News that a Youth Congress leader from Assam, Janardhan Gogoi who used to look after the social media cell of the Party in Tinsukia district has joined the ULFA (Independent) led by Paresh Baruah is a matter of concern. Gogoi, the Vice President of the Tinsukia District Youth Congress says he has chosen the path of armed rebellion because he felt that politicians and regional political parties are all self-serving and not concerned at the fact that the Assamese society is at the crossroads. Gogoi’s contention is that successive governments in Assam have failed to listen to protests raised by the Assamese people from time to time. He says that the Assamese people are today destitutes in their own homeland and that he could not remain a a mere spectator to the efforts to ‘eradicate’ Assamese society. Gogoi alleges that the BJP-led Himanta Biswa Sarma Government has failed to listen to democratic protests hence the need to take up arms tom save the Assamese society.
Like all youth today, Gogoi expressed his personal feelings even to his wife over Facebook. He was influenced by ULFA(I) through social media. This is the modus operandi of most militant outfits in the North Eastern states. With police failing to track their accounts, the outfits actively engage over social media with young people who are without jobs and therefore a frustrated lot. Underground outfits and individuals like Paresh Baruah, holed up in China’s Yunnan Province regularly converses with media houses in Assam and communicates to the media over email, threatening to take action on a host of issues. Closer home, a group calling itself, ‘Lawei Ba Phyrnai’ (Bright future) has been sending email after email to newspaper offices threatening to blow up schools and other institutions by a definite date. In the age of social media it is possible for any tech-savvy individual to send emails with URLs that are tougher to track than most others but the publicity secretary of the HNLC, Sainkupar Nongtraw has for several years been using a Gmail account without being tracked down. From the tone and tenor of the mails sent, Nongtraw appears to be an educated person and the recent confession made by a certain youth group that they are the overground wing of the underground outfit seems to add up to the emails.
Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma had recently expressed concern over the recruitment of at least 47 new young members to ULFA-I, even while senior members are leaving the outfit. It is obvious that a large section of young people are losing faith in the present political leadership and governance. They need a platform to voice their angst and for elders to listen to them with respect.
