New Delhi: The year was 1988. It was a profound revelation for a young intelligence agent RK Yadav, then posted in Assam that deeply affected him. What he witnessed, firsthand, was an intelligence agency operation to impart weapons and combat training to Bodo youths. He could only protest. Later dismissed from service, the agent wrote a book to describe the operation.
A Rajya Sabha MP from Assam, Nagen Saikia, also raised the issue on the floor of the House. Saikia had also been a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1986-1992 and also its vice-chairman of the Upper House from 1990-1992.
These trained youth later formed the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT), a dreaded militant outfit that developed cult expertise in the use of IEDs. From then on, a number of Bodo armed outfits—with demands varying in degrees from autonomy to complete independence—sprung up in western Assam.
Belonging to the Mongoloid race, Bodos, who speak a Tibeto-Burman language, are among the oldest inhabitants of Assam.
The then alleged government effort to prop up the Bodos was reported to be a response to a growing Assamese regional political sentiment, peppered with a shade of chauvinism that had a voice in the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).
MONDAY PACT
But on Monday (January 27, 2020), the circle of Bodo militancy turned a full circle when the last of the armed Bodo outfits, the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB), inked a tripartite agreement with the government.
In fact, Monday’s accord is a logical culmination of two earlier accords. In 1993, an accord with the ABSU led to the creation of a Bodoland Autonomous Council. In 2003, an accord with the BLT led to devolution of greater political powers to a new entity called Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).
The nearly-three decade old Bodo movement is said to have claimed about 4,000 lives. More than 1,500 NDFB militants will surrender their weapons in a formal ceremony on January 30 (Thursday).
Just days before, the armed NDFB cadres had crossed over from their jungle bases in Myanmar to the Indian side from two points—Moreh in Manipur and Longwa in Nagaland.
The three parties in Monday’s tripartite agreement—in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah—were the Union home ministry, the Assam government and Bodo representatives that included the NDFB, the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) and United Bodo People's Organisation (UBPO).
While the ABSU led the demand for a separate state for Bodos since the early 70s, the UBPO stood for protection of Bodo cultural, economic and political rights of the tribe. So along with the NDFB that had complete independence as its major objective, all shades of opinions and positions as far as Bodo demands for autonomy were concerned were included in Monday’s pact.
GENESIS OF DEMAND
Many Bodos, the biggest tribal community in Assam, had for long a litany of grievances against the Assamese-speaking people in the Brahmaputra Valley as well as against the Bengali-speaking mostly Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh immigrants. Besides the sense of alienation, there was a perceived sense of being ‘wronged’.
The plentiful empty spaces in western Assam, which were actually farmlands for the Bodo farmers who followed the traditional shifting cultivation in the historical past, were an attractive magnet for non-Bodo land hungry peasants from the neighbouring areas.
Moreover, while Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram were carved out from Assam for the indigenous tribes of those areas, Bodo aspirations for a distinct geographical entity remained unfulfilled.
But what magnified Bodo power was the area they controlled. Just beyond the 22 km wide “chicken’s neck” corridor that connects the Northeast with the Indian mainland, the Bodos inhabit the area in western Assam that can veritably be termed the ‘gateway to the Northeast’.
Moreover, the swathe controlled by the Bodos is not very far from the international borders with Bhutan and Bangladesh towards its north and south.
POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS
Since 2001, the Bodos have always aligned with the ruling party at the Centre. And there is no reason as to why that trend would change. Not to be lost sight of is the fact that state legislative elections in Assam is due in 2021. With large parts of the state engulfed by anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which may put the ruling BJP in a state of discomfort, a ‘helpful’ atmosphere in Bodoland, which sends back as many as around 16 MLAs to the state legislature, is a comforting thought. Assam has a total of 126 assembly seats.
With the Modi government’s emphasis on a “Act East policy” that strives to build closer economic, political and cultural ties with South-East Asia, clearing the mess in the Bodo-controlled area is the first thing to resolve if better ties with the neighbouring countries are to be achieved.
For the Centre and Assam, the accord was an accomplishment in the sense that the splicing of Assam was not agreed to (ABSU), even as the outfit seeking complete sovereignty was brought around to ink the pact. On the other hand, after long weary years of agitation, the steam of the Bodoland state demand had somewhat dissipated and a face saving honourable agreement was the need of the hour.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on Monday: “Bodo Accord inked today stands out for many reasons. It successfully brings together the leading stakeholders under one framework. Those who were previously associated with armed resistance groups will now be entering the mainstream and contributing to our nation's progress”.
Read: Bodo Accord will usher in a new dawn of peace, harmony and togetherness: PM Modi
PACT PROVISIONS
The provisions of the Accord seek to establish a geographically contiguous area for the Bodos even as the political, social, and cultural interest of those inhabiting non-Bodo areas are taken care of and adequately safeguarded.
The funding pattern for the newly-formed Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) bypasses the state government and places the purse strings on the Centre. It will be the Bodoland Territorial Council that will decide all appointments, posting and transfers of all officials and public appointees in the BTR.
Above all, land rights, preservation of Bodo culture and promotion of Bodo language are to be given priority, besides allotting financial packages.
Union home minister Amit Shah said: “This agreement will facilitate all round development of the Bodo areas, their language and culture will be protected without compromising the territorial integrity of Assam”.
In other words, the future of development in BTR has been given to the Bodos which will be monitored and conducted in close coordination with the Centre. In the planned architecture, the state’s role has been substantially reduced—all this without granting a separate state or a Union Territory.
