The answer is simple: hit at the core of their hearts, touch their sentiments and make them proud of their heritage. The attempt has come a bit late. But, for the Army authorities, the adage ``better late than never'' still seems useful.

The Army has hit upon a scheme to get closer to the Assamese hearts, it has instituted three trophies in the name of three top local heroes, which, according to a press note issued by the PIB (Defence Wing) here, will be awarded for professional excellence to the best student officers at infantry schools at Mhow (Madhya Pradesh) and Belgaum (Karnataka). The trophies, instituted by the Army's four Corps, situated at Tezpur, are ``to promote the awareness about the rich heritage of Assam and to pay respects to the sons of the soil.''

The three after whom the trophies have been instituted areLachit Barphukan, the great Ahom general who defeated the mighty Moghul army in 1761, Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi, the first premier of Assam, who during the partition of India fought to stop Assam from being clubbed with Pakistan, and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, who rose to be the President of India. A fourth trophy on the other hand has been named after Daimalu, a famous Bodo warrior.

It may be recalled that the Army has been facing an uphill task in the face of criticism in a section of the local media centering around alleged incidents of violation of human rights.

Faced with this situation, the Army, has also taken up the task of beautification of a municipality park named after Lachit Barphukan, while it was only last month that it also took up the task of restoring water supply to the famous Kamakhya temple here.