Gogoi dares Mahanta to deny Saikia report

The CM said his Government would revive all 20 cases of “secret killings” for reinvestigation as recommended by the Commission. Gogoi said the period from 1998 to 2001 during which the secret killings of family members of the leaders and cadres of the ULFA occurred was the “darkest chapter in the history of Assam.” The Saikia Commission instituted by the Congress-led Government in August 2005, which submitted its final report in August this year, has held Mahanta responsible for the “secret killings” and said there was “enough evidence” to show that the former CM was at the helm of the extra-Constitutional killings that took place in the state between 1998 and 2001.

Gogoi also rubbished Mahanta’s allegations that the Saikia Commission was biased and politically motivated, and instead accused him of allegedly casting aspersions on a former Supreme Court judge. “It is very unfortunate that a former chief minister is trying to cast aspersions on a respected former judge of the Supreme Court,” Gogoi said. He also said that while Mahanta kept silent when the Government constituted the Saikia Commission, “it was only when I indicated that he might be indicted that he rushed to court,” Gogoi said.

Gogoi also said his Government would soon set up a committee of legal experts to examine various options for initiating action on the “extra-constitutional” killings on the basis of the recommendations. “Our Government will also revive investigations and legal procedures in regard to all the cases that the Commission has recommended,” Gogoi said, adding that nobody would be allowed to go scot free.

The CM quoted from the Action Taken Report of the Saikia Commission and said that while higher authorities would be held liable and subjected to proper punishments, the collective responsibility would apply to all political and minister-level authorities as pointed out by the Commission. By this, Gogoi hinted that while legal action would be initiated against Mahanta and several of his former Cabinet colleagues, Kushal Duwori, a former ULFA militant and present independent MLA, would also not be spared. Duwori has been named by the Commission in one of the cases.

Though Gogoi refuted suggestions that the Commission’s report would come in handy on the eve of the crucial panchayat elections in the state, his statement on Friday gave clear indication that the Congress would use the issue against the AGP.