[Assam] Bandh, Government and the People - Sentinel editorial

[Ram Sarangapani]

> The Sentinel is expecting different results from doing the same thing
> over and over again--railing against ULFA given Bandhs and
> expecting  people to ignore it

You are right C'da, and that is why I wrote this :)

>>Don't know why the Sentinel is so uptight about the bandh. It ought to
have just
>> enjoyed the day off - just like the rest of an almost mute populace?

But most people recognize one thing - more than any other place, the biggest
success stories of bandhs are in Assam.

Bandhs, therefore, are a very easy standard of measuring success. The ulfa
or any other group can call for a bandh and it happens (usually 100%
success). Such successes are vey good for organizations desperately trying
to seek kudos from a population that seems largely indifferent or helpless.

So, it is surprising that one could assume bandhs like this give us a true
measure of any success. All it says is that organizations love to capitalize
on this aspect of the society, and declare victory.

If any organization wants to really take up the challenge, it should declare
a total bandh for say a month or so. Then maybe, it can find out how the
population really loves and supports it.
--Ram


On 4/5/07, Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at charter.net> wrote:
> Ram,
>
> Without having gone thru the whole piece, one thing comes to mind:
>
> The Sentinel is expecting different results from doing the same thing
> over and over again--railing against ULFA given Bandhs and expecting
> people to ignore it.
>
> Political scientists call it INSANITY.
>
> c-da
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> At 10:12 AM -0500 4/5/07, Ram Sarangapani wrote:
> >I guess, this was a very successful bandh. Everyone came out on top -
> >well, except a few, students taking exams, day/hajira laborers,
> >businesses, the economy, the traders, schools, colleges, etc etc. But
> >we certainly don't have to worry about them, they don't really count.
> >The saviors of Assam have showered yet another blessing on Assam.
> >
> >Don't know why the Sentinel is so uptight about the bandh. It ought to
> >have just enjoyed the day off - just like the rest of an almost mute
> >populace?
> >
> >--Ram
> >___________________________________________________________
> >Bandh, Government and the People
> >ULFA has remained blind to the plight of scores of widows and orphans
> >whose lives are in a shambles just because they had to pay the price
> >of a 'revolution' now orchestrated from Bangladesh.
> >By a Staff Reporter
> >GUWAHATI, April 4: The ULFA today called a 12-hour bandh in protest
> >against the handling of the wives of missing ULFA leaders by the State
> >police. The police had arrested the wives of the missing ULFA leaders,
> >who were on a fast-unto-death to know about the whereabouts of their
> >missing husbands, and confined them at the Guwahati Medical College
> >and Hospital in view of their deteriorating health conditions. All
> >these are 'atrocities' in the eyes of the ULFA. But the banned outfit,
> >as usual, has chosen to see and exploit situations of only one kind,
> >such as the case of the wives of missing rebels, and has remained
> >blind to the plight of scores of widows and orphans whose lives are in
> >a shambles just because they had to pay the price of a 'revolution'
> >now orchestrated from Bangladesh. So the outfit created a fear
> >psychosis in the minds of the general public by triggering blasts in
> >Guwahati and upper Asom in the run-up to today's bandh.
> >However, despite being aware of the fear factor that precedes and
> >marks every bandh called by the ULFA, the Tarun Gogoi government
> >remained a mute spectator to the making of that fear factor. It is as
> >if the government had no clue as to how the bandh effect could be
> >neutralized except for a mere circular.
> >It is a fact that banking plays a vital role in the movement of people
> >and their business. The government must have ensured that the banks
> >operated normally under full security cover, and that the bank
> >employees reached their respective offices under safe conditions. Did
> >the government talk with the bank authorities, assuring them of full
> >security cover during the bandh period, and then ask them to keep
> >their branches open for the public so that there would be at least
> >some movement of people, to begin with? That could have prompted the
> >rest of the people to also come out of their homes and go about their
> >business, thus defeating the very purpose of the bandh.
> >Did the government ever thought it necessary to talk with the Sadau
> >Asom Karmachari Parishad (SAKP) so as to ensure the presence of
> >government employees in their offices after having worked on a
> >convincing security arrangement? Not that we know of. The SAKP is not
> >an anti-national organization to support the ULFA's bandh call. A mere
> >circular, just for the sake of formality, directing that all
> >government offices and services throughout the State should function
> >normally during the bandh period is a big joke, given the attitude of
> >the people towards bandhs - as extended holidays. Does the government
> >think that such a circular can at all be effective in countering the
> >ULFA fear factor in the minds of the general public? What did the
> >government do to provide security to its own employees and arrange for
> >their safe transportation? Did the government even think of talking
> >with bus, autorickshaw and rickshaw associations so as to evolve a
> >mechanism to ensure normal movement of vehicles and people under full
> >security cover?
> >As a matter of fact, today, during the bandh period, the ministers and
> >bureaucrats must have been within the safe confines of the
> >Secretariat, working hard through the day, and should have relieved
> >the security personnel on VIP duty to provide security to ordinary
> >citizens.
> >As for the ULFA's so-called revolution, it is nothing but a
> >multi-crore business house operating from Bangladesh. It overlooks the
> >annexation of Asom - the outfit's actual homeland - by Bangladesh.
> >Therefore, as an outfit whose voice is not its own but that of the ISI
> >and Bangladeshi forces, the ULFA should not be under a wrong
> >impression that the people of the State are supporting its multi-crore
> >business house in the name of Asom's liberation. The fact remains that
> >people are just afraid of the ULFA, given the outfit's choice of soft
> >targets - even children - and the government's inability in providing
> >security to ordinary citizens.
> >What is the bottomline then? By not ensuring security to ordinary
> >citizens and a smooth functioning of banks and other establishments,
> >the government also contributed to the 'success' of today's bandh. It
> >is such bandhs that not only disrupt normal life but also lead to the
> >State's daily financial loss running into crores of rupees. Who is
> >going to compensate for all that? Then just think about the poor daily
> >wage-earners losing their meagre daily earnings during such bandhs.
> >Who will compensate for them? The government or the ULFA?
> >Meanwhile, when contacted, SAKP secretary Basav Kalita told The
> >Sentinel that the government's directive to the district
> >administration in regard to today's bandh did not make any sense. "The
> >government should provide transportation facility to the employees
> >coming from remote areas. Besides, security cover should be given at
> >the offices in remote areas during the bandh period," Kalita said,
> >adding that if the government does not take these initiatives, then
> >the directive to take action against those abstaining from office does
> >not make 'any sense'.
> >However, Chief Secretary PC Sarma told The Sentinel: "We have taken
> >all possible measures from our side. The Rhino buses were plying on
> >the road. We also asked the private bus associations to continue their
> >bus service during the bandh period." He also said the government
> >cannot force the banks, private institutions and other establishments
> >to remain open during the bandh period. He, however, said that enough
> >security was provided during the day.
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >assam mailing list
> >assam at assamnet.org
> >http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
>
>
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