In the North-east, demands for a separate homeland based on ethnic lines are not new. The All Bodo Students’ Union raised the slogan of “Divide Assam 50:50” some decades ago but with no results. It is keeping alive the agitation marked, as in the past, by forbearance and faith in the negotiations.

The Absu celebrated its golden jubilee in 2017.The year-long activity concluded on 18 January. It was held at Batasipur village in Dhekiajuli under Sonitpur district. Thousands from across the Bodo Area Territorial District and also from other areas attended the four-day function. There were discussions by eminent intellectuals from within and outside the region, cultural programmes and exhibitions of the Bodo culture and tribal/adivasi struggle. The family members of those who lost their lives in insurgency were honoured.

This pow-wow is an important confluence for the Bodo people, drawing, as it did, many collaborators with empathy for the Bodo cause. And what is that cause? It is a separate Bodoland state which, many dismiss, as a pipe-dream. But who knows what lies in store for the Bodo people. After years of bloodshed and violence by armed Bodo militants, the Centre in February 2010 granted a Bodoland Territorial Council comprising contiguous districts of Kokrajhar, Baksa, Udalguri and Chirang. These were carved out of seven existing districts of Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup, Darrang and Sonitpur.

The BTC is a “state within a state” with adequate resources pumped in by the Centre.  It covers an area of 8,822 sq km, almost 35 per cent of Assam, and was established under the Sixth Schedule in February 2003 as part of a settlement, following the surrender by the militant Bodo Liberation Tiger Force led by Hagrama Mohilary. He became the BTC chief after the Bodoland Accord of 2003. Hagrama is now into his third term after he was re-elected in 2015.

So this meeting of Bodo minds should also take stock of the BTC and audit its performance. Are the human development indices of the Bodo and non-Bodos within the BTC better today than they were two decades ago? If not, why? Tough questions need to be asked and those leading the BTC must be willing to answer them. That’s the point of a democracy! Hence the statehood demand must also tie in with accountability of the BTC and those who run it, even if a state is created but those who run it, remain the same sleazy, corrupt leaders then the plight of the people of Bodoland will only exacerbate.

The Absu conclave this time also had delegates representing the National Federation for New State. This is interesting because it lays the groundwork on how to place the demands for new states vis-a-vis the homeland claims, which are being pitched by several tribal groups in India, before the Centre.  The Absu has been demanding a separate state of Bodoland since 1967, which is as long ago as the Khasi-Jaintia and Garo demand for Meghalaya. But while Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland were carved out of Assam in the late 1960s and early 1970s, for the Bodos it has been a futile endeavour till date. It is not without reason that the Bodos also demanded that Hindi and Bodo be made medium of instruction in their schools and colleges. Why are they baulking against the idea of speaking or writing Assamese? Is it not because Assamese, for them, is the language of a colonising power since the Bodos are the indigenous settlers of Assam? And that is understandable.

One is not taking a moral-ethical or a judgmental stance here. It was the imposition of Assamese language that the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo people felt aggrieved about. And if truth be told then one only has to go through the Constituent Assembly debates prior to the creation of the Sixth Schedule to understand the lack of empathy for the tribes implicit in the language and grammar used by political stalwarts like Rohini Kumar Choudhury et al. It was a language that refused to see merit in the culture and sub-nationalistic fervour that was bubbling among the tribes of the then undivided Assam. That the Assamese politicians of the time had such a myopic view of the indigenous cultures of the North-east just shows that they lacked the statesmanship and the magnanimity to respect differences and thereby hold the tribes together.

There are cynics who protest that Bodoland state is not feasible because Assam cannot be further divided but the Bodo people have hung on to this dream for 50 years. How they treat the non-Bodos living in the BTC areas is, however, a test case. If the Bodos resist the idea of Assamese chauvinism, there are non-Bodos too who feel they are treated like second- class citizens within the BTC. Of course, there are staunch denials about this, but, it is a view that is gaining ground.

However, the Bodos have every right to make, what they consider, are just demands before the Indian state. One of the characteristics of the Absu is its adherence to the path of non-violence and satyagraha as a mode of protest. To make themselves heard before a deaf and unresponsive state the Bodos have often had to call bandhs and strikes and rail blockades, which have inconvenienced people. Many are angry about this aspect of the movement. Perhaps one fault line in the statehood struggle is the apparent clash of ideology between the Absu and the BTC chief, in the past. This time though Hagrama was invited to the closing function in what can be seen as an offering of an olive branch to the BTC chief from the Absu.  Hagrama did not attend because of an urgent meeting with some cabinet ministers of Assam but he was gracious enough to send a letter wishing the programme all success. Unity is strength and governments at the state and the Centre usually like to create rifts between communities to break their resolve even on genuine demands.

One of the highlights of this closing programme were the pledges from Absu . Two flexes of two sets of pledges were put up on the podium. Those interested me more than the speeches by the leading lights of Assam, including chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, whose security apparatus was claustrophobic. On one flex was the Bodo Mission for Sustainable Change, which comprises social interactions aimed to be completed in a year (2018-19). The seven points are, 8,000 interactions and counselling for educational development; 1,500 interactions for women development; 1,500 workshops for livelihood development; 1,200 awareness programmes at the village level for social development; 1,400 health awareness programmes; 1,200 activities for cultural development and 1,200 activities for sports development.

The second pledge for “Peace and Green Universe” include  “we pledge to save mother earth, grow row more trees, remove all illegal arms and anti-social activities,  pledge to love and respect all sections of people  and work for all round development of human beings.”

So far so good, but these pledges need to be taken seriously and the Absu has to appoint a committee to ensure that they are implemented in letter and spirit. It needs to work in tandem with those running the BTC because the list of action points above will require financial and human resources, which the state must commit itself to. The BTC chief has in his letter to the Absu president said, “I assure you that for the cause of the Bodo society I will extend necessary logistic support and coordination in all aspects in future”. The Absu should take Mohilary at his word to further its action plans.

Much needs to be done for the all round development of the Bodo people and the non-Bodos residing within the territory of Bodoland. Development cannot single out any community or group and it is this broad vision that will win the support of a cross section of society that together need to work for the Bodoland mission.

The writer is Editor of the Shillong Times and can be contacted at patricia.mukhim@gmail.com