Families of victims had hoped for more

GUWAHATI: For families of the victims of the 2008 serial blasts, justice was delayed for 11 years.
A CBI special court sentenced National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) chief Ranjan Daimary and nine others to life imprisonment. The judgment came as a relief for many families, but for most, it was too little, too late. “I am happy the culprits were punished.But I wanted them to be hanged,” says Kailash Teron, brother of Biren Teron, an auto driver who died in one of the blasts at Ganeshguri here.
Golapi Tumung, mother of Naren Tumung, who was left paralyzed in the blast, felt the same.
“Neither did the government take care of us nor did my son get justice today. I wanted him (Ranjan Daimary) to get the harshest punishment. Or they should have been paralyzed, like my son was.” Tumung suffered serious head injuries leaving him paralyzed for life. Arindam Das, who was a witness to the blast at Panbazar, said, “I’m very happy that they were given life term. It was the darkest day of my life.”
The Forum for Terrorist Victim Family Assam, on the other hand, has urged the state government to re-open all the cases of militant leaders so they can be awarded exemplary punishment. “It’s a welcome verdict by the court. But it should not be the lone instance. Many other militant leaders involved in killing innocent lives are still out in open in the name of peace talks ,” said Dhananjoy Saikia, founder of FTVFA.