Hundreds of people marched through the streets of India’s restive northeastern state of Assam on Tuesday, urging rebels to shun violence and resolve their problems through peace talks with the government. Musicians on trucks singing local songs of love and peace led rows of school children, women, government workers and academics as they snaked through the state’s main city, Guwahati, with placards reading: “We want peace” and “Say no to terrorism”.

“The task before us is to mobilise public opinion against the militants, because no rebel outfit can stand up against a united and strong public opinion,” said B K. Gohain, Assam’s home (interior) commissioner. Assam, one of India’s seven states in the troubled northeast that have been plagued by insurgencies for decades, was hit by a spate of rebel violence earlier this month leading to a growing sense of insecurity in the region.

Police blamed the separatist United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), which has been fighting for independence for the past 25 years, for the serial grenade attacks in Assam that killed four people and left 85 wounded. The latest spurt in violence came after rebels killed about 30 people in shootings and grenade attacks in October across Assam, the worst attacks in the state since the revolt began 25 years ago.

The rallies organised by authorities across the tea and oil-rich state came as business in the state has been badly hit by the violence with most markets, cinema halls and restaurants deserted after dark. But officials said Assam’s tea and oil businesses were unaffected by the series of explosions and operations in four refineries were on despite rebel attempts to disrupt oil and gas supplies.

“Very few people come to cinema halls out of fear. We are running our shows at a loss,” said Phani Sharma, owner of a cinema hall in Guwahati. “We want the rebels to succumb to public pressure to give up their armed struggle and come forward to a negotiated settlement,” said Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. Formed in 1979, ULFA accuses New Delhi of exploiting the state’s mineral and forest resources, and neglecting the local economy. ULFA and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) are among two dozen insurgent groups in India’s northeast, a remote mountainous region plagued by separatist violence that has claimed about 30,000 lives so far.