Freedom fighter father awaits 'revolutionary' son's return

Arrested ULFA 'foreign secretary' Sashadhar Choudhury may be a fallen hero for some; but for his octogenarian father, Sasha is still the revolutionary with a zeal to sacrifice for his nation.

Choudhury had left his home in a nondescript village in Assam's Barpeta district decades ago, responding to the call by ULFA Commander-in-chief Paresh Barua to join the path of armed struggle to win Assam's 'sovereignty' from the 'colonial' forces of India.

''Sasha was deeply moved by Paresh Barua's ideals and any word from Barua was a command for him. He could not refuse Barua when the latter asked him to join the ULFA,'' Dinanath Choudhruy, the aged father, told visiting mediapersons, recalling his son's first brush with 'revolutionary thinking'.

The senior Choudhury was himself a freedom fighter who always preached the path of non-violence to his students in the local government school where he served as a teacher. Sasha too was a student in the same school and regularly topped the class, but failed to acquire his teacher-father's belief in non-violence.

A picture of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and his immortal preaching 'Ahimsa Param Dharam' hangs with pride over the entrance of the Choudhury's residence.

''My son wanted to do something for his motherland and had told me before leaving home that he was ready to sacrifice his life for his nation,'' the senior Choudhruy recalled.

He added, ''The ULFA's intentions were noble for the nation and any difference with the organisation and the issues raised by it should be resolved through talks by the government.'' Unaware of his son's capture as the news has not been disclosed to him due to frail health, the senior Chourdhury exuded pride, being the father of such a 'revolutionary' son.

''He is the kind of son every father will be proud to have,'' the Gandhian follower said.

Still confident of his son's obedience towards him, the frail old man said, ''If Sasha comes home and I make him understand that he must stay back, I know he cannot refuse me.'' The man has already lost much in ULFA's struggle for 'independence' - a son who has never visited home in years and another son who was killed by 'secret killers' for merely being the brother of an ULFA leader.

Yet Sasha is far from being his prodigal son, though the ULFA and its cadres' 'ideology' may have been lost to the masses now.

-- (UNI) -- 08CA8.xml

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