Bodo accord new dawn of peace in Assam, says Modi

krajhar, February 7

Pitching for peace from the once hotbed of an armed movement for Bodoland, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged Kashmiri militants, banned outfits in the North-East and Naxalites to lay down their arms, join the national maintstream and “celebrate life”.

The Bodo accord has heralded a new dawn of peace and development in Assam, he said while addressing a massive public rally to celebrate the January 27 tripartite accord amid a spectacle resplendent with Assam’s cultural opulence. He also attacked the previous non-BJP governments for “procrastinating” resolution of vexed issues that alienated people and made them lose faith in democracy and the Constitution.

“With people’s support, it has paved the way for permanent peace. Those still with bombs, guns and bullets in Kashmir, other parts of North-East, and Naxalites… come back, join the maintream. Wapas laut aiye aur jeevan ka jashn manaiye (come back and celebrate life),” he said.

Modi said he was confident that the accord signed by the Centre, Assam Government and Bodo groups, would bring permanent peace, unlike the previous accords inked with insurgents in 1993 and 2003. “With the signing of the historic agreement, no demand has been left unfulfilled,” he said.

Modi, who was on a visit to Assam for the first time after enactment of the new citizenship law, which plunged large parts of the state into a welter of violence, also sought to assuage the concerns of people of the region on the issue. “Canard is being spread that lakhs of settlers will come from other countries after the enactment of the CAA. Nothing of that sort will happen,” he said.

The PM had cancelled his visits to Guwahati twice in December last year and this January — first for a summit meeting with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe and second to inaugurate the ‘Khelo India’ youth games at the height of anti-CAA protests.

Assam witnessed bloodshed over many decades as Bodo militants fought for a separate state. — PTI