MY DATE WITH TERRORISTS

(This photo is only representative and from my archives when Mumbai was attacked)

Hardly any Assamese are drawn to the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) these days, as they too want to live in peace. Besides they hold Maa Kamakhya Devi in great reverence and Maa is the binding force with the mainstream. The only way ULFA is surviving now is because of artificial respiration it receives from China. Although ULFA has weakened, it is still capable of acts of deadly violence.

The arrest of Arabinda Rajkhowa, Assam rebel chief gave a fillip to the remnants of this terrorist outfit.

I had a professional commitment in Guwahati in the second week of December 2009. A road block by a handful of ULFA supporters greeted me. The 45-minute journey from airport to the town took me four hours, a detour of over 40 km and a flight down memory lane – to the chilly winter of that eventful and unforgettable day.

I was then the General Manager (Marketing & Sales) of a reputed company. Our field manager at Guwahati was Badal Rajkhowa, a first cousin of Arabinda Rajkhowa, (Arabinda then was a second rung ULFA leader).

We were not aware of his relations with Arabinda during his recruitment, nor was I aware of who this Arabinda Rajkhowa was. Badal had joined as a medical representative. His excellent sales record and leadership qualities earned him a promotion as Field Sales Manager. He did extremely well for about a year in his new role.

But after that there were signs of changes in him.

Badal frequently abstained from work without prior permission. At times his whereabouts were not known. Discipline in his team was at the lowest ebb. Sales performance had gone done down drastically.

His immediate boss Amitava Sengupta from Calcutta kept complaining about him. A report then came in that Badal had assaulted his Bengali-origin medical representative. “It appears he has joined ULFA”, said Amitava Sengupta.

Finally, on my recommendation, the Personnel Department prepared a disciplinary case against him. Badal was called to Head Office. He did not come. The personnel manager sent him three reminders asking him to come to Ahmedabad to defend himself, but Badal not come. Ultimately, his services were terminated.

On a Wednesday afternoon I reached Guwahati to finalize a replacement for Badal. I stayed at my usual place, Hotel Nandan. The plan was to conduct interviews on the first day and induct the successful candidate on Friday and return to Ahmedabad on Saturday evening.

Everything went on as planned – till Saturday morning. At around 8.00 am on Saturday, I heard sirens outside the hotel. I peeped out and saw three jeeps and a dozen people in military fatigues and stenguns alighting. Some VIP, I thought.

Sudden loud knocks on my door jolted me. Four people who had come in the jeeps rushed into my room pointing their stenguns towards me. They asked me to raise my hands. It was a case of mistaken identity, I thought. One of them opened the window and fired a few bullets in the air with an intention to intimidate me.

Unexpectedly the phone rang and their leader signaled his buddy to answer. He placed the receiver on my ears. It was Badal Rajkhowa! In a threatening tone he “commanded” me to revoke his termination or ELSE MY DEAD BODY WOULD GO TO AHMEDABAD!

He then slammed down the phone.

Momentarily I panicked, but then fortunately my training under Retd. Col. Chapekar who was preparing me to join the NDA and later at the NCC camps, came in handy. I was taught how to conquer fear and had made me a mentally tough person.

Added to this was the martial blood of Chitrapur Saraswats flowing down my veins. “Do not lose nerve or control of mind. Fear is anti-life”, I told myself. I had read somewhere the opposite of “fear” is “cooperation” and that’s how I decided to deal with the situation.

I requested the leader to allow me to sit down and bring down my hands. I then initiated a conversation with him. To my surprise he spoke chaste English. His body-language was also indicative of being a well-bred person. This gave me considerable solace. I smiled and asked him whether he had breakfast and if not we can have it together.

He said brusquely that he was not here for breakfast but to “demand justice‟ for Badal. He repeated what Badal had told me over phone “If justice is not done to Badal, your dead body will go to Ahmedabad”.

Nevertheless, he permitted me to speak to room services to order for tea. Room service informed me that the situation in the hotel is very tense all because of me and refused to serve me. I told their leader, who called himself as Brig. Deka, the reluctance of the hotel to service this room. Brig. Deka picked up the phone and spoke to them in Assamese. Within a few minutes the bearer came with piping-hot Assam tea.

After an hour or so Brig. Deka asked me what my decision about Badal was. We have already recruited a person to replace him was my cool answer. Brig. Deka repeated “Either Badal is taken back or your dead body goes to Ahmedabad”.

There was an uneasy quiet for the next 45 minutes.

At around 12.00 I broke the silence and narrated to him about what led the company to take this decision. He listened to my version patiently but at the end he said that he has to follow the orders of his bosses. It was now 2.30 pm and my flight for Calcutta would be departing soon – without me!
I reconciled to the fact that I have to stay for a day more at Guwahati. Can we have lunch, I asked Brig. Deka. “Yes”, he said, then like a broken gramophone record repeated, “But do not forget – take back Badal or your dead body goes to Ahmedabad”.

I ignored his threat.

We went down to the restaurant – not a soul in the lobby of hotel nor in the restaurant. He ordered lunch for all of us. After lunch, he commanded me back to my room – and surprisingly footed the bill! A true gentleman I said to myself – but with the wrong people for a wrong cause.

I then suggested that he should call Badal to the hotel so we could talk. Badal came within half an hour. I explained to Badal and Brig. Deka that I am only a marketing person and I have no authority either to appoint or terminate any one and that I cannot overstep my jurisdiction as the head of marketing & sales. This prerogative is with the personnel department, I told them. Brig. Deka then asked me to speak to the personnel manager. I replied that being a Saturday, the office would be closed. I promised him that I shall explain their stand to the personnel manager as soon as I reach Ahmedabad the next day.

Badal chortled – “Are you trying to escape without a solution?” Said Brig. Deka authoritatively – “You are in our custody. Speak to HO on Monday. We shall be here sharp at 10.30 on Monday morning. Till then our buddies will give you company”

Both left and two terrorists with stenguns were on 24-hour duty outside my room. I was their prisoner. All my out-going telephone calls were blocked, and I was in a hopeless situation. Will I reach Ahmedabad or my dead body, I kept on thinking. To amuse myself I even visualized my big photograph in the Ahmedabad newspapers with headlines “The hero of Ahmedabad returns from Guwahati in a coffin‟.
I spent the next two nights praying to my Ishta Devata Lord Ganesh to help me out of this situation.

Came Monday morning and at sharp 10.30 my two friends Badal and Brig. Deka were back.

They asked me to speak to the personnel manager. I spoke to him in Gujarati and explained the situation. In English, I told him to fax the letter annulling Badal‟s termination if they valued my safety. The personnel manager told me that the needful would be done. By 12.30 the fax was received which I handed over to Brig. Deka. I was relieved. I and not my dead body would be flying to Ahmedabad after all. No photographs of Vivek Hattangadi in the Ahmedabad newspapers, I chuckled.

It was only after that I was allowed to reach my family. They were tense because I was to return home on Saturday.

[P.S. Names of some changed to respect privacy except that of the Rajkhowa’s and Brig. Deka]