KOKRAJHAR, Feb 17 — As soon as the euphoria of the signing of the memorandum of settlement (MoS) between the Central and the State Governments and Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT) comes down, the leaders of the BLT and other Bodo organisations will have to concentrate on proper implementation of the accord for fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of not only the Bodos but of all sections of people of the proposed Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).
The 35th annual conference of the All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) which concluded at Bonorgaon yesterday, virtually turned into a victory rally and thousands of Bodo people flocked to the venue of the conference from different parts of the State to celebrate the signing of the accord. However, Member of Parliament Urkhau Gwra Brahma rightly pointed out that the first challenge before the BLT leaders would be to create confidence in the minds of the non-Bodos. The State already witnessed an agitation launched by the Sanmilita Janagosthiya Sangram Samiti (SJSS) in protest against the creation of the BTC, while, Bongaigaon town and Barpeta Road areas witnessed attacks on Bodos. However, the BTC area remained peaceful and BLT chief Hagrama Basumatary assured that they would not be provoked by such incidents of violence. Sri Brahma, on the other hand, said that some vested interest circles of outside of the BTC areas were opposing the accord for their political gains and appealed to all sections of people to isolate those people. All the Bodo leaders have asserted that the rights of the non-Bodos would be protected in the BTC. The BLT publicity secretary Mainao Daimary revealed that the leaders of the outfit would visit different parts of the State to make the people aware of the rights of the non-Bodos in the BTC. Such a step would definitely help as a meeting between BLT vice-chairman Kamal Mushahary and cross sections of people helped a great deal in restoration of peace in Bongaigaon town.
It may be mentioned here that the MoS signed between the Central and State Governments and the BLT includes details of the steps to be taken for the protection of the rights of the non-Bodos. As per the MoS, the creation of the BTC would not extinguish the rights and privileges enjoyed by any citizen of India in respect of his land at the commencement of BTC and bar any citizen from acquiring land either by way of inheritance, allotment, settlement or by way of transfer if such citizens are eligible for such bonafide acquisition of land within the BTC area.
As per clause 4.4 of the MoS, language and medium of instruction in educational institutions will not be changed without the approval of the State Government, while, the Clause 4.7 of the MoS says, “provisions of Article 332(c) of the Constitution will be so modified that existing status of representation of BTC area in the State Assembly is kept intact. After the creation of the BTC, the Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies shall be delimited by the Delimitation Commission in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.” The MoS also said that “the amendments of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution shall include provisions in such a manner that the non-tribals are not disadvantaged in relation to the rights enjoyed by them at the commencement of the BTC.” The MoS further stated that Bodo language would be the official language of the BTC subject to the condition that Assamese and English would also continue to be used for official purposes.
Sri Brahma said that the BTC would be the only tribal council in the country to have reservation of seats for non-tribals, as of the 46 seats, 30 will be reserved for tribals, five for non-tribals, five will be open for all communities, while six members will be nominated by the Governor of Assam from unrepresented communities of the BTC area. The nominated members will enjoy the same rights and privileges including voting right as the elected members.
The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the ABSU have decided to work together to remove the misunderstanding in the minds of the people and now it remains to be seen whether the Bodo leaders manage to instill confidence in the minds of the non-Bodos through their actions in the days to come.