PROGRESS INDICATORS.

It all started in year 2000 when militants blew up a car in NALBARI and assassinated Nagen Sharma, Minister of Assam , many thought that the ULFA was back with a bang. Surprisingly, a week after the incident more than 400 militants belonging to ULFA surrendered to the govt. The organisation , which inspired and attracted thousands of youth in Assam and kept the govt and army busy all these years, now finds itself in disarray.

Once it started ,it became clear to the militant that their demand of 'SWADHIN ASOM' could never become reality . more and more ULFA militants gave their arms. Not even ULFA but other militants organisations like NDFB, KNV,BLT  came for talks with the govt. In recent months the Unified Command was successful in busting many militants hideouts. Many mportant Militants were either arrested or were killed in the military operations. Public demonstration against the army operations ans protests condemning fake encounters have become rare phenomena. Contrarily the poeple were seen participating in large numbers in the govt sponsored seminars, conventions and peace rallies directed against the militancy. Intrestingly even the intellectuals, who directly or indirectly supported ULFA and BODO militants initially, openly voice their resentment against the mindless violence resorted to by the militant outfits. The regional press is coming out with numerous articles and editorials criticising the negative effect of militancy. Giving up their old practice of holding indian state and central govt responsible for the backwardness of the region.

With the state getting tougher and public turning against the militants, they are definitely dyning their own death, however , it would be premature to declare the death of insurgency and celebrate the dawn of peace and harmony in assam.  

If militancy is only a law and order problem and the militants only misguided youth, what the army and the govt have been doing could be considered sufficient to restore peace in assam. However without an understanding of the material and ideological roots that gave birth to militancy, restoring peace in assam would be an uphill task.

THE 'MASSES' ?

DEMOCRACY is defined as a system by which a country is governed by the whole population, by those who are elected by the whole population. The word comes in part from the Greek work "demos", means the people. That is what the great oxford English dictionary, that infallible oracle of the English speaking world, says. It also says that "mass"  in the plural, that is "the masses",  means "the ordinary people". Kindly note the difference between "the people" and "the ordinary people". You can make out the difference.

The masses can be persuaded, mollified, inflamed, soothed, pushed around, restrained, barred from certain places and made to go to others, all because of these traits and or more correctly, assumption of traits.
These assumptions are that "the masses " are basically simple minded, that their powers of comprehension are limited, they are credulous and naive and can be pushed around with impunity and be persuaded tp believe that it is for their own good or some good that those in power consider important.

Politicians will deny this but they are the ones who firmly believe that the masses can be swayed by thundering promises of a better tomorrow or they can be told to remain calm and not let issues agitate them. A comic example of tis assumption- made , obviously, by some bureaucrat convinced of his own shrewdness-, was the publication in  major newspapers and journals of an appeal in the name of PM Manmohan Singh that the people stay calm when the High Court pronounces its judgement in the Ayodhya title suit.

"The masses " did indeed stay calm there was no violent reaction from any community or group, although all those who proclaim they speak for some part of the masses have declared they will challenge the judgment in SC. it would be foolish to think that the masses stayed calm because of the appeal. But the fact that such an appeal was made indicates that the age-old assumptions about "The Masses" still hold good.