GUWAHATI, Dec 18 ? Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today appealed to all militant outfits to shun violence and come forward for talks for peaceful solution of their problems. Replying to a zero hour discussion in the State Assembly, the Chief Minister said that the State Government was informed by the Centre immediately after the Bhutan Government launched an offensive to evict the militants camping in the Himalayan Kingdom in the wee hours of December 15. He said that the Centre also asked the State Government to seal the Assam-Bhutan border to prevent the militants from sneaking into the State.
Gogoi said that the Government immediately issued necessary instructions to the Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police of the bordering districts to take appropriate steps and in fact, security measures in the entire State were beefed up. However, he said that neither the Central Government nor the Government of Bhutan has informed the State Government about the details of the operations.
The Chief Minister said that camps of militants in the neighbouring country were causing concern for Assam for years and the State Government took up the issue with the Centre on several occasions. He said that the previous Government also wrote to the Centre to impress upon the Government of Bhutan to take action against the militants camping in the neighbouring country.
Earlier, raising the issue during the zero hour, Dr Haren Das (Cong) said that the Government of Bhutan launched an offensive against the militant groups like the ULFA and the NDFB on December 15 and the ULFA chairman has appealed to the Government of Bhutan to settle the issue through discussion.
Paniram Rabha (Cong) said that the offensive by the Bhutan Government created tension and a war like situation in the bordering areas. He requested the Government to ensure security to the people living in the border areas and said that the Government should initiate steps to bring the ultras to the negotiation table.
Pabindra Deka (PLP) said that the problem of insurgency cannot be solved through guns and efforts should be made to bring the ultras to the negotiation table for political dialogue. He said that the people living in the international border area is facing serious problem as the whole area in cordoned off by the Army. He also said that if women and children were killed in the Bhutan offensive as reported in the media, it should be condemned.