Plea for Help: 11-Yr-Old Assam Lad Writes to the UN, Prays for Peace

Guwahati, December 19, 2019:

Yashvir Alam, a Class 5 student from Don Bosco School in Guwahati city of Assam, has written to the United Nations (UN), yearning for a return to normalcy in his strife-torn motherland, Assam.

Amid raging protests and reports of clashes between police personnel and agitators in a city torn apart, this 11-year-old resident of Guwahati city had a stroke of brilliance. Why not write to the United Nations, the self-avowed peacekeepers of the world?

In this net-savvy era, it is not uncommon for kids of Yashvir's age to express their thoughts through social media, and Yashvir promptly mailed off a note to the United Nations (UN), where he sought the body's intervention to set everything right.

In the heart-wrenching "open letter, which Yashvir has also uploaded on Twitter, he writes, "My heart is weeping when I see my homeland Assam was burning" the boy writes, adding, "this is the first time I have seen my city like this."

Yashvir also laments the life to life and property in the midst of the protests against the Bill-turned-Act. "Police has used tear-gas and water cannons and rubber bullets on my brothers and sisters who have come to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act", and adds that some "bad" people have damaged public property.

Yashvir further goes on to add that his beautiful land, Assam, has "lost all glory" amid the protests over the Bill-turned-Act, which, he admits, "is considered to be a danger to my home state and also to out Northeast."

"We are feeling helpless because no one is there to listen us", reads Yashvir's pithy note. Yashvir further implores the UN to give "humanitarian assistance" to the people of the Assam and Northeast to save the "identity" and to bring back "mental peace" so that the people can enjoy the next sunrise without the feeling of dark clouds hovering over their heads.

Yashvir yearns for his life back, for the finger lickin' goodess of Kentucky Fried Chicken, and the weekends at the cinema, "treats" from his parents -- things that he misses.

"Please save our land, our people and help us to bring happiness in our lives", concludes Yashvir.

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Life in Assam -- and other Northeast Indian states -- came to a screeching halt after protests erupted across Assam in the wake of the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act in the Parliament.

Guwahati, which became of the epicentre of the protests, with thousands upon thousands thronging the streets and demanding answers from Dispur, the impact of the Movement was felt the most.

Soon, violence erupted in several parts of the city, and security personnel, in a bid to curb the protests, opened fire on the protesters. During the ensuing days, the death toll mounted to 5. One of the deceased, Sam Shepard, was a mere child of seventeen.

Although the protests later spread to other parts of the country, the scars of the initial protests in Assam still remain fresh. Although a fresh round of protests against the amendment of the Act has gripped the rest of the country, Assam is left mourning its martyrs and licking its wounds, and its citizens are left with the bitter taste of betrayal in their mouths, and an anxious wait for internet services to return.

In these times of strife and unrest -- children and women are the worst sufferers -- and Yashvir's letter to the UN is a shining example how war, uprisings and unrest tend to leave a lasting impact on the psyche of young and the vulnerable. Yashvir is only one among scores of children left feeling helpless amidst the chaotic surroundings. Perhaps

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