Sixty-four militants from four outfits laid down their weapons before Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in Guwahati on Monday, The Times of India reported.
The militants who surrendered before the government include 18 from the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent, 32 from the United People’s Revolutionary Front, 13 from the Dimasa National Liberation Army and People’s Democratic Council of Karbi Longri Commander-in-chief Ong Teron.
Sonowal said that the surrender was a significant step towards making Assam terrorism-free. “I appeal to them [the militants who surrendered] to start a new beginning and contribute towards the development of the state,” he tweeted.
The Assam chief minister added that progress cannot be achieved without peace, according to The Times of India. “Nobody can live peacefully with a heart full of hatred,” he said. “To take forward the society and family forward, those who took the path of violence must join the mainstream and contribute in nation building”. He also appealed to the militants still in hiding to join the mainstream.
Assam Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, on the other hand, said that those militants in hiding will not be spared. “Police will take its own course of action if they do not surrender,” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “Nobody will be allowed to create violence in the state.”
The militants who surrendered before Sonowal will be rehabilitated under a revised central government scheme, The Shillong Times reported. “They will also be provided with a stipend of Rs 6,000 a month,” an official statement said. “After the completion of three years, each of them will receive an amount of Rs 4 lakh as one-time grant money, subject to good behaviour.”
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