys from the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) came to me and asked for copies of my book ‘Mamare Dhara Tarowala’ (it is about migrant labourers) for their women cadres. That was the beginning of a long association.

In 1993, I was invited to a function in Darrang district of Assam when the counter insurgency operation of Bajrang was at its peak. Some Ulfa cadres wanted me to visit their camp nearby. I went there because I wanted to know more about weaponry as I was doing research on it for my next book. Suddenly, the army cordoned off the whole area. But the boys ensured that I made a safe exit from the place. Ulfa commander-in-chief Paresh Barua used to call me up sometimes. Later, one of the cadre-members told me that “all the friends you met at the camp are no more. I have survived but lost one leg.” I was extremely sad.

I wrote a letter to the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. I asked him how he could be immune to the sufferings of people being, himself, a poet. I asked him why a warning was not given when the Indian and Bhutanese army started operations against the Ulfa.

Then, there was a change in government. My old friend Dr Manmohan Singh became prime minister. He used to head the department of economics while I was head of the modern Indian languages department at DU. I felt that my writings would not serve any purpose if I did not do something to lessen the woes of society. In between, I had visited the village of Ulfa chairman Arbinda Rajkhowa. It is estimated that 15,000 people, including army personnel, civilians and Ulfa cadres, have lost their lives in the conflict.I drafted a letter and read it out to Paresh when he called up again. He was not very happy with the first draft.

Then I prepared the second draft. He consented to the second and then a people’s consultative group was formed which held three rounds of discussions with the government of India. Things moved swiftly. The government, however, did not keep its promise of releasing the five jailed Ulfa leaders.
I condemned in the strongest possible words the killing of migrant labourers this January. I am optimistic that with the personal intervention of Dr Singh, we can bring back on track the derailed peace process.
(As told to Bikas Kumar Singh)