Jan. 9: The Bodo heartland was rocked by violent protests by non-Bodos following a 12-hour Assam bandh called by the All-Adivasi Students’ Association, Assam, against the creation of the proposed Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). The bandh supporters lobbed a Molotov cocktail on an oil tanker, which caught fire, at Srirampur in Kokrajhar district. The supporters also damaged 10 vehicles on the national highway between Dhemaji and Lakhimpur. Nearly 100 picketers were arrested in Sonitpur district. Incidents of stone pelting were also reported from some non-Bodo pockets in the proposed BTC region. The bandh, however, failed to evoke much response in most parts of the state. The Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT), on the other hand, mounted pressure on the state government by vowing to revive its armed struggle for a separate state of Bodoland if the creation of BTC was further delayed. In that case, the outfit said it would not extend the ceasefire which expires on January 21.
A joint delegation of the BLT and the All-Bodo Students’ Union today urged the government to spell out its stand on the BTC boundary and reservation of seats for non-tribals in the proposed BTC without delay. The outfit also observed its 8th martyrs’ day in Kokrajhar.