Assam CM Sarma urges ULFA-I leader Paresh Baruah to come see change in the state

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma urged leader of proscribed outfit United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) Paresh Baruah to come and stay in Assam for one week and see the change. Assam is not the same as it used to be.

Sarma while talking to media persons said, “When Baruah went away from Assam he had an impression that people from outside had taken over Assam however today people from Assam are working in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The atmosphere has changed. It is not the same as it used to be in 1982 or 1983.”


He said, “Be our guest for 7 to 10 days in Assam. Things will change once he comes and stays here. Many youths who joined ULFA had returned and many have contacted the authorities to facilitate their return as conditions in Myanmar have gone from bad to worse.

Two outfits of Nagaland are fighting in Myanmar.”

Sarma said that there is practical difficulty in starting the peace talks and soon those will be sorted out and talks will start.

Stating that talks with the militant group ULFA (Independent) is the last mile in efforts to resolve insurgency in Sarma on January 26 this year appealed to the outfit’s members to return to the mainstream. He said that once the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) joins the talks with the government, Assam will transform into an “island of peace”.

“It is not the same Assam as it was when the ULFA was formed. The state is fast moving on the path of development. There has been a change in the mind-set of people. ULFA (I) is the last mile in the path to peace. I am confident we will be able to reach there soon.”

ULFA-I has in the past one year twice extended the unilateral ceasefire.