Former Bodo Guerrilla fighters set to join paramilitary, army

As the demand to form a separate Bodo Regiment in the Indian Army was declined, it is now decided that about 1,500-2,000 Guerrilla fighters will join the paramilitary forces, the army and the police. In a telephonic interview by Senior Journalist Sanjib Kr Baruah, Gobinda Basumatary, general secretary of the NDFB spoke about the inability of the Indian government to form a Bodo Regiment in the Indian Army in adherence to UN covenants as well as national policies.

New Delhi:Turning down the demand of the Bodo militant leadership to form a separate Bodo Regiment in the Indian Army, it has been decided that about 1,500-2,000 Guerrilla fighters who are fit and eligible will be ‘helped’ to join the paramilitary forces, the army and the police.

On Thursday, some 1,500-2,000 Bodo youth including the recently-surrendered National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants will turn in their weapons to the Assam government and declare their allegiance and commit to adhere to the Indian Constitution. They will have to disband before February end.

“The Indian government declared its inability to form a Bodo Regiment in the Indian Army in adherence to UN covenants as well as national policies. So our youth who had sacrificed their youthful years fighting for our cause basing themselves in foreign lands will be helped to get employment in various government jobs and set up their businesses. Recruitment rallies will be held for the purpose,” Gobinda Basumatary, general secretary of the NDFB, told ETV Bharat on the phone.

Basumatary was one of the signatories in the Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) inked on Monday between the Centre, the Assam government and several Bodo outfits like the NDFB, the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) and the United Bodo People's Organisation (UBPO).

There is already a precedent of a number of former Naga insurgents having joined the BSF, a paramilitary force that is mandated with guarding the borders.

It will be a fitting finale to the decades-old violent movement that is believed to have been kick-started by intelligence agencies in an effort to stem the growth of regional political forces in Assam in the late 80s. It will signal the end to a movement that swore on violent tools to attain their ends.

In the MoS inked on Monday between the Centre, there are provisions for the rehabilitation of the former militants.

“The fit and eligible will be offered jobs with the paramilitary forces and the armed forces against declared vacancies. We expect the process to start as soon as possible,” he said.

The overage cadres or those not eligible to join the security and military forces will be given help to set up entrepreneurial establishments and given vocational training to be gainfully employed in activities like piggery, poultry, farming etc.

On whether the Bodo youth and organizations will continue to demand a separate state splicing Assam, Basumatary said a separate state is not necessary now.

“We are satisfied with what has been offered. The new model is almost equivalent to being offered a separate state. The government has promised to protect our political, economic and cultural rights. We are looking at the agreement as an opportunity to lead an ordinary life as citizens and take our region on a path of peace and development,” the NDFB general secretary said.