Bodos oppose land grant to Patanjali

GUWAHATI: Bodo tribe organisations, which are set to resume the statehood movement from August 30 considering the NDA government’s “indifferent attitude” towards their issues, on Thursday aired their opposition to allotment of a vast tract of land to Patanjali in Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) areas of Assam.

Strap: To resume stir for Bodoland on Aug 30

Bijay Sankar Bora

Tribune News Service

Guwahati, August 27

Bodo tribe organisations, which are set to resume the statehood movement from August 30 considering the NDA government’s “indifferent attitude” towards their issues, on Thursday aired their opposition to allotment of a vast tract of land to Patanjali in Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) areas of Assam.

Promod Bodo, president of the All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU), and Gobinda Basumatary, general secretary of pro-talks faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Progressive), today stated that the BTC authority did not consult the Bodo organisations and people before allotting 3828 bighas to Patanjali in Chirang district. They alleged that the BTC authority couldn’t give proper explanation in the last council meeting about rules and procedure under which the land was allotted to Baba Ramdev’s organisation.

They pointed out that the BJP, which had promised to take expeditious steps to resolve the vexed Bodoland tangle through dialogue with organisations demanding statehood, had let them down by remaining lukewarm towards continuing with the dialogue process in the right earnest. The ABSU leader said on the promise of the BJP, they had extended support to the party in General Election-2014 and Assam Assembly election in 2016.

The Bodo leaders today announced that hitherto suspended agitation for a Bodoland state, which was resumed in 2010 after Telangana state had been granted by the Centre, would be revived with a call for national highway boycott in BTC areas in Assam on August 30 as the incumbent Central government as well as the new state government had almost stalled the negotiation process with the All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) and the NDFB(P).

“Though we had suspended the statehood movement indefinitely after signing of the BTC Accord in 2003, it had to be revived under public pressure in 2010 after the Centre created Telangana,” Promod Bodo said.