A new students’ union has revived the Bodoland statehood demand that is said to have ended with the signing of the Bodo Peace Accord in January 2020.
The Bodo National Students’ Union (BoNSU) has submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the Kokrajhar district head, demanding a separate State for the Bodo people.
The union was formed in February this year.
BoNSU president Bonjit Manjil Basumatary said the Bodos are largely dissatisfied with the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) as it is not designed to fulfil their aspirations.
“Only the creation of a separate Bodoland State will fulfil the dreams of the Bodo people. The indigenous people are becoming guests in their own backyard due to the failure of government to protect their lands,” he said.
Without a separate State, it would not be possible to protect the land, identity, economy, culture and language, he added.
“Apart from creating the Bodoland State, the Centre should fast-track the raising of a Bodo regiment in the armed forces, the implementation of the UN declaration of rights of the indigenous people and the inclusion of Bodos living in the hills in the Scheduled Tribe list,” Mr. Basumatary said.
The Bodos are the largest plains tribe in the northeast. Some of them living in Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao – two hill districts of Assam – do not enjoy the status applicable to other hill tribes.
Pramod Boro, the current chief of the Bodoland Territorial Council, had said the Bodoland statehood demand ended with the Bodo Peace Accord, also known as the BTR Accord, signed on January 27, 2020. A signatory to the accord, he was then the president of the All Bodo Students’ Union that had spearheaded the Bodoland statehood movement for more than four decades.
There are several other statehood movements, dormant for a few years now, in the northeast. A stronger Bodoland statehood demand is expected to have a domino effect on the other movements. These include the creation of Eastern Nagaland in Nagaland, Garoland in Tripura, Twipraland in Tripura, Kukiland in Manipur and Kamtapur straddling Assam and West Bengal.
