Upendranath Brahma - Political Activism

Political Activism

He lectured in many parts of Assam on the theme of discrimination against Bodo people. He claimed that they were treated as second class citizens, had little or no influence in Assam politics and that their young people had no employment opportunities upon completion of their education. Jobs in Assam were mostly occupied by Assamese-speaking individuals.

Brahma was elected as the President of the Goalpara District Students Union in 1978-79. He was vice-president of the All Bodo Students Union between 1981–1983 and president from 1986. Through this body he worked for the rights of the community, which he believed to be losing not merely its culture but also its political rights. Under his leadership, the ABSU agreed to include political issues as part of its agenda. The Bodoland Movement was launched under his active leadership.

Brahma and his followers gradually mobilized Bodo students at the grass-roots level. In 1987, as the All Assam Students Union movement was losing momentum, he and his colleagues started a movement to create a separate state within Assam, to be called Bodoland.