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Bodo problem in Assam |
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In yet another development, representatives of the Union Home Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office have managed to establish contact with the leader of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland in Assam. Disclosing this to newspersons in Guwahati on October 29, NDFB chief, D.R. Nabla, also known as Ranjan Daimary, said that some people claiming to be the representatives of the Home Minister and the PMO had approached them. He, however, clarified that this was not the first time the Centre had sent feelers to the outfit for talks. In 1994, the then Home Minister, S.B. Chavan, had sent his own man for talks. The NDFB chief in his first interview to The Asian Age had recently expressed his willingness for talks if New Delhi made a sincere effort.
About the outfit’s recent attempt to declare a part of Barpeta district “liberated”, he admitted that their cadres were carrying the flag of the party to hoist it over the Labdanguri police outpost in Lower Assam’s Barpeta district. He regretted that the police post was completely gutted in the fierce fighting and that the NDFB men were unable to hoist their flag. About the recent upsurge in violent attacks by the NDFB, which the police descries as “an attempt to make their presence felt,” Nabla said these attacks were not to make our presence felt, but the continuity of what he called their “struggle.”
It may be pointed out that the Centre had already initiated talks with other Bodo outfits in the state who have launched a movement to find a solution to their problem. These are Bodoland Liberation Tigers (BLT) and Coordination Committee for Bodoland Movement (CCBM) which comprises some Bodo groups such as the The All Bodo Students’ Union, Bodo People’s Action Committee, All Bodo Women’s Welfare Federation and all Bodo Employees Federation. The CCBM also has non-Bodo members in its fold who recently met the central leaders to express their views. Talking to mediapersons on October 28, leaders of non-Bodo organisations said they alone understood the problems of the non-Bodos since they were from the Bodoland Autonomous Council area.
However, in their reaction to the meeting between Non-Bodos and the Centre, almost all Bodo outfits have rejected this initiative. They claimed that non-Bodo groups from outside the BAC area have no locus standi to air their opinions on how to resolve the Bodo issue and wanted that Government should invite them for talks and not the non-Bodo organisations. All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) which has been spearheading the movement for a separate state of Bodoland within Assam, said they had refused to participate in the talks which were to be held on October 1 with the Centre as the latter had invited non-Bodo organizations opposed to the movement.
Financial crisis
The state of Assam is heading for a major financial crisis. Addressing newspersons in Guwahati on October 31, Chief Minister Gogoi said it had become quite impossible for his government to overcome the present financial crisis without liberal help from the Centre. Media reports quoting the Chief Minister even went to the extent of saying that the present financial crisis would make it impossible for the Government to pay even the salaries of employees on time.
The present financial crisis has, in fact, created a rift between the Chief Minister and his Finance Minister, Devananda Konwar who has been openly criticising the functioning of the Gogoi Government. In the recent past, Konwar had given several interviews to different newspapers refusing to share the blame for the State’s poor financial position. He claimed that the Chief Minister had not given due importance to a series of measures he had suggested for improving the financial health of the State.
Reports say immediately after taking over as Finance Minister, Konwar consulted economists and applied his mind to revive the collapsing financial health of Assam. It resulted in an economic package which he, claimed, was submitted to the Chief Minister for his approval on August 1, 2001. According to Konwar, who also holds the two crucial portfolios of Revenue and Power, the package has been pending before the Chief Minister since then. Obviously upset over the lack of any response from the Chief Minister’s Office, Konwar went to the media saying that either his plan be rejected and the leadership come out with an alternative one or he be allowed to implement his idea.
Known for his radical approach, Konwar said he should not be held responsible for the failure of this government if his ideas are not allowed to be implementd. This took a serious turn on October 30 when the Chief Minister issued a veiled threat to Konwar that he might be dropped from the Ministry. The Chief Minister said : “I have given full powers to all the Ministers and if they fail in their duties, I shall have to make some changes. This applies to all the Ministers.”
Assam which is the largest State in the region, has been reeling under an acute financial crisis leading to delayed payment of salaries to 4.5 lakh Government employees. This has already antagonised a substantial section of the employees who had played a decisive role in the ouster of the AGP-led government in Assembly elections in May this year.
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