GUWAHATI, June 5 ? The All Bodo Students? Union (ABSU) has threatened to revive its original demand for creation of separate of Bodoland if the Central and the State Governments fail to show positive attitude towards solving the Bodo problem. Talking to The Assam Tribune, the ABSU president Rabi Ram Narzary said that the Bodo organisations would be forced to launch a mass movement if the Central and the State Governments fail to take immediate steps for the solution of the problem. The Bodo people have reasons to doubt the sincerity and honesty of the Government, he added.
Sri Narzary asserted that they would not accept the recommendations reportedly given by the State Government to the Centre for amending the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution for the creation of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). He demanded that the recommendations should be reviewed to provide maximum possible political rights to the Bodos. He also said that the ABSU as well as the other Bodo mass organisations can never accept the boundary of the Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC) ? demarcated in 1999, as the boundary of the proposed BTC. ?We rejected the boundary demarcated in 1999 and now there is no question of accepting the same as the boundary of the BTC. We have already rejected the proposal of the State Government and now let us see whether the Government reviews its stand or not,? he added.
The ABSU president revealed that the Central Government has assured to provide the draft economic package within a week after failing to meet the deadline in this regard twice before. In the package, the Central Government is supposed to include the economic package for the development of the Bodo areas, inclusion of Bodo language in the 8th schedule of the Constitution, setting up of a Central university, engineering college, medical college etc in the proposed BTC area etc. However, he said that the ABSU would make its stand clear on the issue only after reviewing the draft package. ?The Central Government is delaying the process of solving the Bodo problem on the plea of the tension in Indo-Pak border. We understand that the Centre has problems but they should not linger the solution of the genuine problem of the Bodos as the people are gradually losing confidence on the sincerity of the Government,? he added. An executive meeting of the ABSU will be held on June 7 to decide the future course of action to be taken by the organisation.