Kokrajhar parliamentarian Naba Kumar Sarania on January 27th, 2020, alleged that signing the Bodo peace accord without holding any discussion with the non-Bodos residing in the BTAD region is a ‘conspiracy’.
“Before signing the accord with the Centre, they should hold discussion with the non-Bodos residing in the region. It is a conspiracy against the non-Bodos,” the MP said in a press conference here in Guwahati today.
While emphasising the need to review the Bodo accord signed in 2003, which led to the formation of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), Sarania said, “The need of the hour was to review the BTC accord but they signed another accord. We will be able to protect the rights of the non-Bodos once the accord is reviewed.”
Besides, Sarania demanded to finalise the voter list of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. “There is no need to correct the voter list. Finalise the voter list of the 2019 Lok Sabha election,” he added.
The Central government signed a historic peace accord with the banned Bodo insurgent group National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) today, sans the outfit’s key demand of a separate Bodoland state or union territory.
The tripartite agreement was signed in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, NEDA Convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma, top leadership of the four factions of the NDFB, Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) chief Hagrama Mohilary, Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry Satyendra Garg and Assam Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna.
It is the third Bodo accord to be signed by the Centre and other stakeholders after 27 years. The first Bodo accord was signed in 1993 with the All Bodo Students’ Union, leading to the creation of a Bodoland Autonomous Council.
In 2003, the second Bodo accord was signed with the militant group Bodo Liberation Tigers, which lead to the formation of a BTC with four districts of Assam – Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baska and Udalguri – called the BTAD. The region is predominantly inhabited by the indigenous Bodo people and other indigenous communities of Assam.
Photo: Time8
