Assam’s Bodoland group supports Gorkhaland stir

An umbrella organisation seeking statehood for areas inhabited by Bodo tribals has extended support to the Gorkhaland movement led by Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) in the Darjeeling hills of West Bengal.

A movement to “divide Assam fifty-fifty” has been on intermittently since 1967. It eventually led to the creation of the Bodoland Autonomous Council in 2003 but activists now want a Bodoland state. The All Bodo Students’ Union is spearheading the Bodoland statehood movement by People’s Joint Action Committee of Bodoland Movement (PJACBM).

In a statement, the PJACBM said, “The outburst of tension in Darjeeling is nothing but an unwarranted outcome of the autocratic rule of the Bengal government as well as the Centre’s negligence to the problem.”