New Delhi: More than 250 activists of a newly floated Bodo student organization were picked up by Delhi police as they staged a protest demonstration at Jantar Mantar reviving their demand for a separate “Bodoland State" on Monday.
Leaders of the organization, Bodo National Students Union (BONSU), which was formed in February this year claimed that the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) accord signed between the centre, state, and Bodo representatives was not able to fulfil their (Bodos') aspirations. "The BTR accord was signed but it was not able to fulfill our aspirations. The political self-determination and land rights of the Bodo tribes are not only being discriminated against but also neglected,” BONSU general secretary Hem Chandra Brahma told ETV Bharat.
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The BONSU has been trying to revive the Bodoland statehood demand which is said to have ended with the signing of the Bodo Peace Accord in January 2020. "Earlier Delhi police gave us permission to organize the protest demonstration but later on police officials came to the spot and detained all of us,” said Brahma. The venue of the protest programme was Jantar Mantar which is at a stone’s throw distance from the Parliament.
Following the signing of the BTR accord in 2020, the current chief of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) as BTR is commonly known, Pramod Boro had said the Bodoland statehood demand ended with the Bodo Peace Accord. The accord was signed on January 27, 2020. The six hours long demonstration by BONUS also protested the state government’s "failure" to safeguard the tribal belts and blocks in Assam.
