The Bodos Now
The struggle for right to self determination has its genesis in the British Rule. As early as in 1930s, Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma, the then lone leader of the Bodos submitted memorandum to Simon Commission demanding for a separate political set up for the indigenous and tribal people of Assam. However, his demand for political administration was ignored by the British Raj. Even in the post Independence era, such demands were not met by the successive state government. Instead Bodos were treated as non-tribal community and force to identify as Assamese.
In the 1960s, the second wave of Bodoland movement emerged. A section of educated Bodo leaders spearheaded a movement demanding a separate Union Territory called "Udhayachal" in 1967. However, this demand for separate Union territory failed due to lack of willingness on the part of the Central and State government to create a separate political administration for plains tribals of Assam.
Much years later, in the 1980s, the third mass struggle for Bodoland took place. The Bodos led a struggle in the name of self-determination in late 1980s under the leadership of Upendra Nath Brahma, who is now regarded as the Father of the Bodos (Bodofa).
In 1993, for the first time, the Assam government formed the Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC) to fulfil socio-economic aspirations of the Bodos. But the peace accord between the leaders of All Bodo Student's Union (ABSU), Bodo People's Action Committee (BPAC) and the government of Assam failed due to non-implementation of various provisions of the Accord. The Accord collapsed in just one year of its existence. Moreover, the accord came with certain constrained resulting in administrative bottleneck.
After a decade of long agitation, on 10 February 2003, the Bodos were granted the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), an autonomous administrative body that has within its jurisdiction the present district of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Udalguri and Baksa. The second Bodo peace award was result of negotiation between the Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT), the Central Government and the Assam Government. Following the peace accord, BLT was required to surrender all their arms and converted into Bodoland People's Front (BPF), a political party now ruling the Council. Whereas, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) another armed outfit are in ceasefire talks with the Central Government. Meanwhile, the All Bodo Student's Union (ABSU) has intensified its democratic movement for a separate state. However, there seemed to lack of consensus on the part of political leaders to solve the Bodo debacle once and for all. As result of which today, the entire Bodoland region is on the volcano of unrest.
During the early 1990s, the Bodo's insurgency had a significant impact on forests and wildlife populations in the Manas National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The poaching of rhinos and swamp deer, in particular, severely diminished the stocks of these endangered species, to the point where they are said to be locally extinct. The damage caused by the insurgency is the main reason why the wildlife sanctuary has been on the World Heritage Council Danger List since 1992.
In 2006, Assam Assembly elections, the former Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) members under Hagrama Mohilary formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and came to power in Dispur.
In 2012, violence broke in Assam out between Bodos and Muslims causing the displacement of over 400,000 people. Over 5,000 houses have been razed.
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