MODI SEES BODO PACT BRINGING PEACE IN ASSAM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Friday that the new Bodo peace accord would bring in peace and development in Assam. Saying it was now time to work together, while addressing a huge public rally at the Bodo Territorial Area District (BTAD) of Assam in Kokrajhar, Modi promised that the Citizenship Amendment Act would not harm their interests. “A canard is being spread that lakhs of people will come from outside after the CAA’s enactment. Nothing of that sort will happen,” he said.

The Prime Minister also urged Kashmiri militants, other banned outfits in the Northeast and the Naxalites to lay down their arms, join the national mainstream and “celebrate life.” He also attacked the previous non-BJP governments for “procrastinating” on a resolution of vexed issues that alienated people and made them lose their faith in democracy and the Constitution.

“Those still with bombs, guns and bullets in Kashmir, other parts of the Northeast, and Naxalites... Come back. Join the mainstream. 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, the Assam government and the Bodo groups will bring permanent a peace, unlike previous accords inked with the insurgents in 1993 and 2003.

Modi, who was visiting Assam for the first time after Parliament passed the new citizenship law, had earlier cancelled two visits, including one with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, citing various reasons.