[Reader-list] Assam poet arrested

[Uddipana Goswami]

  http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080109/jsp/frontpage/story_8759666.jsp

Assam poet held for Ulfa tilt
 A STAFF REPORTER

*Guwahati, Jan. 8:* An Assamese poet whose verses speak of anarchic
"oppressors" and the angst of the "oppressed" has been arrested on charges
of penning seditious material for the banned Ulfa and mobilising opinion
against counter-insurgency operations.

Police were on 36-year-old Santanu Sarma's trail for three years, by which
time he had oozed enough "revolutionary" lyricism to fill five volumes of
published works.

Sarma has yet to find a place among the cream of Assamese literature, but
the allegation that he has been writing and editing material for Ulfa's
mouthpiece, *Freedom*, looks set to give this unassuming, bearded youth
publicity of the unwanted kind. Those who know him well vouch for his
innocence, but Guwahati police say they know their man.

A police team traced the poet to Malikuchi in Nalbari town last night and
arrested him on the basis of a case registered at Fatasil Ambari police
station.

Additional superintendent of police (city) Debojit Deori said Sarma was on
the "wanted" list since October 2004, when an arrested Ulfa conduit, Anil
Mazumdar, named him as the lynchpin of the outfit's network in the city. "We
arrested him on the basis of a confessional statement by Mazumdar, who was
very close to him. Sarma has denied having any links with Ulfa and is being
interrogated by senior police officials."

Another police officer said Sarma was known for his "pro-Ulfa sentiments"
and proximity to another poet in the outfit's ranks, the jailed central
publicity secretary Mithinga Daimary. "Going by the information we have
gathered, Sarma is close to Daimary because the Ulfa leader is also a poet
and both of them hail from Nalbari district."

Daimary writes poetry under the pseudonym Megon Kachari. His collection of
verses, *Melodies and Guns*, was edited by Mamoni Raisom Goswami and
released at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany in 2006.

Sarma's published works include *Khetiokor Dekhot*, *Aranya Abhimukhe*
and *Bishador
Borokhunot Sarir Tiyalu*.

A friend said Sarma was framed.

"He is a very talented poet and writer, and has received awards for his
poetry. We never noticed anything to suggest his involvement with Ulfa. I
was shocked to hear about his arrest," an acquaintance said.

Another friend said Sarma was framed. "To me, it appears to be a conspiracy
hatched by some people with vested interest. I cannot believe this
mild-mannered poet can collude with Ulfa."

The police said Sarma might even have been involved in extortion of money
for Ulfa, though they do not have any evidence of it.

The main allegation against the poet is of being a vocal critic of anti-Ulfa
operations. "He provoked people to hold demonstrations and protests against
arrest of Ulfa cadre. He also instigated families of Ulfa members and
conduits to move court and human rights organisations against the police and
other security forces," the police said.


-- 
Uddipana Goswami
www.jajabori-mon.blogspot.com