JORHAT, Oct 11 � In a shocking disclosure Narayan Chandra Dev Goswami, Satradhikar of Natun Kamalabari Satra, Majuli, has said that an ULFA cadre equipped with arms came to kill him in 1997 and that the member of the outfit was instigated for the act by two �bhakats� of the Satra. The Satradhikar made this revelation at a press conference held at Jorhat Press Club here today.
The dispute inside the Natun Kamalabari Satra has pushed the two parties, i.e., the Satradhikar and the group of rebel �bhakats� to such a position that they began to level allegations against each other which, as a result, has lessened the common people�s reverence towards the abode of Vaishnavite culture in the river island. The Satradhikar and Vaishnavite monks known as �Kewalia Bhakats�, who spend their days at the Satra in pursuit of religious practices without being involved in matrimonial relationships for the whole life, are now at daggers drawn over matters relating to power and position.
Narayan Chandra Dev Goswami�s press meet today at Jorhat Press Club came in response to the press meet on October 8 called by Prabhat Bora Burhabhakat, the other party in the dispute.
The Satradhikar alleged that Prabhat Bora and Janardan Bhuyan, two �bhakats� of the Satra, went to meet the ULFA cadres at Garaimari, Majuli. When the outfit�s Majuli group refused to kill the Satradhikar, an ULFA cadre was hired from Lakhimpur to kill him. He further said that a youth from the outfit came to him and wanted to talk to him in private at the Sanskrit tol there. From the youth carrying a loaded revolver the Satradhikar came to know about the plot the said �bhakats� hatched against him.
�The youth was highly impressed after he talked to me and went away without doing any harm to me. He himself told me about the work assigned to him of killing me,� said Dev Goswami.
The Satradhikar further stated that since 1996 to 2007, Prabhat Bora had fought a legal battle against him and 11 other �bhakats� of the Satra. But the judgment of the High Court went against the rebel �bhakats�. The dispute is a result of Prabhat Bora�s ambition to get recognised as a �Samuhiya Burha Bhakat� in the Satra, Dev Goswami alleged.
The internal feud in the Satra for power and pelf has raised mixed reactions among the common people there. The conscious section of the society has viewed that the Satra has now become the hub of plotters where conspiracy and conflict have debased the lives of Vaishnavites.
