The Telangana issue has provided a fresh impetus to the demand among several ethnic groups in Assam for creation of separate states, with several outfits calling a series of bandhs to further their cause.
While the United Democratic People’s Front (UDPF), a new Bodo group, has called for a 36-hour bandh starting at 5 am on December 14 demanding a separate state for the Bodo community, four other organisations have called a 24-hour bandh on December 16 in support of their demand for creation of a state comprising Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills district.
The All Dimasa Students’ Union (ADSU), on the other hand, has lined up 50 other groups of North Cachar Hills district and called for a 36-hour bandh to press for their demand of declaring the district as a separate Dimaraji state for the Dimasa tribe. Dima Halam Daoga (DHD), an armed outfit that has two factions including one called Black Widow, has also been fighting for a separate Dimaraji state for several years.
But the most interesting development is the demand for creation of a separate Bodoland state by the Bodo People’s Front (BPF), which is an ally of the Congress in both the state and Centre.
The BPF, in fact, raised its demand in the state Assembly where one of its senior legislators Karendra Basumatary brought up the issue during Zero Hour on Friday. He said since UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were both in favour of carving out Telangana, there was no reason why the Central government could not adopt a similar stand on the creation of Bodoland. Other BPF legislators also displayed placards in the Assembly demanding a separate Bodoland state.
The BPF is headed by Hagrama Mahilary, who — as chairman of the now defunct Bodoland Liberation Tigers (BLT) — had signed an accord with the government in 2001 for creation of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) comprising four districts, Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baska and Udalguri. The BPF, which has 10 legislators, has three ministers in the Congress-led government of Tarun Gogoi.
Meanwhile, a delegation of Congress leaders from Assam, led by Lok Sabha member Biren Singh Engti, met the Prime Minister this weekend to persuade him to allow the creation of a state comprising Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills districts, under provisions of Article 244(A) of the Constitution.
The Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC), a regional political party, has also threatened to revive its movement for an autonomous state comprising the Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills.
It was only last week that the Separate State Demand Committee (SSDC), an umbrella body of nine organisations, had announced a series of fresh agitations to intensify their demand for creation of a Kamatapur state out of portions of North Bengal and western Assam.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi however has rejected such demands. “There have been demands for separate Kamatapur, Dimaraji, Bodoland and so on from different ethnic groups. But we do not want further dissection of Assam,” Gogoi told the state Assembly on Saturday.
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