Villagers shout anti-Pakistan slogans before the funeral of Maneswar Basumatary, in Kalbari village of Assam’s Baksa district. (Dasarath Deka)Maneswar Basumatary, 48, the only CRPF personnel from the Northeast among slain troopers in the militant attack in Pulwama, was cremated on Saturday night on a field right next to his house in Assam’s Baksa district.
Basumatary’s coffin arrived at Guwahati airport on Saturday evening, where CM Sarbananda Sonowal and other top ministers, former CM Tarun Gogoi, top police and civil administration officials paid their tributes. At 7 pm, the body was put in a chopper and flown to Tamulpur, near Kalbari.
From Saturday morning, hundreds of people from neighbouring villages had gathered at the slain trooper’s home, shouting slogans from time to time. Protests against the attack were reported from several parts of Assam on Friday and Saturday.
Basumatary’s younger brother Parameshwar said he was associated with the All-Bodo Students Union, “which was going strong those days”, before joinging the forces”. “Then he fell in love and married Sanmati (his widow),” Parameshwar said.
Sanmati said, “We got married around 26 years ago. In 1994, when he joined the CRPF, our daughter was a year old. I last spoke to him on Thursday – around 5.30am. He said they were leaving for Srinagar from Jammu…. He said he would try for a posting in Assam – he has done a few stints earlier here.”
Sonowal today said, “We are all united to fight these anti-national forces.”
Setting aside political differences, his predecessor, Congress’s Tarun Gogoi, said, “We have had our differences with the government but today we say the Centre should do everything necessary to tackle terrorism.”
