BSS calls for protecting identity of indigenous people against jehadi elements

From our Correspondent

KOKRAJHAR, February 21:  The Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS) in its recent session held at Bathoupuri, Gorchuk in Guwahati resolved that the time had come to protect the identity of the indigenous people from the aggression of jehadi elements and other fundamentalist groups that were operating in the north-eastern region and called upon all indigenous people of the region to unite.

In a press statement, BSS general secretary Kamla Kanta Mashahary said that the BSS adopted some resolutions during a semir at the 54th annual conference of BSS.  The topic of the semir was ‘Identity crisis of indigenous people and future of Assam’.

Penual Basumatary, former Executive Director, FCI (NE) chaired the semir.  Dr Upen Rabha Hakasam, Department of Assamese, GU, Dr. Basanta Kr. Doley,  former president, Mising Sahitya Sabha and Promod Boro, president of ABSU were present as resource persons. He said through this semir the indigenous leaders had given a clear message to the people of Assam that they had to guard themselves from the aggression of jehadis and fundamentalists like JMB and Al-Qaeeda.

The participants strongly advocated safeguarding every indigenous ethnic group of Assam.  To live peacefully and unitedly, mutual co-existence between all the ethnic groups of Assam was the need of the honour, he said.

The Bodo Sahitya Sabha strongly advocated proper NRC update within the stipulated time frame set by the Supreme Court of India. One of the genuine demands of the BSS was to create a separate Directorate for Bodo medium education and later on this nomenclature was modified as Directorate for Bodo and other Tribal Languages of Assam as desired by the Chief Minister of Assam. Recently the Government of Assam further modified the nomenclature as Directorate of Education for Tribal Languages of Assam, which Mashahary said was quite unfortute and the BSS under no circumstances would accept the latest nomenclature.  The BSS, he said, might resolve to a democratic mass movement if the State Government did not resolve the crisis within March 31.

Mashahary said that 12 years had passed since the signing of BTC Accord but, he said, the State Government had not taken any measure for the uplift of Bodo language and literature. BSS demanded that Bodo language should be implemented as so even by promulgating an ordince by the government.

The Garos, the Hazongs and the Singphous had been given ST status in the plains too and so the Bodo people living in Karbi Anglong should be accorded ST (Hills) status in the similar way as per the clause-8 of BTC Accord, Mashahary said, adding that the delegate meeting of the BSS strongly condemned the role of SSA, Assam for dispatching letters to every Bodo medium school to purchase Assamese books.  The BSS strongly urged SSA, to withdraw the order issued by earlier and to serve a new one allowing purchase of Bodo books along with Assamese books.