74 SOCIAL SCIENTIST The police kill the dacoits indiscriminately by adopting legal and illegal practics. They finish up the gangs after a great loss of pro" perty and lives. But their efforts fail miserably because new gangs spring up on the ashes of the older ^mes. 7 Then there is the question of mixed public opinion on the issue* Notorious bandits like Man Siyigh of the Chambal Ravines were popular men of some standing in the locality : Man Singh used to settle local disputes very peacefully. He never showed any sign of injustice to the poor and never favoured the rich. Thus he captivated the hearts of the people by his sense of truthfulness. He often helped the cause of the poor and therefore he could continue his depredations for two decades.8 We can often come across such contradictory and confusing assessments even in Police journals. All these are true, but only partially. For those who wade through the maze of this ce^np^x and even contradictory phenomena, Eric Hobsbawm provides a perspective and beacon. A few of his illuminating' ideas and theses worked oyt from a wealth of data are quoted here. Social Bandits: The point about social bandits i& that they are peasant out" laws Whom the lord and state regard as criminals, but who remain within peasant society, and are considered by iheir people as heroes, as champions, as avengers, fighters for justice, perhaps, even leaders of liberation, and in any case as men to be admired, helped and supported.9 All underworld crime is {i@t what. is designated social banditry, Social banditry has a certain affinity to Revolution, being a phenomenon of social protest in a society of inequity and oppression. But the popular tradition of bandit heros handed down in ballads and songs and anecdotes do not conform to the idea of fullfledged revolutionaries especially those of the so-called Noble Robbers like Robin Hood or Man Singh. Hobsbawm explains : Indeed they are not even social or any kind of revolutionaries^though the true Robin Hood sympathises with revolutionary aspiratibns of 'his5 people......However his object is comparatively modest. He protests not against the fact that peasants are po©r*and oppressed. He seeks to establish or to reestablish justice or the 'old ways^that is to say, fair dealings in a society of oppression. He rights wrongs. He does not seek to establish a society of freedom and equality.l ° But in times and places of revolutionary ferment ^ad action, social banditry helps the process and more ofte^i than not individual bandits-reform themselves to grow into revolutionary heroes. Mao has more than once noted this point. Hobsbawm quotes Mao: These people fight most courageously. When led in, a just manner they can become a revolutionary force.11 Such examples are plenty in the history of India, Italy, Eastern