During the Kargil war, their’s were perhaps some of the most heart-rending images: that of Capt Jintu Gogoi’s father, a former Indian Air Force officer, receiving the body of his 29-year-old son in full uniform; and Jintu’s young fiancee later saluting his pyre, bidding him farewell one last time. Jintu was posthumously awarded the Vir Chakra. However, that was then. As of now, Jintu is just another forgotten soldier whose family, for example, has still not been given the LPG distribution outlet that was allotted to them four years back.

The Tinsukia Police recently submitted a report to their counterparts in Uttaranchal, after investigating the antecedents of Indira Deori alias Jenny, the complainant in the case involving former Uttaranchal revenue minister Hirak Singh Rawat. Rawat had resigned after Jenny accused him of being the father of her newborn baby in Dehra Dun. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had subsequently filed charges of rape against the minister, leaving the ruling Congress red in the face.

The marauding elephants aren’t listening, but maybe Lord Ganesh will. Unable to fine a way to keep wild elephants away from their houses and crops, residents of the villages adjacent to the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary are seeking divine intervention, offering daily puja to the almighty. And who better to propitiate in such circumstances than Ganesh, the elephant-headed deity, and supposedly the most benevolent in the Hindu pantheon.

Stepping up their anti-foreigner drive, Mizos, backed by the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), recently drove out Myanmarese people from a refugee camp in the Zemabawk area of Aizawl where they had been given shelter following the recent unrest in the city. The anti-foreigner drive in Mizoram gained renewed momentum after a minor was allegedly raped by a Myanmarese national, Vanlalchhanga, last month. Rioting crowds later razed the houses of the accused to the ground.

Apart from what has been a largely inconsequential unit of the party in Assam, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), with high-profile North-east leader PA Sangma as one of its leaders, has found support in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim, states with comparatively negligible levels of illegal infiltration from Bangladesh, to form the North-east People’s Alliance, a “forum” the NCP claims will look into the problems of the region.

After the Naga Students’ Federation’s proposal for an open debate on prohibition of liqueur in the state, various organisations have favoured for a broad-based debate, involving all sections of society and government departments. The Naga Mothers’ Association (nma) has extended its support for such a debate as the state government had "miserably failed to implement the Prohibition Act promulgated in the state in 1989 and the flow of liquor and consumption went on unabated".

"The UDF which is now a part of the alliance at the Centre will contest the next general and Assembly elections jointly with the bjp,’’ the Chief Minister, who was here at the beginning of his second innings as the Chief Minister, told uni here.

Describing his visit to the capital as a courtesy one, the Chief Minister said his trip was aimed at strengthening udf’s ties with the nda. He met bjp chief m venkaiah Naidu yesterday to formally convey UDF’s decision to join the nda. The BJP has welcomed the decision.

This was followed by the Assam 2002 conference in Denver, where a group of young men and women from the San Francisco Bay Area did an authentic live Hussori Bihu dance. At that performance, a vision was set to try to create awareness about the Bihu dance in the greater Indian community as well as the general American public. Although that vision is still far from being fulfilled, this group has made small achievements over the past year. Bihu, with live music and singing was performed at the Indian Independence Day celebration in August 2002 in Fremont, California.

The child of a school teacher who led his life in penury, Dr Saikia sold chillies by the side of the road while in school. “But I sold my vegetable honestly. I never shortchanged my customers,” he was to later say in an interview to a magazine. That was how close Dr Bhabendranath Saikia, the filmmaker from Assam who passed away this morning, was to reality. So perhaps were his films.

Where the filmmaker, writer, physicist and dramatist of the tragic and the comic sat, comfortable and composed, as if he were the centre of it all. Pranab Bora, editor, Newsfile, spoke with Dr Bhabendranath Saikia in June, 2002, in his home in Beltola, Guwahati. Excerpts:

Newsfile: Any icons?
Dr Bhabendranath Saikia: Not really. During my stay abroad I watched many beautiful movies such as Kanal (Polish), and The Roof. These have inspired me a lot.

Dr. Bhabendranath Saikia was born in Nagaon on the 20th of
February, 1932, to Bidur Chandra Saikia and Champabala Saikia. Dr. Saikia
graduated from Nagaon Government Boys High School in 1948. He
received his Bachelor's degree from Cotton College in Science with
Honors. He received his Ph.D. from London University in Nuclear
Physics.

Dr. Saikia started his career as a faculty member at Gauhati
University in the Department of Physics. He had assumed several
positions of prominence such as the Secretary of University Textbook

The subject said it all - "Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia Passed Away". Since the last few days we had been closely following his deteriorating health condition, his admittance to GNRC, ICU etc. But we had been hoping and praying that "the situation would turn around" (email from Dil and Dilip Deka, Texas). This sad news brought a deep sense of loss and sorrow to the entire assamese community in the USA. "A giant of our arts and letters back at home has left behind monumental achievements that enrich Assam", said Dr. Atul Sarma's email.

BIO DATA: DR BHABENDRANATH SAIKIA

Born : 20th February 1932 at Fauzdarpatty in Nagaon Dist.

Education : M.Sc, Phd, D.I.C.(London)

Service : Reader (Physics) in Gauhati University.

• Secretary of Text Book Production Co-ordination Committee of Gauhati University.
• Chairman of Railway Service Commission.
• Vice-president of Sri Manta Sankardev Kalakhetra
• President of Assam Rajyik Chalchitra Nigam Sabha

Assam Association of North America
-----------------------------------
Assam Association of North America joins the Assamese residents of USA and
Canada in expressing our deepest sympathy and sincere condolences to the
bereaved family,friends and people of Assam upon the untimely death of
Dr.Bhabendra Nath Saikia, a great son of Assam and doyen of Assamese
literature and culture.May his soul rest in peace.
On August 17th,2003 in a meeting arranged by Assam Sahitya Sabha North America in
Bridgewater New Jersey AANA joined all other Assamese organizations in USA

Just about nothing, it seems, could have saved them that night. “We can’t stay here,” says Dilip Sarkar. “I lost my father, my younger brother, and his family. The only police protection here are a few Home Guard personnel who are posted about half a mile away. A week after the attacks, survivors of the August 14 massacre at the Kamal Nagar and Barlungapara areas of West Tripura district are leaving their villages in hundreds, in search of shelter, safer, hopefully, than the homes they are leaving behind. The tragedy, for many, it seems, has just begun.

Please see the following news from today's Assam Tribune. The trust still needs Rs 30 Lakhs (Approx $ 65,000) to equip the building with minimum facilities so that it can be opened in Feb 2004. We had started a fundraising drive around 5 months ago to collect money for this initiative. Several people, from all sections and all organisations of our community, has responded and we've collected around $ 2150 so far from people from assam residing in the U.S. Additionally, Mr. Vavani Sarma has pledged to donate a computer. AFNA has commited an additional $ 500 from its general fund.

THE final partition of Bengal in 1947 was a disaster for Tripura. It opened the floodgates of an influx from East Bengal that forever changed the demography of the erstwhile princely kingdom.This demographic change paved the way for a fierce ethnic conflict that has ravaged the tiny state for the past two decades. The independent kingdom also lost its direct geographical link to the Indian mainland and this isolation stunted possibilities of its rapid economic growth despite the availability of key resources like natural gas.