Militancy in State on wane: Governor http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=oct2407/at09 By R Dutta Choudhury GUWAHATI, Oct 23 – Assam Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Ajai Singh has expressed the view that militancy in the State is on the wane and the militants are also getting isolated from the civil society. At the same time, he admitted that the help that the militants are getting from foreign agencies is a matter of serious concern.
Talking to *The Assam Tribune* at the Raj Bhawan here today, Lt Gen Singh, who has seen militancy from close quarters both as the GOC of the 4 Corps of the Army in the early 1990s and as the Governor of the State, said that the situation in the state has changed over the years and the civil society has now become strong against militancy. He pointed out that the killing of women and children in a blast in Dhemaji on the Independence Day in 2004 was one of the turning points, which turned the civil society against militants. The Governor pointed out that in recent times, the security forces achieved considerable success in the operations against the militants and if the same level of operations can be maintained for some time, the militant groups would be totally smashed. He said that the militants are on the run and all the groups active in Assam are facing shortage of weapons. He pointed out that the ULFA is now only planting explosives to create law and order problem and to create fear psychosis among the people to extort money to boost their own coffers. However, Lt Gen Singh said that the help that the militants are receiving from foreign agencies is a matter of serious concern. He said that the militants are receiving financial help as well as arms and ammunition from foreign agencies, which increased their fighting potential. He said that the reports of fundamentalist forces trying to create disturbance in the State is also a matter of serious concern. When pointed out that the police and security forces failed to achieve major success against the fundamentalist forces, he said, "success does not only mean arresting persons. It is a fact that the fundamentalist forces have not been able to carry out any major act of violence and this is a major success of the security forces." Replying to a question on the difference of the face of militancy that he has witnessed since his days as the GOC of the 4 Corps of the Army leading the counter-insurgency operations and now, the Governor expressed the view that the potency of militants depends on certain factors including availability of breeding ground for militancy, contiguity to places already affected by militancy, capability of the law enforcing agencies to deal with militancy, etc. He said that a strong administration could also play a major role in nipping militancy in the bud. He said that the level of militancy could also be gauged by the fear factor created by the militants over the civil society. The Governor said that in 1990 the militants created fear in the minds of the people and they could do whatever they wanted. But after two major operations- Bajrang and Rhino, the militants were put on the back foot. The militant groups are now disorganized and they are always trying to regroup. The civil society has also become very strong against militancy and the militants have lost their breeding ground and this is the opportune moment to finish militancy, he added. He also said that new militant groups have cropped up in recent times mainly to make easy money. The Governor also has very strong personal views on the issue of talks with the militant groups. On the issue of talks, he expressed the view that the militants have taken up arms against the State, which is unlawful and they should surrender arms and join the mainstream to hold talks.
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