Assam Tourism Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma has appealed the Governments of United Kingdom and Australia to rectify their travel advisory on Assam, which according to him will inadvertently allude Assam as a forbidden destination.
The travel advisory issued by UK and Australia clubbed Assam with Manipur and said that the two States still experience sudden and random outbreaks of violence. The UK travel advisory further referred to the recent violence on August 5 in Kokrajhar this year and said that there have been several incidents of violence in Assam and grenade explosions in lakhimpur, Karbi Anglong and Guwahati and asked the travelers to review their security arrangements carefully. The Australian advisory further warned of risk of armed robbery, kidnapping, extortion, and separatist and insurgent violence, including in rural areas.
Sarma termed this clubbing of Assam with Manipur as a “careless oversight” on the part of the two countries and appealed them to rectify those, which will inadvertently allude Assam as a forbidden
destination.
“Assam is a fine abode of natural beauty while its peace loving people give immense love and affection to all those who come here. Any misrepresentation of the actual situation creates unnecessary fears besides impacting the tourism potential of the State, as this can have a spiraling effect,” Sarma said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
The Minister further termed the Kokrajhar incident as a rare occurrence, which can sadly be experienced by any modern society, and said that the law and order situation in Assam is perfect and any fear or apprehension is unfounded.
“I wish to reassure my distinguished friends in the Governments of UK and Australia that Assam is a wonderful land of peace loving people comprising various tribal groups, rich flora and fauna, magnificent cuisines, mesmerising landscapes and the world famous Kaziranga National Park, which is home to the very rare single horned Rhino. The diverse ethnic and cultural groups of Assamese society have co-existed with enormous harmony and displayed exemplary bonhomie for decades together. Any representation of minor skirmishes as State wide disturbance amounts to inexplicable exaggeration and causes unnecessary anxiety for our esteemed tourists who wish to visit the State,” he said while adding that the State Government will highly appreciate if the two countries immediately withdraws the said advisory.