Promise of permanent peace in seat of Bodo insurgency

"Divide Assam 50:50." "No Bodoland, no rest." Slogans like these written on walls in the nook and corner of this town in western Assam make it clear how strong the demand for a separate Bodoland state is.

The demand, however, is the last thing the candidates contesting the Lok Sabha elections are promising. Courtesy: Nearly 67% of non-Bodo votes in the constituency that have seen ethnic conflicts, riots and militancy over the Bodoland demand for decades.

A total of 13 candidates are in the fray for the Kokrajhar Lok Sabha constituency that falls under Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD), an autonomous region under the sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

But the fight is likely among Naba Kumar Sarania, the sitting MP and a former commander of Ulfa, a banned militant group; Urkhao Gwra Brahma, former Rajya Sabha member; Pramila Rani Brahma, a minister in the BJP-led Assam government; and Sabda Ram Rabha of the Congress, who is an advocate.

Kokrajhar has traditionally elected Bodo leaders to the Lok Sabha since 1957.

But Naba Kumar Sarania, an “Ulfa commander” and a non-Bodo candidate broke the record in 2014 by winning the seat by a margin of over 3.55-lakh votes.

This time too, Sarania is banking on the 67% non-Bodo votes. This, according to election observers, have prompted the Bodo candidates to talk less about the Bodoland issue and are mostly promising permanent peace, unity among Bodos and non-Bodos and development. Sarnia is backed by the influential non-Bodo groups, which had helped him win in 2014.

“Peace and development is our main objective,” Pramila Rani Brahma of Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF) said.

Brahma is the social welfare minister in the BJP-led government, of which the BPF is an ally.

The BPF-led by Hagrama Mahilary, a former leader of now disbanded Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT), a militant group, is soft towards the government line against further bifurcation of Assam.

Hagrama now leads the Bodo Territorial Council (BTC), an autonomous council set up following the signing of the Bodo Accord in 2003. Sarania, however, is demanding dissolution of the BTC saying it was against the interest of the non-Bodos.

Urkhao Gwra Brahma, a former leader of All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU), a former Rajya Sabha member and a Sahitya Akademi awarded Bodo writer has always fought for a separate Bodoland state.

But the 56-year-old leader, this time has tied up with Maulana Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF with an eye on nearly 20% Muslim votes. The divide between the Bodos and Muslims widened in 2012, when more than 100 Muslims had died and over four lakh were displaced in a riot.

The area had witnessed similar conflicts in 1996, 1998 and in 2014, in which large number of Adivasis, Bodos and Muslims had died and were displaced.

Raju Kumar Narzary, executive director of North East Research and Social Work Networking, a Kokrajhar-based NGO, said that most voters wanted a candidate who could take an inclusive approach to end the ethnic divide, insurgency, rehabilitate the internally-displaced people, land rights and check corruption in the BTC.

“Urkhao Brahma has a fair chance this time as he has adopted the inclusive approach,” Narzary told DH.

Brahma is backed by the ABSU and the pro-talks groups of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), another militant group, in ceasefire for years. The ABSU, NDFB and some groups have been agitating for a separate Bodoland state.

Prithviraj Narayan Dev Mech, who claims to be a descendent of Bodo king Chikra Mech, alleged that Brahma deceived the Bodos by aligning with the AIUDF.

“There is a government report that says 4.5-lakh hectare of tribal land is under encroachment. But Brahma is not talking about evicting the encroachers,” he said.