Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma takes selfies with a group of women on the first day of the Budget session that began at the Bodoland Territorial Council (EIC) Assembly, in Kokrajhar, Monday.
Credit: PTI Photo
Guwahati: The MLAs in Assam travelled nearly 200kms in buses from Guwahati as the state Assembly on Monday began its "historic" first session in Kokrajhar, once a nerve centre of insurgency and movement for a separate Bodoland state.
"Today is a historic day as no CM or top leaders could come to Kokrajhar without any concern about insurgency and conflict earlier. Today there is absolute peace and Kokrajhar, which once used to be a centre of insurgency and movement for a separate state, has become a symbol of peace and development," CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said while addressing the budget session that began on Monday.
"Today, Bodoland has two medical colleges, two universities, a state-of-the-art stadium is coming up, besides a long list of other development activities. Young people in Bodoland now want more development and jobs," he said.
Sarma said the Bodoland Accord not only ushered an atmosphere of peace and development but was also gradually dispelling the sense of animosity and trust deficit between the Bodo community and the non-Bodo population. More than 70 per cent of the BTR's 35 lakh population are non-Bodos.
"We are working tirelessly to protect the identity and culture of the indigenous Bodos and other communities. At the same time, we are trying to ensure safety and security of the non-Bodo poeple and make sure that all lives peacefully and unitedly," he said. "We are trying to transform Kokrajhar and other parts of the BTC into hubs of trade and commerce with Bhutan and reap benefits of the neighbouring nation's decision to make their Gelephu town into a mindful city. We are trying to lay train connectivity between Gelephu-Kokrajhar and Guwahati and expand the road network too."
"It took a lot to convince the agitators like the All Bodo Students' Union to sign the agreement and give up the demand for a separate state."
Sarma said his government is working with the Centre for passage of the 125th amendment of the Constitution in order to increase financial and other powers of the BTC and other Sixth Scheduled councils in rest of the Northeast.
The session is seen as BJP government's attempt to project developments in BTR ahead of the BTC elections later this year and the Assembly elections slated in 2026.
The Opposition MLAs, however, claimed that the government failed to implement all the clauses of the Bodoland Accord signed in 2020.
How the Bodoland Accord came into being
Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), comprising five districts--Kokrajhar, Baska, Tamulpur, Chirang and Udalguri--is now governed by Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), an autonomous council under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The concil enjoys special powers.
The BTC was set up in 2003 after insurgent group Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) had laid down their weapons and signed the Bodoland Accord. But insurgency did not end and the region had witnessed violent conflicts by insurgent groups National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and few others representing the Adivasi communities.
The insurgent groups demanded a "sovereign Bodoland" while a parallel agitation for a separate Bodoland state kept the region troubled for decades. The peace returned after a new Bodoland Accord was signed in December 2020, following which BJP and its ally UPPL headed by Pramod Boro, former chief of All Bodo Students' Union, came to power in the council in 2021.