Assam’s newly appointed chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has appealed to the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA-I) to shun violence and join the peace process.
Hours after taking oath as the 15th chief minister of Assam, Sarma while addressing a press conference in Guwahati on Monday urged ULFA (I) chief Paresh Baruah to shun armed struggle and come to the negotiation table in the interest of restoring permanent peace in the state.
He also appealed to other insurgent groups active in the state to enter into a meaningful peace dialogue with both the state and the Centre ending armed conflict.
“Violence, kidnapping, extortion can never solve problems, it only makes things complicated,” Sarma said.
“Therefore, our government appeals to all militants’ groups to come to the negotiation table and play a role in restoring peace in the state,” he added.
On being asked on NRC, Sharma said that there is a need for re-verification of certain names included in the NRC.
Earlier Sarma had said that the published in 2019 was “fundamentally wrong” and a new exercise will start after the elections if the Supreme Court allows.