By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Guwahati: As the Assam state election commission is planning to schedule the 3rd election for the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) for Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) elections in the last week of March in 2015, organisations including students’ bodies, have appealed the state and the central government to review the formation of council before the election.
These organisations also urged the government to adopt strict measures to avoid any untoward incident in the region.
The BTC is a territorial privilege established according to the Memorandum of Settlement of February 10, 2003 under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution following a tripartite accord involving the Centre, state government and the erstwhile militant outfit of Bodoland Liberation Tigers (BLT) headed by Hagrama Mohilary, who later joined the mainstream politics.
The tenure of present council led by Hagrama Mohilary will expire on April 23 this year. A meeting under the chairmanship of State Election Commissioner HN Bora in the presence of representatives of all parties and top police officials on Monday decided to conduct election in the last week of March in 40 constituencies of BTAD.
“We are again worried that the miscreants will try to create disturbance as the election date is approaching. We have seen in the past, especially during the Lok Sabha elections, that miscreants killed innocent people to create a chaotic atmosphere and terror among the non-Bodo people living in the area. So we appeal to the state and central governments to give especial attention in the area’s head of the council elections,” Lafiqul Islam Ahmed, general secretary of All BTC Minority Students’ Union (ABMSU) told TwoCircles.net.
Sanmilita Janogosthiya Aikkya Mancha (SJAM), an umbrella organisation comprising different non-Bodo groups has demanded that the BTC accord should be reviewed immediately for the greater interests of the society.
“At any cost we cannot accept the BTC accord where the majority (non-Bodo) people are neglected. We have been demanding that the council should be reviewed. The formation of the council has led to a number of violent and ethnic clashes among the people living there. We want amendment in the accord so that in the BTAD all other tribes and communities can avail equal rights and facilities,” said Horeswar Barman of SJAM.
SJM will also take part in the elections if needed. “If needed we will take part in the elections as independent candidates. And this will be very much part of our struggle against the formation of the council,” Barman added.
SJAM also slammed the governments- both at the centre and state – for failing to control the violence in the BTAD. “The militants kept on killing innocent people in the region but the governments have failed to control. The militants start killings ahead of election to create a sense of terror among the non-Bodo people,” he said.
The latest spell of violence on Adivasi people have witnessed at least 68 deaths besides several lakh displaced.
Kokrajhar MP Naba Kumar Sarania alias Hira Sarania, a former ULFA rebel, had announced of forming a new political party – ‘Gana Vikash Parishad’ couple of months back to fight the BTC polls.
Though the SJAM has discouraged Sarania to go ahead with his plans, he feels that solutions to the problems of the area cannot be achieved through agitation and meetings. “Therefore, we need a political party to be a unit and address the concerns of the people in an organised manner,” Sarania told media.
“The BTC accord was a blunder. The government did not discuss with the non-Bodos living in the area before formulating it. The non-Bodos constitute 80 % of the population. The BTC was created to satisfy some militant leaders. Over 7,000 people have been killed and over 5 lakh rendered homeless in various clashes since its formation,” said an SJAM leader.
All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) has also asked the state government and the election commission to conduct the election in the true spirit. “The election commission has to ensure a free and fair election to maintain democracy. People have to come out freely and vote. This is very unfortunate that the election commission and the state government have been neglecting the part of security arrangement in the previous elections. It’s a matter of shame that bloodshed takes place in BTAD elections,” said ABSU president Pramod Boro.
Boro also said that the demand of council review is baseless. “The council was created to preserve the ethnicity of a particular tribe. No such autonomous councils in North East were formed on the basis of demography. There is nothing like Bodos is ruling the non-Bodos in BTAD. There are rights and facilities for all. BTC cannot overrule the state of Assam. So, these points are baseless,” Boro added.
In the month of May 2014, as many as 46 people, including 22 children, were gunned down in Baksa and Kokrajhar districts. Again in the month of July, four traders were abducted and killed in Baksa district.
In one of the horrific incidents, the militants of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit faction) gunned down Priya Basumatary, a class IX student in broad day light in front of camera in Chirang district.
Moreover, in BTAD, altogether 110 extortion cases were recorded besides 29 abductions in 2014.