BKWAC will be constituted in November by passing ordinance

LAKHIMPUR: The Dhemaji district unit of United Bodo People's Organization (UBPO) organized a mega public meeting on Monday in Dhemaji regarding the formation of Bodo Kachari Welfare Autonomous Council (BKWAC). The meeting was organized in the playground of SB Boro High School in association with Chilappthar Sanja Sanjari Nougour and Swounab Sanjari Nougour regional committees.

The meeting commenced with Dhemaji UBPO president Manoranjan Basumatari in the chair while general secretary Dipankar Narzari delivered the welcome address. Attending the event as chief guest, UBPO president Mihiniswar Basumatari said that several demands raised by the Bodo community people by initiating democratic agitation were still to be fulfilled by the government.

"The three main demands out of the 92 demands raised during the Bodo Movement initiated by the All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) under the leadership of Upendra Nath Brahma have not been fulfilled yet. These three crucial demands were to form separate Bodo state covering Bodo dominated areas on the north bank of the Brahmaputra from Sonkosh to Sadiya, to form Nilachal Autonomous Council covering the Bodo dominated area on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra, and to grant tribal status to the Bodo people living in the hilly areas of Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao. These demands have still not been fulfilled," the UBPO president stated. He further added that the rights of the Bodo community people living outside the BTC area had to be secured.

"In 1993 the Bodo Autonomous Council was constituted. On the other hand, BTAD was formed after inking the BTC Accord in 2003. But both accords could not secure the greater interest of the Bodo community people living in 21 districts of the State, excluding Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar and Udalguri. More than 10 lakh native people living in these 21 districts have been unfortunately deprived of their constitutional rights for a long time. In the past years, autonomous councils were gifted to several tribes and communities of the State with less population but no constitutional machinery was processed for the comprehensive development of the Bodo community people living outside the BTC," Mihiniswar Basumatari added.

In this connection, the UBPO president criticized the Bodoland People's Front (BPF) in strong terms for creating hurdle in the process of forming the BKWAC in the last assembly session and appreciated the strong role played by Rajya Sabha MP Biswajit Daimari in favour of the issue. He added that the present State Government led by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had stepped forward to resolve the long-pending issues of the Bodo community people living outside the BTC by forming the BKWAC. "The BKWAC will be constituted in November by passing a ordinance," he said.

Taking part in the meeting, UBPO secretary Sukreswar Goyari said that the State Government had accelerated its moves to implement several recommendations of the BTR Accord.

"Though the Bodo Sahitya Sabha has initiated continuous stir in support of various demands, no successive government paid attention to this stir. Only the present State Government has shown positive gesture to this movement and recognized the Bodo language as the associate official language of the State. This government has also initiated steps to establish separate directorates for Bodo medium and other tribal languages," Sukreswar Goyari stated.

In the meeting, a number of dignitaries from UBPO and other Bodo community organizations delivered speeches on the occasion. A similar public meeting was also organized on Sunday at Bogoriguri Harimu Derat under the auspices of Dhemaji UBPO in association with Madhya Jonai regional committee of the organization. This meeting was held under the chairmanship of Dhemaji UBPO vice-president Ratiram Basumatari.