GUWAHATI: A special court in Guwahati delivered the verdict of life imprisonment to National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) chief, Ranjan Daimary on January 30 in connection with the 2008 Assam serial bombings in various locations across the state including 3 locations in the city. This verdict comes ten years after the incident occurred.
Nine others were also sentenced to life imprisonment for the same crime. On 30th October 2008, the NDBF triggered a series of blasts in Guwahati, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Barpeta. The blasts killed 88 people and left more than 500 people injured.
Earlier, the special court had convicted the chief of the NDFB, Ranjan Daimary and 14 others. It requires mention that Daimary was on interim bail since June 2013. However, on January 28 of this year, his bail plea was rejected and he was rearrested with charges of the serial bomb blasts in Assam. NS Yadav, CBI’s investigating officer for the case, told the media that they had demanded death penalty for the culprits.
The poll conducted by G Plus had over 1,700 participants and opinions and comments started flowing in on all our social media channels. Of the 1,700 participants, 66.67% people said that it was appropriate punishment, while 30% disagreed and said that life imprisonment was inappropriate. 3.33% percent people said they weren’t sure and opted for a “Maybe” in the poll conducted.
The majority of the people (66.67%) were of the belief that life imprisonment was an appropriate punishment for Ranjan Daimary as he had committed a heinous crime against the people of Assam. Many were killed and so many more were injured. Numerous people were happy that he had got life imprisonment. However, some people were also of the belief that this punishment was not harsh enough. He was compared to Kasab who was responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks and people said that Daimary should be hanged just like Kasab. They also opined that since Daimary comes from a powerful and wealthy family, jailing him might not be the solution as he might get out, one way or the other. The final consensus suggested that the best solution would be to hang him. “He killed so many innocent people and just life imprisonment? He should be hanged,” commented a resident of Guwahati Ashapurna Saikia.
Respondents (30%) who disagreed with the life imprisonment verdict were mainly supporters and sympathizers of the National Democratic Front Bodoland (NDFB) and did not want their leader to go to jail. Their thought was that Daimary was only using a means to an end. They believed in his cause and methods. These respondents do not think he did anything “so” wrong. Their belief lies in the fact that there is always collateral damage and it is not a big deal if it was done for the greater good of the community. “Assam government wants to punish the NDFB leader, Ranjan Daimary only because he is a Bodo and Assam government never wants to punish bloody ULFA terrorists because they are Assamese. We Bodo must be united,” commented another follower, Barhungkha Brahma.
The remaining respondents (3.33%) decided that they were not sure if the life imprisonment sentence was fair or not. It’s true that Daimary had committed a major crime, but there was reason behind it as he said he was doing it to prove a point for his community members.
“Good, law should be equal for all,” said Atikur Raja Khan who neither asked for Daimary to be hanged nor said that what he did was right.
