Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net,
Guwahati: Even as the entire Assam is witnessing a series of protests for separate states, here is an umbrella organization which has launched agitation against separate Bodoland. Ana-Bodo Suraksha Samiti (ABSS), a body comprising non-Bodo people living in the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) said that declaring Bodoland as separate state will not solve problems.
ABSS has called a 36-hour Assam bandh from Saturday opposing the separate Bodoland agitation which hit the normal life in some parts of lower Assam after a series of bandhs by other groups.
“We can never accept the proposal of a separate Bodoland at any cost. We do not want any more bifurcation in Assam. There are people belonging to other communities as well in the area, so how can it be a Bodoland. Besides, there is a case in Gauhati High Court regarding to leave out the 642 villages which have majority population of non-Bodo people. So, we want to sort out these issues,” said Jogeshwar Kalita, general secretary of ABSS.
They are also planning a series of agitation to project their demand. On August 12 they will submit memorandum to the President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh citing their cause. They will also boycott the Independence Day celebration wearing black badges on August 15 in the entire state before organizing two massive rallies in Khanapara in Guwahati and in Bijni.
On Saturday, the first day of the 36-hour bandh, police said that a private vehicle was set ablaze by bandh supporters at Salbari in Baksa district among other incidents. ABSS is a non-Bodo platform of 27 organisations in lower Assam fighting against the creation of a separate Bodoland carved out of Assam along the lines of Telangana.