The process of disbanding the 34-year-old National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) began on Thursday, with 1,615 members of its three factions laying down arms at an official programme in Guwahati.
Officials said another 2,850 cadre of the three groups are expected to lay down arms on February 7 in western Assam’s Kokrajhar, the headquarters of Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) where the State government has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Most of the cadres are distributed among three designated camps.
Of the 1,615 who laid down arms, 836 belonged to the NDFB (Progressive), led by Dhiren Boro and Gobinda Basumatary; 579 to the NDFB (RD), led by its founder-chairman, Ranjan Daimary; and 200 to the NDFB (S), led by B. Saoraigwra. Together, they deposited 178 firearms, 14 grenades and a two-inch mortar.
“The surrender today has great significance. It will go a long way in ensuring speed for the growth engine that the Prime Minister has envisaged for the Northeast,” Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said.
NDFB (S) general secretary B.R. Ferenga said the third Bodo Accord signed in New Delhi a week ago should be implemented with utmost dedication. “We have returned to mainstream to be part of a good administration. We believe in the Indian Constitution, and hope that this accord will bring in development in coming days,” he added.
President of All Bodo Students’ Union Promod Boro said, “The Bodo people have carried the terrorist tag for decades. It feels good that the process to erase this label has begun on the day Mahatma Gandhi, the epitome of peace, was assassinated. And with that, our revolution for peace and development has begun.”
Thursday’s was the second surrender ceremony in quick succession. Last week, 644 extremists belonging to eight outfits, including the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent, deposited 177 firearms.
The NDFB was born as the Bodo Security Force in 1986. It got its current name in 1994 after rejecting the first Bodo Accord the year before.
