6/10/2014

Mrunal [Polity] Assam Riots and Bodo Accord : History, Reasons, Problems, Solutions Mrunal

[Polity] Assam Riots and Bodo Accord : History, Reasons, Problems,

Solutions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

What is Bodoland Territorial Council ?

Timeline of Events
How did the Kokrajhar riots start?
Delay in Army Deployment: Bureaucratic Red Tape at its worst
Why resentment in the communities?
Whats the problem in Bodo Accord?
What is the solution?

What is Bodoland Territorial Council ?

2003: Bodo militants lay down the arms and want to join mainstream. They
sign agreement with Government, known as Bodo Accord.
A Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) was established under this Bodo
Accord.
And Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) was created under the
sixth schedule of the Constitution of India, as part of this accord to look
after the Administrative and Development needs of these Bodo dominated
areas.
Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) covers 4 districts of Assam:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Kokrajhar,
Baksa,
Chirang and
Udalguri. (Total 35% area of Assam.)

Timeline of Events
1960s

Bodos started demanding autonomy, varying from separate

statehood to outright sovereign status.

1980s
and
90s

militant Bodo movement peaked during this period

largescale killings and human displacement.

2003

the signing of the Bodo Territorial Council (BTC) Accord between

Militant Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) led by leadership of
Hagrama Mohilary on one side .
And Centre and the state government on the other side.

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Mrunal [Polity] Assam Riots and Bodo Accord : History, Reasons, Problems, Solutions Mrunal

Under this accord, Bodo Liberation Tigers surrerended their

weapons, and Hagrama was made the Chief Executive Member
(CEM) of the Bodo Territorial council. (BTC)

How did the Kokrajhar riots start?

Kokrajhar is a city in assam. [Name of its district is also Kokrajhar].
It is the seat of administration of the Bodo Territorial Council.
Since past few months, The minority student unions and non-Bodo tribes
began pressing their demand for greater representation in the Bodoland
Territorial Council (BTC).
On July 6, two Muslim youths were shot at and the suspicion fell on the
Bodos.
Nearly a fortnight later a former cadre of the Bodoland Liberation Tigers
(BLT), and three of his friends were killed, which triggered full-scale rioting
and displacement of thousands.

Delay in Army Deployment: Bureaucratic Red Tape at

its worst
Section 130 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) empowers an executive
magistrate [e.g. District collector, Deputy Collector, SDM] to seek army
troops to contain riots.
But the request for army deployment to tackle riots has to be routed through
the Defence Ministry.
The Kokrajhar district administration had requested for army deployment
on July 20 and the army was deployed only on July 25 because the local
army commanders did not accept the requests saying they need an order
from the Ministry of Defence, after which Assam Chief Secretary had to
approach Defence Secretary.
Otherwise, Army troops could have reached the trouble spots within three to
four hours as two major army stations, including a full Mountain Division, are
located within a distance of 150 kms from Kokrajhar.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had said that the army presence from day
one would have prevented the unprecedented crisis and loss of so many
lives.
At least 57 people were killed in the violence which rendered 5.02 lakh
people homeless during the week-long mayhem.
Now, the Home Ministry has asked the Defence Ministry to amend its
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) so that the army can be deployed the
moment such a request comes from the civil administration.

Why resentment?
The Bodos, constitute the largest tribal community out of a total
of 34 tribal communities in Assam.
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Mrunal [Polity] Assam Riots and Bodo Accord : History, Reasons, Problems, Solutions Mrunal

Bodos

Non
Bodos
and
Muslims

They feel they have been neglected, exploited and discriminated

against for decades, look at this accord as a historic opportunity
to fulfil their longstanding demands
But due to the changing demographics of the BTAD and the
consequent land alienation, they fear they may become a minority
in their own state and in hitherto Bodo-dominated areas.
They resents the fact that Bodos constitute a meagre 25 per cent
of the total population in the BTC area and believe that Bodos
should not be given the right to rule over the other three-fourths.
number of villages with minority Bodo population were included
in the BTAD to make it a contiguous area.
The non-Bodos want such villages to be taken out of BTAD so
that they do not feel insecure where they are clearly in the
majority.

Whats the problem in Bodo Accord?

The Bodo Accord, seeks to protect the land rights of the indigenous Bodos
while allowing settler Muslims (both legal and illegal) to freely acquire land
at the same time.
The Bangladeshi migrants easily sneak in the area, illegally procure relevant
documents like ration cards to establish Indian nationality.
Taking advantage of the provisions in the BTC Act, such migrants are freely
procuring land in the BTAD, which only adds to the woes of indigenous
Bodos.
Both sides are demanding the review / revocation of BTC act because on one
hand, Bodos feel their rights are not protected and on the other hand, Nonbodos feel that Bodos are getting way too many benefits.

What is the solution?

Clashes between Bodos and Non-Bodos are nothing new in the Kokrajhar area.
Earlier 1993, 1994, 1996 and as recently as 2008, there have been large scale
clashes.
Each of them, because of following three reasons:
1. Population pressures
2. land rights
3. illegal migration and occupation
Unless and until Governments (both union and state), take proactive actions
on those three problems, such incidents might keep recurring.
Some measures: National Population Register, Adhar / similar biometric
cards.
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Mrunal [Polity] Assam Riots and Bodo Accord : History, Reasons, Problems, Solutions Mrunal

My articles on [Polity] are archived at mrunal.org/polity

URL to article: http://mrunal.org/2012/08/polity-assam-riots.html

Posted By Mrunal On 05/08/2012 @ 16:29 In the category polity

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