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KOKRAJHAR: The Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Manch (BJSM) on Wednesday expressed deep anguish and strongly condemned the recent statements made by Pranab Narayan Deb, secretary of Konkorfo, which appeared in certain local dailies citing the Bodos as a migrated community. He said that Deb claimed that the Bodos were not aboriginals of Assam but migrated from Tibet and that the British brought them from Bhutan under a Sinsula Agreement of 1865.
Working President of the BJSM DD Narzary termed the remarks as historically baseless, malicious, defamatory, and deeply humiliating to the Bodo people. He also said that his statement was an attack on the dignity, identity, and recorded history of one of the oldest indigenous communities of Assam. “Historical evidence contradicts Deb’s claims. It is well established by eminent historians that the Bodos are among the earliest settlers and aboriginal inhabitants of Assam, with roots tracing back thousands of years. The Bodo people had kings and sovereign kingdoms,” he said, adding that the earliest recorded ruler of Pragjyotishpur-Mahiranga Danava was recognized by noted historians as a Bodo (Mech/Kirat) king and that many historians have stated that the Bodos have lived in Assam even 5,000 years before the Mahabharata era. He said that Bhagadatta, son of Narakasura, was also recognized by historians as Mech/Kirat/Bodo king, and that his descendants ruled Kamarupa up to the 11th century.
Narzary said that Dr Suniti Kumar Chatterjee described the Bodos as offspring of Lord Vishnu and Mother Earth, symbolizing their ancient and divine origin. Terms such as Asura, Danava, Kirata, Mleccha, and Mech mentioned in the Mahabharata refer to the ancient Bodo groups, he said. “On the Cooch Behar Royal Lineage, Deb claimed to be a descendant of the Darrang Royal Family and the Cooch Behar line. If so, he should be aware that the Darrang Raj Vanshavali, published under the instruction of King Samudra Narayan, clearly records that the royal ancestors belonged to the highest Mech family. The Cooch Behar Royal Family traces its origin to Haoria Mech, son of Dambaru Mech, acknowledged by historians and government records,” Narzary said, adding that Haoria Mech founded the early kingdom at Sikhnajhar and married Hira and Jira, daughters of Hajo Koch, a Mech chief.
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