Assam: Bodo peace accord under challenge

The Bodo peace accord which was signed between the Government of India and now disbanded Bodo Liberation Tiger in February 2003 to pave the way for formation of Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts Council is now under question with non-Bodos living in the BTC areas raising objections to it in the wake of Bodo pressing for their demand for a separate Bodoland state.

Assam Public Works, an NGO working in the field of conflict mitigation, has announced  that it would challenge several clauses of Bodo accord in the Supreme Court to  facilitate exclusion of those villages from the BTC which have less than 50 per cent Bodo  population.

Sanmilita Janagosthiya Sangram Samiti, an umbrella body of non-Bodo organisations, too has decided to move the apex court challenging the BTC Act.

The SJSS demands review of the BTC Act, exclusion of non-Bodo majority areas from the jurisdiction of the BTC and unconditional and total rehabilitation of those displaced in the ethnic clashes in Chirang, Kokrajhar and Dhubri districts last year.

The non-Bodo populations living under the BTC areas have become very apprehensive in the wake of all the Bodo tribe organisations joining hands to launch vigorous agitation to press for the demand for a separate state for Bodo tribe.

Moreover, non-Bodo communities including Muslims living in BTC areas have been very unhappy over their lopsided representation in Bodoland Territorial Council which is ruled by Bodo tribe political party Bodoland People’s Front.

Image: Bodo student activists protest in Guwahati

Photograph: Utpal Baruah/Reuters