GUWAHATI, Oct 30 - It has been exactly a decade when extremists belonging to the banned NDFB (Ranjan) resorted to orgy of violence claiming nearly 100 innocent lives and rendering several hundred severely wounded.
While many of them have moved on in life, others still lament that not enough was done by the State machinery to punish the guilty the way they should have and also to bring back the lives of those affected back on track.
There are also ones, who feel that the fateful day of October 30, 2008, which remains the most dreadful attack the State has ever witnessed, will have to leave the public memory at some point of time and people should look ahead for a better future instead.
Amid all these, people from various walks of life today gathered at different venues across the State to pay homage to those who lost their lives in the serial explosions triggered in Guwahati (three blasts), Barpeta, Bongaigaon and Kokrajhar.
Further, for all those whose lives changed upside down following the blasts, however, could not still help looking up to the judiciary for justice.
Dimbeswar Deka, a vegetable vendor who sustained grievous injury in the Ganeshguri blast said, �I did not get a job as was promised by the Government. But these are foregone issues for me now and all I want is that exemplary punishment should be meted out to those responsible.�
Like Deka, family members of many other victims who assembled at the prayers meet at Guwahati, also echoed identical sentiments
�The culprits must be punished and there cannot be two ways about it. However, what I feel is that revisiting the memories of the fateful day only radiates negativity and nothing else. I know it is easier said than done but we cannot keep revisiting the dark history,� said Dhiren Sarma, a resident of Ganeshguri area who had witnessed the tragic aftermath unfold.
Meanwhile, with the trial of the case in the fast-track court entering in its last stage, and only around 12 more witnesses left to be examined out of the total 840 of them, the D-Day for the perpetrators of the heinous act seems to be round the corner.
Based on the two chargesheets filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), as many as 15 accused including then NDFB chief Ranjan Daimary are facing trial.
�Around 100 witnesses have died over the years. All the 15 accused except Ranjan Daimary are still in judicial custody,� said a lawyer associated with the case without wishing to be named.
Meanwhile, Kamrup (Metro) district administration, like the previous years, organized a prayer meet at Ganeshguri, to pay homage to the victims of the serial blasts.
�Violence cannot bring solution to any problem and peace can only be attained through parleys,� said Education Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya while paying floral tributes at the prayers meet.
Miffed at the indifferent attitude of the Government in rehabilitating the affected, the All Assam Students� Union (AASU) demanded those at the helm of affairs must initiate prompt steps in this regard.
