New Delhi: On the eve of his visit to Assam on Tuesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sent a strong signal to the ULFA, saying his government is going to use the toughest measures to bring the outfit to its knees and if the militants are really keen on solving the problems through peaceful means, it will have to abjure violence first.
"The Centre is firm in its resolve to work with the people and has to ensure that terrorist groups do not succeed in their nefarious designs," Singh told journalists on board his aircraft as he flew back from the Philippines to Kolkata later on Monday.
He, however, hinted that his doors are "open for talks" with the group provided they abjure violence first. Obviously, the Centre is not thinking on the lines of declaring another ceasefire with the outfit this time around. "There will be no compromise with these insurgent groups," he said.
The Prime Minister will fly down to Guwahati on Tuesday after an overnight stay in Kolkata on Monday. He is likely to visit some of the violence-hit areas and meet the victims. He will also review the security situation in Assam with the government functionaries and the Army officials there.
The PM, however, said he feels "all problems of any group can be sorted out through dialogue, through discussions. But, there is no scope for any group to take recourse to violence to express its point of view."
The PM regretted that so many innocent citizens lost their lives in the recent spate of violence. "The government is firm in its duty to protect law-abiding citizens," he said. "We will work together with Government of Assam to ensure that all people in the state, whether Hindi-speaking or other-language speaking, feel safe and secure," he said.
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