The Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the historic Bodo Accord that he signed last week. The term Bodo means ‘man’. Kachari1 is a generic term for a number of groups speaking a more or less common dialect or language and claiming a common mythical ancestry.
The Bodos are found in almost all the areas of Assam in various configurations though they came from Tibet and settled in the lower parts of Bhutan, later got scattered to the different parts of North-East India diachronically.
The Prime Minister said that the accord will lead to transformative results for the Bodo people. The Government of Assam had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah to Kokrajhar town in the Bodoland Territorial area to celebrate inking of the the Bodo peace accord, a pact that Prime Minister Modi has termed as “historic.”
Bodos are represented by a variety of organisations, including the All-Bodos Students Union, the Bodo Liberation Tigers, the Bodo Security Force and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland. These organisations have at times resorted to violent tactics including attacks on public buildings and railroads to attract the attention of the central government.
Both the ABSU and the Bodo Security Force (BSF) have employed violent measures to gain publicity for their cause. The pact, described as “historic” by PM Modi as it provides for setting up of a commission to reconstitute the Bodo Territorial Areas District by including new Bodo dominated villages contiguous to the existing BTAD area and excluding villages with a predominantly non-tribal population. BTAD will be rechristened as Bodo Territorial Region. Bodo language will be notified as an associate official language in Assam. The Bodos, the largest plains tribe with a Territorial Council of its own, have furiously opposed the idea proposed by the Assam Sahitya Sabha that Assamese are those who, “irrespective of community, language, religion and place of origin, accept Assamese as their mother tongue or their second or third language”.
In a tweet PM said, “Ushering in a new dawn of peace, harmony and togetherness and the accord with Bodo groups, which has been inked will lead to transformative results for the Bodo people. Bodo accord inked stands out for many reasons as 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.
The accord with Bodo groups will further protect and popularise the unique culture of the Bodo people. They will get access to a wide range of development oriented initiatives. We are committed to doing everything possible to help the Bodo people realise their aspirations”.
The accord with Bodo groups which has been inked today will lead to transformative results for the Bodo people as they will get access to a wide range of development oriented initiatives. The prime minister has rightly said that it would usher in a new dawn of peace, harmony and togetherness and that those associated with armed resistance groups would now enter the mainstream and contribute to the nation’s progress.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
