Neglect of Bodo interests has forced us to renew the Statehood movement: ABSU
The All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) on Monday warned the Centre of a Manipur-like blockade in the entire northeast if its demand for creation of a separate State of Bodoland was not met.
ABSU president Pramod Boro told The Hindu that leaders of the Joint Action Committee of the Telangana movement would take part in a public meeting to be organised by the students on Tuesday at Thelamar in northern Sonitpur district. The meeting would be the culmination of a five-day cycle rally taken out by ABSU workers and supporters from Srirampur on the Assam-West Bengal border.
The ABSU workers, led by their president and other leaders, carried placards with slogans such as “Divide Assam fifty-fifty” and “No Bodoland, No Rest” during the cycle rally.
“We warn the government not to undermine our Statehood movement and to stop taking a discriminatory attitude to our demand. If the government continues to ignore our demand while going ahead with conceding the demand for creation of a separate Telangana, we will resort to an unprecedented blockade of the National Highway [31] and railway track, which will result in a Manipur-blockade-like situation for the entire northeast,” said Mr. Boro.
‘Told no policy'
He alleged that whenever the Bodos had raised the demand for Statehood, the Centre would say the government had no policy that allowed the creation of new States.
“In 1999, we were told by the then Central government that the creation of a separate Bodoland was not feasible as the government had no policy to create new States. However, only a year later in 2000, the three new States of Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand were created. That is why the ABSU was not a signatory to the second Bodo peace accord signed by the erstwhile Bodo Libertion Tigers (BLT) with the Centre and the Assam government. However, we suspended the Statehood movement to give peace a chance and therefore backed the peace accord.”
Keywords: Bodoland statehood issue, blockade threat






everyone has the right to protect their culture and tradition.so,like everyone we also want to protect our culture n tradition, we are still living in STONE AGE.our roads are not concrete/blacktoped(becoz we dont have cars) but its full of mud(becoz we use BICYCLE)- we have the same road in the same condition since our great grandfathers.i dont know whether i should feel happy or sad, but we are habituated of it now..schools dont have teachers,!! its holiday for us everyday.
we want BODOLAND not for bodos only but for the whole people living in that area who are deprieved of basic necessaties of life.
please dont have mis-conseption that BODOLAND means only for bodos.. if the name suggest the whole meaning-- then i think HINDUSTAN should have been only for HINDUS.. but its not that way right???.. i think whoever feels that BODOLAND means only for BODOS...are FOOLS.he/she should be not be called HUMANS, there are other name for them liek PAGAL SAPIENS/PSYCHO sapiens or D..O..G=dog
"DIVIDE assam 50/50".our demands for our right has been taken for granted.. we have been fighting for our own right which we deserves since last 30 years. why is our demand still not granted? are we demanding which we dont deserve????????? are we demanding something that will harm the rights and duties of other fellow citigens? Are we demanding super power from goverment to become superman?
We r demanding BODOLAND for the better development of the BODO community & the people living in the area..
We were once treated as second class citigen even after independence of my motheland-INDIA..don't we have right to protect our culture, tradition etc along with faster development of the region? if u go and visit any BODO village, u will get shocked. around 70% of BODO dominated villages do not have electricity n basic necessaries of livelihood... forget about development!
Anti Boro faction be carefull for violating Human rights.
The country has seen enough divisions on ethnic and linguistic lines.we
donot need any more division of the country.y do the bodo people demand
a separate state,cant it b solved within the current framework.if states
keep getting divided on flimsy grounds like these then God help
india..the central government has to act tough n not yield to such
pressure tactics...
I respect their views at the same center should take all measures to avoid creating problems to the Public.The ultimate loss is for common man only.
The leaders of the Bodoland movement should adopt more mature policies rather than resorting to such blockade.While the slogan ''Divide Assam 50/50'' seemed quite motivating,the realistic picture should be taken into account too.The demand of ''50 per cent'' of Assam doesn't comprises the Bodo tribe only in the northern bank of Brahmaputra,what will happen to the second largest Missing tribe of Assam who are in the same side even without constitutional autonomy?What are the concerns of other ethnic groups who are minority in the north bank side?There is need for addressing these serious issues on the part of ABSU leadership before jumping into vigorous agitation like economic blockade.The ABSU leadership will invite hatred and animosity in the forthcoming days if these things are undermined.
To the Leaders at the Union Government -- "Open the Pandora's box at your own peril" !
In 2000, the three new States of Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand were created.
Now there are demands for Bodoland and Telengana. If these are conceded, then follows immediate demands from other parts of the country such as Manya Seema (a separate tribal state within Andhra Pradesh), Vidarbha, Gorkhaland and many more new states to be carved out from the present North Eastern States. The people from the fragile and sensitive border states such as Jammu & Kashmir will stake claims for separate states.
Don't leave the matters until the situation gets out of hand. The Union Govt. will need to take tough measures and act now in the interest of the nation.
The country needs strong visionary leaders such late Sardar Vallabhai Patel. "United we stand, divided we fall" is a phrase more pertinent to India now than ever !
Please Email the Editor