Twenty-five thousand people gather to launch fresh movement ahead of May election
By Ratnadip Choudhury
The renewed Bodoland agitation. The ABSU supporters asking for a separate Bodoland out of Assam
Barama (Assam): Twenty-four years after it began, the movement for a separate Bodoland state appears to be taking fresh life. More than 25,000 people gathered in the Bodo-dominated Barama, an assembly constituency in Kokrajhar, for what they called a peoples’ revolution programme. It was almost to the day in March 1987 that the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) began a movement for a separate Bodoland state to be carved out of Assam.
The movement quickly turned violent, involving senseless bombings and ethnic clashes with the people of Assam. Now, as Assam heads into a May assembly election, almost all groups involved in the movement have given their support for a fresh agitation.
These groups include the two factions of the Bodo People’s Front (BPF) and the pro-peace talks and anti-talks factions of the banned underground National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). With the ABSU, they can summon a formidable bank of supporters.
To set off the agitation, these groups have targeted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member from Assam. They attacked Singh when he was in Assam in the first week of March. The ABSU said Singh was biased and anti-tribals, adding that the Congress has for long ‘neglected tribal rights’.
Assam is to vote for 126 seats on 4 April and 11 April. The Congress heads the current government, Tarun Gogoi ending his second consecutive term as chief minister.
“We want to know from the Prime Minister if Parliament has decided not discuss the formation of new states,” ABSU President Pramod Boro said, in response to the Prime Minister’s reported statement that demands for a new state would not be considered.
The Barama gathering was the first after ABSU renewed its demand for separate statehood in its recently held 43rd conference. ABSU had given up the demand for a separate state after the Bodo Territorial Council (BTC), an autonomous body, was formed. The BTC came about after an agreement between New Delhi and the underground outfit Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT).
“India is not a monarchy and the Prime Minister is not king. This is a democracy where the Bodos, like any other community, have the right to put up our demand and it should be addressed properly,” Boro added.
The BPF, with 12 seats in the assembly, is an ally of the government. There are 14 assembly seats in the BTC area.
PHOTO: RUPAM MEDI
Source: Tehelka
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