GUWAHATI, June 23 � The militants should agree to come to the conference table without any reservation for permanent solution of the problem, said Assam Governor, JB Patnaik. He also stressed the need for creating awareness among the people living in the international border areas to check infiltration of foreign nationals to Assam.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, at the Raj Bhawan here today, the Governor admitted that restoration of permanent peace in vital for the overall development of Assam and said that the militants should not have any inhibition in coming forward for talks. He reminded the militants that there is no place for violence in a democratic society and requested them to give up violence and solve their problems through talks.
Patnaik pointed out that efforts are being made in the State and national levels to initiate talks with the militants for solution of the problem of insurgency and hoped that the efforts would succeed. He hailed the initiative taken by prominent citizens of Assam to bring the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) to the negotiation table and said, �I wish success to the initiative.�
The Governor said that infiltration of foreign nationals is another of the major problems faced by Assam and pointed out that all out efforts should be made to prevent infiltration. He said that though the fencing along the international border is likely to be completed soon, the riverine international borders cannot be fenced. Efforts should be made to make the population living near the international border conscious about the need for checking infiltration of foreigners as they are in the best position to know whenever an illegal migrant enters India, he suggested. He further said that every inch of vacant land should be brought under the plough, which would not only increase agriculture production but also ensure that no land is left vacant for infiltrators to occupy.
Patnaik said that there should be strict vigil along the international border by the Border Security Force (BSF) and the strength of the border guarding force should be increased. There should be sufficient number of watch towers of the BSF to improve vigil along the international border, while, adequate number of boats should be provided to the force to improve guarding of the international riverine border, he added. However, at the same time, he expressed the hope that there is every possibility of the illegal migration coming down in the years to come because of the fact that illegal migration takes place from underdeveloped to developed areas and of late, the pace of development of Bangladesh increased.
The Governor said that though a lot was done in the past ten years for the development of Assam, a lot more could have been done had there been peace in the state. He admitted that Assam still lags behind some other states of the country and there should not be any dearth of funds for development as the Prime Minister himself is quite favourable to allotment of required funds.
