India News Online » News Analysis » Indian Politics » 

Bodo Council Bill : Petition not to stall its passage

	April 28, 2003

There is a sense of relief in the Bodo leadership over the fact that the petition filed in the Supreme Court against the creation of the Bodoland Territorial Council would not be able to stall the passage of the Bill, scheduled to be tabled in Parliament during the current session.

“The petition does not forbid the tabling of the Bill in Parliament as the Supreme Court has not issued any stay order. All that is required is the filing of replies by the Centre, the Assam government and the Bodoland Liberation Tigers before July 14,” All-Bodo Students’ Union president Rabiram Narzary told The Telegraph.

The petitioner, Kanakeswar Narzary, was a founder member of the ABSU and chairman of the dissolved Bodoland Autonomous Council. He has claimed that the proposed Bodoland Territorial Council is not representative of the “will” of the Bodo people.

Further, the petition alleged that the BLT did not take into account the aspirations of the people during the signing of the accord.

Dismissing Narzary’s allegations as baseless, Bodo leaders said there was “a vast difference in the situations prevailing in 1993 and 2003.

“The BTC has found support among all political parties and sections of the Bodo people. Even the National Democratic Front of Boroland has not rejected the accord, though it has said it is not satisfactory,” Rajya Sabha MP U.G. Brahma said.

He added that Narzary’s accusation that the BTC has violated his fundamental rights does not stand to reason “as the BAC was already dissolved by the Assam Assembly on April 3.”

Brahma added that the BLT has already started the process of consulting legal experts for the reply to the Supreme Court.

Several Bodo leaders belonging to the ABSU and the BLT, who have arrived in the capital to “expedite” the passage of the Bill in Parliament, said the Bill has already been cleared by the Union Ministries of Home, Tribal Affairs and Finance and is currently pending with the legislative department of the law ministry.

“We met Union law minister Arun Jaitley and he has given us an assurance that he’ll clear all the Bills in a day or two. Subsequently, it is likely to be placed before the Cabinet for approval on April 29. We expect the Bills to be placed in Parliament on April 30 though that could take place earlier,” said Narzary.

The inclusion of the Bodo language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and Scheduled Tribe status for Bodos in Karbi Anglong are the two other Bills likely to be tabled in Parliament along with the BTC Bill.

The leaders further said once the Bills are passed, the process of installing the interim council would be initiated “within a week” and a list of “suitable candidates” would be forwarded to the government for nomination.



Karbis plan to intensify protests over ST status for Bodos

Meanwhile, in another development, the Karbis are peeved over a provision in the recently-signed BTC agreement that recommends Scheduled Tribe (Hills) status for Bodos living in the two districts, alleging that the government was trying to create a rift between the two communities.

The Karbi Anglong and N.C. Hills People’s Resistance, a militant outfit, is likely to intensify its indefinite road and rail blockade in the hill districts to oppose the move, despite stiff resistance from the authorities.

Reacting to the blockade, All-Bodo Students’ Union (Absu) president Rabiram Narzary said in New Delhi: “There should not be any opposition from Karbi organisations regarding the granting of ST status to the Bodos of Karbi Anglong.

“The Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) had supported it and the Hill Council had recommended the granting of the status. And it was on this recommendation that the state government had forwarded the proposal to the Centre.”

Rajya Sabha MP Urkhao Gwra Brahma, too, allayed fears of any harm to the Karbis in case the Bodos were enlisted as a Scheduled Tribe (hills). Elected representatives of the ASDC had staged a daylong dharna to oppose the provision in the Bodo accord.

It has accused the Centre and the state government of trying to divide the Karbis and the Bodos on ethnic lines by conferring “double reservation benefits to the Bodos”.

The influential Karbi political party also demanded scrapping of the provision in the Bodo accord signed between the Centre, the state government and the Bodo Liberation Tigers on February 10.

Both the Bodo leaders said the apprehension that a conflict could erupt in Karbi Anglong was “unfounded because all tribal communities have been living in harmony and the Bodos have offered their full support for the demand of the autonomous state raised by the Karbis”.

Narzary said that efforts were on through negotiations with leaders and organisations of the district to settle the issue.

Karbi Anglong superintendent of police Abdul Kuddus said that there were no reports of any untoward incident and buses were plying normally on highways under armed escorts.

The SP said that altogether five convoys, four during the day and one at night, were being provided to public vehicles along a three-hour stretch between Nambor and Khatkhati.

Apart from strong security measures on the ground, two army helicopters are mounting a round-the-clock aerial vigil. Besides, security forces are carrying out intensive patrolling along railway tracks to keep saboteurs at bay.Buses from the state capital were provided escorts at Nambor and those coming towards Guwahati trailed escorts from Khatkhati.