Assam Govt urges UK, Australia to ‘rectify’ travel advisory

The Assam state government, on Wednesday urged the United Kingdom and Australia to immediately ‘rectify’ their recent travel advisories in which they cautioned their citizens against travelling to Assam and four other northeastern states. The two nations had updated their advisories on Friday and had asked their citizens to either cancel or reconsider their visit to the northeast India considering the incidents if terrorism and insurgency. They also cited the incidents of recent incidents of Kokrajhar shoots that happened last month and the killing of 18 soldiers by NSCN Khaplang rebels in Manipur last year. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office in its advisory, said, "Although the overall security situation in the northeast of India is improving, some areas, especially in Manipur and Assam, still experience sudden and random outbreaks of violence. There have been several incidents of violence in Assam including a shooting in Kokrajhar on August 5 resulting in 14 deaths and grenade explosions in Lakhimpur, Karbi Anglong and Guwahati.” The Australian advisory said, "We advise you to reconsider your need to travel to these areas due to risk of armed robbery, kidnapping, extortion and separatist and insurgent violence, including in rural areas. Insurgent groups have attacked civilians and bombed buildings in these states." However, state tourism minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described the inclusion of Assam in a list of disturbed areas of the country 'a careless oversight' and urged his counterparts in the two countries to avoid referring to the state as a forbidden destination. Duchess of Cambridge, during her recent visit to Assam In a request sent out to the government of the two nations, Himanta said, “Assam is an abode of natural beauty. Its people are peace-loving and give immense love and affection to all those who come here. Any misrepresentation of the actual situation creates unnecessary fear and adversely impacts tourism potential of the state.” He further said that, Assam is a land of diverse ethnic and cultural groups which have co-existed with enormous harmony and unity. Incidents like that of Kokrajhar are unfortunate, but was a ‘rare occurrence’, and something of that sort could have taken place in any modern society.