The Guwahati Declaration and the Road to Peace in Assam

Assam, the only state in the north-eastern region with vast natural and human resources and so with great potential in growth, is today far behind most other states in agriculture and industry, in infrastructure and connectivity, in higher education, especially in science and technology, and in that vial area of employment generation. And yet the state’s growth rate at the time of independence was, in spite of her neglect under British rule, was much higher than the national average. What went wrong, and what is the way out? These are questions that are being increasingly asked by the people. One answer is that if Assam is to catch up with the other states, attract investment, promote tourism and develop to its fullest potential there has first to be an end to the violence. In early 2001, therefore, the North Eastern Regional Centre of the Indian Council of Social Science Research decided to bring together in a seminar scholars, administrators, the media, the notary public and concerned individuals to explore the possibilities of peace in Assam. This book is the outcome of the seminar on Peace in Assam : Prospects and Possibilities held on 29 and 30 August 2001 at Guwahati and it calls for a wider readership cutting across the activist, policy makers as well as academia.