GUWAHATI, Oct 20 ? The Sanmilita Jana-Gosthiya Sangram Samity (SJSS), which has been in the forefront in opposing the last Bodo peace accord, has once again demanded that the government?s talks with the banned NDFB, if it were to take place, should include representatives of all ethnic groups and political parties.
The SJSS has decided to stage a sit-in demonstration at the Dispur Last Gate on November 1 to press this demand, said deputy chief convenor Brajen Mahanta during a press conference here today. He said that including the non-Bodo people in the talks is of utmost importance to ensure that their interests are not compromised with.
Mahanta said that the creation of the Bodo Territorial Council (BTC) last year has resulted in untold suffering for the non-Bodo people. He said that the NDFB militants are killing the non-Bodos while the police are doing nothing. The non-Bodos are also not being allowed to purchase land. Appointments have been closed for them. Even the ones who go to the BTAD area on transfer from other parts of the State are not being allowed to join their new posts, he alleged.
?Our fears that the non-Bodos would lose all their democratic rights under the BTC has been confirmed,? said Mahanta adding that the State Government has remained a silent spectator to all the atrocities that the common people are being subjected to. He described the BTC agreement between the Government and the BLT as a ?tactical retreat? by the Bodos.
The talks with the NDFB will surely result in the creation of a Bodo state separate from Assam, he apprehended. Taking a dig at the Government, Mahanta said that when the last Bodo Accord was signed, it was touted to be the final solution to the Bodo problem. Now the very mention of talks with the NDFB indicates that the Bodo issue has not been resolved. He clarified that the SJSS is not against talks with the NDFB but would like it to involve all concerned parties.
?The talks with the ABSU led to the BAC. That with the BLT led to the formation of the BTC. What more can be conceded to the NDFB other than a separate state?? Mahanta asked. He said that the creation of new districts in the BTAD area has further fuelled the apprehension that Bodos may soon be granted full statehood.
He said that further talks on the Bodo issue must be multilateral with proper representation of the non-Bodo people. ?These talks would only lead to a kind of separate State for Bodos,? said SJSS member Hareswar Barman, adding that the talks should be multi-party. He said that a separate state for each ethnic group in the state is quite impossible.
Mahanta, meanwhile, said that the NDFB is carrying on a campaign at ethnic cleansing by trying to strike fear among the non-Bodo community. He said that the problems of the non-Bodos would only be multiplied after talks with the NDFB. He mentioned that 1.5 lakh Adivasis and 60,000,Muslims are still languishing in relief camps with no effort being made for their rehabilitation.