Tag: Bodoland

  • Assam government orders inquiry into Bodoland encounter

    By PTI

    GUWAHATI: Assam government on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the killing of two alleged United Liberation of Bodoland (ULB) militants by policemen, a day after a 12-hour bandh to protest the death brought life in the four districts of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) to a standstill.

    An order issued by Assam government said Divisional Commissioner of Lower Assam Jayant Narlikar has been directed to inquire into the circumstances leading to the death of two suspected ULB militants in an encounter with the police at Ultapani in Kokrajhar district on September 18.

    Narlikar was tasked to submit the report within 15 days.

    The killing of the two suspected militants evoked wide-spread protests in the BTR with a 12-hour bandh called by All Bodo Peoples (ABP) shutting down normal life in the region on Monday.

    Several political and non-political organizations and leaders have strongly condemned the killings, claiming the encounter was ‘staged’ and the youths killed were innocent.

    Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF) Chief Hagrama Mohilary on Tuesday appealed to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to initiate a high level probe by the CBI into the encounter in the “interest of peace and tranquility” in the BTR.

    He also appealed to the ULB leadership to refrain from violent activities to prevent loss of life and property.

    ”I appeal to the UBL leadership to restrain from retaliatory activities or planting of bombs, which might further escalate the situation in Bodoland region”, the former Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) Chief said.

    The police had claimed on Saturday that two suspected militants of a newly formed outfit, United Liberation of Bodoland (ULB) had been killed and their camp busted while two pistols and grenades were recovered from the encounter site.

    Assam has witnessed a series of “encounters” since the present BJP government, led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma assumed office on May 10, with many alleged militants and criminals being shot dead or injured while allegedly trying to flee from custody .

    The opposition has alleged the state police has become ”trigger-happy”.

    The Chief Minister however, has supported police action and said Assam police had ‘full operational liberty’ to fight criminals “within the ambit of law”.

    In all, 26 accused have been killed so far and 42 others injured when police fired on them claiming that they had tried to escape from custody in the last four-and-half-months.

  • Fear, loathing and emergence of new minority politics in poll-bound Assam

    Express News Service
    KOKRAJHAR/DHUBRI: Sitting inside his dirtcoated, poorly-stocked provision store next to a rural road at Joypur village in Assam’s Kokrajhar district, Akbar Ahmed is reticent about the ongoing state elections. “I am so busy in my shop that I have had no time to think of it. Let voting day come then I will apply my mind,” he said as cacophonic traffic-blowing gas horns raced past, kicking up plumes of cough-inducing dust. A little later he dropped guard a tad, saying in the 2016 Assembly elections he had voted for the Bodoland People’s Front, then an alliance partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Ali-ur-Zaman in Kaziranga is similarly circumspect.

    Originally from Bongaigaon district in eastern Assam, he and his wife have been running a dhaba for the past four years on the national highway that cuts through the rhino sanctuary. “I will see, I can’t say anything about voting right now,” he answered in one-liners, suspicious of every question and refusing to even make eye contact. His wife hemmed and hawed in greater measure: “We are confused.” About 350 kms away inside a weather-beaten, tin-roofed tea stall in Bagbari village, Dhubri district, Noor Islam is watching a video on his mobile of the arrest of civil rights activist turned- candidate Akhil Gogoi.

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    Unlike Akbar and Zaman, Islam is not fearful of discussing the elections with a stranger. He declares his support for the Raijor Dal, Gogoi’s new political party, and spews venom on the BJP and its local candidate, Ashok Kumar Singhi. The tea shop owner, Usman Moni, in between blowing out betel nut from his paan-stained mouth and teeth every 15 minutes, is also vocal about the polls, the BJP and Singhi, describing the saffron party’s nominee as “Hitlerian”. It’s not difficult to understand why the Muslims of Kokrajhar and Kaziranga were suspicious while those in Dhubri were open, expansive and even polemical.

    ‘Assamese Muslims always identify themselves as Assamese, not by religion’

    Demography explains the contrasting mood. According to the 2011 Census, the Bodo-dominated Kokrajhar district has 59.64% Hindus while only 28.44% are Muslims. But in neighbouring Dhubri, Hindus are 19.92% and Muslims 79.67%. Their higher numbers in Dhubri perhaps provided them a sense of security, prompting confidence in engaging in a political discussion. Interestingly, the Muslims of Bagbari and neighbouring Lakhiganj village said they had voted for the BJP in 2016.

    Asked why, pat came Usman’s reply: “Because they promised parivartan (change).” Two things are clear from this: firstly, the characterisation of the Muslims being anti- BJP may be misplaced as many had voted for it the last time. Secondly, the narrative of Muslims being a captive voting bloc of either the Congress or the AIUDF could be erroneous. Despite the AIUDF’s strong presence in Dhubri, widely considered the gateway of illegal immigration from Bangladesh, some Bagbari villagers were willing to vote for the Raijor Dal, a political newbie.

    The fear and loathing of the BJP is not surprising. The party, particularly state finance minster and Assam BJP’s strongman, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has run a campaign against the Miyas, or Bengali-speaking Muslims who came to Assam from Bangladesh. Sarma has often said the party does not need the votes of Miyas. This seems to have antagonised not only the Bengali Muslims but even the Assamese Muslims, creating a new dynamic in minority politics. Assamese Muslims are counted among the indigenous people of the state, unlike the Bengali-speaking Muslims, who are considered as outsiders. As a result, the Assamese Muslims have been strongly opposed to illegal immigration by Bengali Muslims and have supported any political party that has fought against this.

