Amit Shah appeals insurgents in Northeast to surrender, says region wants peace, development

Shah said the Northeast has rich tradition and rich cultural heritage for which the country is proud of and without the rich cultural heritage of the Northeast, India is incomplete.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah appealed to insurgents in the Northeast to lay down their arms and surrender and join the mainstream. He said that their participation in India's development journey is most welcome.

Participating in the 'Unity Utsav – One Voice, One Nation' organised by the Assam Rifles on February 20, Shah also said everyone knows that the Northeast wants peace and development and the region wants to work as an integral part of the country.

He said over 10,000 insurgents have surrendered in the last five years, 12 peace accords were signed with different outfits and two border agreements were also signed among the states.

"I appeal to all those insurgents who have not surrendered yet to lay down the arms and join the mainstream. Your participation in India's development journey is welcome," he said.

The home minister said there has been 70 percent reduction in violence in the Northeast in the last five years, 70 percent less casualties in security forces and 85 percent less deaths among civilians.

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"The Northeast wants peace, Northeast wants development, Northeast wants to work as an integral part of India," he said.

Shah said the Northeast has rich tradition and rich cultural heritage for which the country is proud of and without the rich cultural heritage of the Northeast, India is incomplete.

Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a new dimension to the identity of the Northeast by naming the region, comprising eight states — Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Sikkim — as 'Ashtalakshmi'.

"From economic and cultural fields to sports, education, agriculture and entrepreneurship, works have been done to open the doors of unlimited opportunities for the youth of the Northeast in every field," he said.

"I want to congratulate Manipur as most prizes were bagged by students from that state. That is why Prime Minister Modi has decided that the country's first sports university will come up in Manipur," he said.

President's Rule was imposed in Manipur last week as the political crisis deepened following N Biren Singh's resignation as Chief Minister over three days ago.