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The Centre is ready to forgive and accept back those youth who were misguided to take the path of violence, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said today.
"Violence is not the solution to any problem... Few of our youths adopted path of violence under a misguided philosophy," he said.
Shinde was speaking at the 28th Convocation of Ranchi University here, without naming any extremist outfit in Jharkhand, where 20 of 24 districts were Maoist-affected.
"They are one among us and we are ready to forgive them and accept them back provided they shun the path of violence," he said, quoting Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence.
Shinde said the Centre was continuously making efforts in this direction by formulating various schemes.
Stating that the government was committed to development of all sections of the society, he mentioned efforts in the field of education, health, creation of employment and infrastructure.
"While I speak about development, I just don't refer to rising GDP. What I want is, wholesome development which means access to basic amenities, for example, education, medical facilities, communication and employment to all the citizens of this country," he said.
"I urge the youth to come forward and break the barriers of caste and creed and remove all existing evils of society," Shinde said.
