Twenty years on, Assam Independence Day bomb blast victims still await justice

Supreme Court/ File pic

Shanti Gogoi has spent the last two decades seeking justice for the sad loss of her daughter-in-law and unborn grandson, who were killed in a bomb attack staged by the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) during Independence Day festivities in Dhemaji, Assam in 2004.

The Assam Independence Day bomb blast, which killed 13 people, including three children, happened just minutes before the flag-hoisting ritual on the parade site. The incident was a watershed moment in ULFA history, as public support for the group declined owing to its targeting of innocent civilians.

However, a sense of injustice has set in since the Gauhati High Court acquitted all of the defendants exactly one year ago, alleging insufficient evidence. This verdict overturned a lower court's previous conviction, which condemned four people to life in prison and two others to four years.

Gogoi, a retired schoolteacher, and other victims of the Assam Independence Day bomb blast are now pinning their ultimate hopes on the Supreme Court, which is now hearing the Assam government's appeal against the High Court's judgement.

"The blast happened in front of hundreds of people after they gathered at the Dhemaji College field for the Independence Day celebration. But there is no witness to say who planted the explosives or who was behind it," said Gogoi, whose daughter-in-law Namita died in the blast while two months pregnant.

Gogoi and others, like her neighbour Nityananda Saikia, who lost two adolescent sisters in the blast, believe the High Court's decision should be revisited. Saikia, who was present at the bomb site as a class 12 student and has since become a lawyer, commented, "The High Court order needs to be reviewed. We remain hopeful that the Supreme Court will give us justice."

Saikia cited multiple factors that contributed to the acquittal of the accused of the Assam Independence Day bomb blast, including malfunctioning bomb detectors, a charge sheet riddled with loopholes, and a lack of political resolve to uphold justice. He also questioned the motivations behind ULFA's violent conduct, which the organisation initially rejected until issuing a public apology.

"We received a letter informing us that the state government will be taking up the case in the apex court," Saikia said and added, "Bomb detectors did not work. The police submitted a charge sheet with plenty of loopholes. And there was no political will to bring those responsible to justice."

"For whom were they (ULFA) fighting? What were their objectives," asked the distraught youth.

Gogoi echoed similar sentiments and said, "Whatever be their objective, the ULFA could have surely tried to attain it without shedding so much blood of the innocent."

Despite the passage of time and the ongoing celebrations of Independence Day, the Assam Independence Day bomb blast victims' families' grief is palpable. They hold on to the last glimmer of hope that justice will be served.