    But the campaign against the Miyas seems to have driven the Assamese Muslims to close ranks with the Bengali Muslims against the BJP, purely because they have a common religious denomination. Sipping fruit juice from a tetra pack and cooled by a pedestal fan inside his office in Goalpara, Mofiyal Rahman, an Assamese Muslim and owner of a nursing home-cum-pharmaceutical shop, said Sarma had asked people to not eat food served by Miyas. “The comment was directed at the Bengali Muslims but this is not correct and we are upset. After all, we share the same religion,” said Rahman. Rahman’s assertion of his religion has lent a new turn to Assam’s complex identity politics.

    The Assamese Muslims like Rahman have never identified themselves by their religion, always calling themselves simply as Assamese. In fact, there is little to differentiate between an Assamese Hindu and a Muslim. They speak the same language, share the same food habits, celebrate the same festivals and are culturally united. Barring the religion, the two communities are indistinguishable. “Assamese Muslims are more Assamese than the Hindus.

    They have always identified themselves only as Assamese, not by their religion. Bengalis are culturally different,” said Arindam Borkotaky, a political analyst and lecturer at ADP College, Nagaon. Many Assamese Muslims, estimated to be 20 lakh out of the total Muslim population of 1.03 crore, are said to have supported the BJP in 2016. “But this time the Muslims and Christians will not vote for the BJP. All minorities feel threatened by it,” said Satyakam Borthakur, a teacher at Dibrugarh University.

  • Ahead of polls, party that rules Bodoland plans pan-Assam presence

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: BJP ally United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), which heads the autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in Assam, has plans to contest outside the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) in the Assembly elections, expected in April.

    “The alliance hasn’t yet been finalised but there is a gesture that BJP and UPPL should fight the Assembly elections together. We will demand not less than 10 of the 12 seats in BTR,” UPPL president Pramod Bodo, who is also the BTC chief, said.

    He said the UPPL workers were insisting that the party should field candidates outside the BTR. “We hope that we will be able to fulfil their wishes,” he said.

    The UPPL-BJP-Gana Shakti Party coalition rules the BTC. They had grabbed power in December last year after defeating the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF).

    The BPF had ruled the council ever since its creation in 2003 as a political solution to the Bodo agitation for a separate state. Led by former insurgent leader Hagrama Mohilary, the BPF was a BJP ally but the saffron party chose the UPPL over it for alliance in the BTC elections. The BPF had won all the 12 seats in the BTR in the 2016 polls.

    The BTC chief said the priorities of the new council would be in sectors such as education, health, communication, and employment.

    “There is also something called community happiness. We are giving importance to it. There are several communities in the BTR which are not happy. They are worried about their future uncertainties. We will work for their happiness,” Bodo said.

    Committing to also work for corruption-free governance, he said the council has liabilities of Rs 2,300 crore but revenue is virtually nil.

    “It is a huge liability. The previous BPF government embezzled funds left and right,” the BTC chief alleged. He said certain schemes, launched by the BPF, would be foreclosed.

    “Instructions have been already passed. We have instituted a probe committee. Based on its report, we will clear the pending bills,” he added.

  • Assam polls: Ditched by BJP, Bodoland People’s Front hunts for allies

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Ditched by the BJP, the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) in Assam is searching for a suitable ally as it gears up for Assembly elections, expected in April.

    The party will take a call in mid-February on the alliance. It holds sway in 12 seats in the Bodoland Territorial Region.

    “We will decide on the issue of alliance on February 15 or 16. It is certain the alliance will be with an anti-BJP force,” BPF leader Kampa Borgoyari told this newspaper on Monday.

    Prabin Bodo, another leader of the party, said informal talks were being held with some anti-BJP parties. He claimed all of them were seeking to align with the BPF.

    The BPF has two options. It may either be a part of the six-party grand alliance of Opposition or strike an alliance with Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP), floated last year by two students’ organisations.

    Recently, student leader-turned-AJP chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi had said: “Our thrust is on a regional equation. This front is going to happen.” His reference was to the formation of a united front of regional parties.

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    He was hopeful about getting support from the ethnic communities, including the Bodos.

    Born in 2003, the BPF had been in alliance with the then ruling Congress for 10 years (2006-2016). It is still a constituent of the BJP-led ruling coalition and has three ministers. But the BJP ditched it in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) elections.

    The saffron party has found a new ally in United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL). They together grabbed power in the autonomous BTC.

    The upcoming polls will be fought by some formations. The grand alliance of Opposition has Congress, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), three Left parties and regional Anchalik Gana Morcha. Then there is the BJP-Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)-UPPL combine. Similarly, there will be a formation of AJP, Raijor Dal and other smaller parties.

    The BJP is faced with twin threats. The coming together of Congress and AIUDF will ensure that the anti-BJP votes do not get split. The formation of regional parties is expected to hurt regional AGP and in turn, the BJP since they are allies.

  • Assam govt gives Rs 4 lakh each to 1279 former NDFB rebels

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: The Assam government on Tuesday offered one-time financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to 1,279 former insurgents of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).

    “A momentous day! Ceremonially handed over the financial grant of Rs 4 lakh each to 1,279 former NDFB cadres in Guwahati. I applaud their decision to return to the mainstream & believe that this grant will lead them to contribute further towards the growth of Assam,” Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal tweeted.

    Speaking at a programme organised on the occasion, he lauded the former rebels for abjuring the path of violence and joining the mainstream for peace and progress of the state.

    They were members of four NDFB factions which, along with the All Bodo Students’ Union, had come forward for the signing of the historic Bodo peace accord in January last year. These former extremists hail from 14 districts, including four from Bodoland Territorial Region.

    As agreed, the Centre will offer Rs 1,500 crore for the development of Bodo areas. The package was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February last year.

    Recently, BJP president JP Nadda said in Assam that the Modi government had protected Assam’s territorial integrity as it solved the Bodo agitation for a separate state.