GUWAHATI, April 28: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday averred that the recently-signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Assam and Meghalaya to resolve the interstate border dispute in six areas would encourage other states of the region to find similar solutions.
“This will give impetus to the development aspirations of the entire region,” he emphasised, while appreciating the initiatives of the chief ministers of the region.
Addressing a ‘peace, unity and development rally’ at Diphu in Karbi Anglong district, the Prime Minister said the incidence of violence in Northeast has lessened by about 75% in the past eight years, paving the way for withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from many areas of the region.
“For a long time, AFSPA had been imposed on many states of the Northeast. However, during the last eight years, we have removed AFSPA from many areas of the Northeast owing to the return of permanent peace, development and creation of better law and order conditions,” Modi said.
“In Assam, the Act has been effective for three decades and periodically extended by previous governments. But now, it has been removed from 23 districts of Assam. We are making efforts to bring the situation to normal in other areas of the region too so that the Act can be removed from there as well,” he said.
“The Act is applicable in some areas of Nagaland and Manipur, and we are working speedily to revoke it completely,” he added.
“The signing of the Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) by the Centre, Assam government and six Karbi militant outfits last year has ushered in a new era of peace in the region. The MoS has brought the misguided youth to the mainstream. The area (Karbi Anglong) was once known for its bombs and gunshots …now what we hear here is applause and celebration,” the Prime Minister said.
“The Bodo Accord in 2020 also opened doors for permanent peace. Similarly, the Prime Minister said, in Tripura too, peace has returned while the two-and-half-decades-old Bru-Reang issues have been solved,” he added.
