Bodoland stir returns to Assam with a 10-hour NH blockade
GUWAHATI: Bodo groups in Assam resumed their stir for the creation of a separate Bodoland state by blocking national highways in the state for 10 hours on Monday.
The blockade from 5am prevented movement of vehicles at several places in eight districts where Bodos are in majority.
Rail connectivity to Assam and the northeast has been disrupted for a fortnight and is expected to continue for some time due to damage to tracks by recent floods in West Bengal and Bihar.
Thousands of slogan-shouting protesters with placards saying “No Bodoland, No Rest” blocked National Highway-31 at Kajalgaon in Chirang district of lower Assam since Monday morning.
NH-31, which connects the northeast to the rest of the country, passes through Bodo-dominated areas in lower Assam.
Bodo groups are unhappy that despite assurances by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2014 general elections that their demand for a separate state by carving parts of Assam will be addressed, nothing happened.
Prior to last year’s assembly election, the BJP had reiterated its commitment to solving the three-decade-old issue. But apart from some informal talks, nothing concrete has taken place.
“This is a historic day as Bodo women have come out for the first time in such large numbers to block highways. We have been forced to do so as the BJP governments at the Centre and in Assam have failed us,” said Pramod Bodo, president of the All Bodo Students’ Union.
The demand for a separate state in areas of lower Assam where indigenous Bodo people, the state’s biggest tribal group, are mostly concentrated has been continuing since the late 1980s.
But it was put on hold in 2014 after the BJP’s electoral promise.
Over three dozen Bodo organisations under banner of the Peoples Joint Action Committee for Bodoland Movement (PJACBM) have decided to intensify their stir if tripartite talks between the Centre, Assam government and Bodo groups aren’t held soon.
Monday’s blockade would be followed by a 12-hour general strike across Assam on September 12 and a mass hunger strike on October 1. Indefinite rail blockade and economic blockade are also being planned.
“The highway blockade by women protesters is a clear message to the Centre and Assam government to start tripartite talks. If that doesn’t happen we will be forced to intensify our agitation,” said Pramod Bodo.
In 2003, the Bodoland Territorial Council comprising four districts was created to protect the rights of indigenous communities. The Bodo Peoples’ Front, which is in power in the autonomous administrative council, is part of the BJP-led coalition in Assam.