PM in Assam today to celebrate Bodo pact

THIS WILL BE PRIME MINISTER’S FIRST VISIT TO NORTHEAST SINCE PROTESTS ERUPTED AGAINST CAA LAST DECEMBER

NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kokrajhar in Assam on Friday to participate in an event to celebrate the signing of the Bodo agreement in January this year.

This will be the prime minister’s first visit to the Northeast since protests erupted against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act last December.

“Tomorrow, I look forward to being in Assam. I will be in Kokrajhar to address a public meeting. We will mark the successful signing of the Bodo Accord, which brings to an end a problem that had been persisting for decades. It marks the start of a new era of peace and progress,” he said in a tweet.

The Bodo agreement was signed on January 27 by the Central government with four factions of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB), All Bodo Students’ Union and a civil society group for bringing a lasting peace in Bodo-dominated areas in Assam.

A cultural programme of ethnic groups of Assam is being organised to showcase the diversity of the state, the statement said.

In a recent tweet, the prime minister had termed the day the accord was signed “a very special day for India” and said that it “will lead to a transformative results for Bodo people, ushering in a new dawn of peace, harmony and togetherness”.

Over 1,615 cadres of different factions of the NDFB surrendered their arms and joined the mainstream within two days of the signing of the agreement.

In his latest ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio address, the prime minister had appealed to all those on the path of violence to return to the mainstream and lay down their arms.