By NJ Thakuria

Guwahati: The residents of northeast India, whom the mainstream agencies often misunderstand as sympathizers to various separatist militant outfits, have joined in 67th Republic Day celebrations one and all to pay heartfelt tributes to the martyrs. For the first time in recent decades, the auspicious Day on 26 January 2016 was observed without a single incident of violence across the region surrounded by Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet (China), Burma and Bangladesh.

The people of trouble-torn Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya, and Nagaland with Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Tripura and Sikkim have participated in both government and community celebrations on R-Day to hoist the national flag with great fervor. They not only saluted the martyrs, who made supreme sacrifices for the motherland, but also rejected the militants’ yearly rhetoric to boycott the R-Day and Independence Day in the region.

Members and family Guwahati Press Club takes out Procession during the 67th Republic Day celebration in Guwahati on January 26, 2016.

The northeastern militants under various banners namely United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia, co-ordination committee of Manipur based militant outfits, Garo National Liberation Army,  Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council etc called for a total shutdown in the region on R-Day this time too raising voices against the Union government in New Delhi.

A joint statement issued the rebels asserted that there is no reason for Western South East Asia to celebrate India’s Republic Day. They also argued that the citizens of the region should introspect and analyze Indian policy here and initiate to dislodge Indian occupation from the alienated region.

Along with the nation, the city based scribes and patriotic citizens celebrated the R-Day at Guwahati Press Club. Editor-journalist Girindra Kumar Karji hoisted the national flag in the morning, following which the participants took out a procession on the streets.

Senior journalist DN Bezbarua and social worker Ajay Dutta led the procession where many children also took part lifting the tri-colour.

Others who joined in the mission included Rupam Barua, Ranen Kumar Goswami, Mukul Kalita, Pramod Kalita, Jagadindra Raychoudhury, Pankaj Duara, Dayanath Singh, Pulin Kalita, Kailash Sarma, Pradip Thakuria, Soumyadeep Dutta, Mrinal Ali Hazarika, Ujjal Saikia, Samir Sandilya, Nayan Bhuyan, Hiren Kalita, Bikash Singh, Ravi Ajitacharya, Sabita Lahkar, Sumana Dutta, Purabi Barua, Kuntala Chakrabarty, Alaka Goswami, Akhyamala Bora,  Anjali Deka, Mamata Mishra, Tarali Chakrabarty etc.

Earlier ridiculing the militants’ diktat  over the R-Day celebration, the Journalists’ Forum Assam  appealed to each and every patriotic resident of the region to hoist the national flag on the auspicious Day and  pay homage to the martyrs. The forum argued that if the citizens do not recognize the immense sacrifice made by millions of known and unknown freedom fighters to make India an independent nation, ‘we would only turn ourselves as the most ungrateful nationals on the planet’.