PDMB's 100-hour Bodoland bandh call deferred

From our Correspondent

KOKRAJHAR, September 8: The 100-hour proposed Bodoland area bandh call given by the People’s Democratic Movement of Bodoland (PDMB) has been shorten and deferred to September 15 instead of September 12 on account of Eid-ul-Zoha and martyrs’ day of tiol Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).

Talking to media persons, the president of the PDMB, Jebra Ram Mashahary said in Kokrajhar on Thursday that their organization had reviewed the proposed 100-hour Bodoland bandh from September 12 to demand creation of separate Bodoland state in the north bank of the River Brahmaputra, mainly in response to appeals made by United Muslim Minority Cell (UMMC) of Bodoland region for Eid-ul-Zoha to be held on September 12 and September 13 and martyrs’ day of the NDFB to be held on September 14. He said the bandh has been reduced to 12 hours and would be held on September 15 from 5 am to 5 pm.

Mashahary said the PDMB had submitted a memorandum to the Union Home Minister Rajth Singh after a three-hour sit-in held on July 18 at Dispur Last Gate to expedite the peace talks between the Government of India and the ceasefire group of the NDFB and to find out an amicable solution to peaceful end of the long pending Bodoland issue. He also said in this connection, the PDMB delegation met the interlocutor PC Haldar on September 2 in Guwahati for the third time after its inception and pressed their demand to expedite the ongoing peace talks between the Government of India and ceasefire group of the outfit, while PC Haldar reportedly assured the delegation to take initiative in his best capacity as interlocutor assigned by the Government of India.

The president of the PDMB demanded that the Government of India should resume the suspended tripartite talks between the Bodoland struggle groups, Central and State governments which had not been addressed as yet. He also said an executive meeting of the PDMB was held in Kokrajhar on Thursday and some important resolutions on the Bodoland issue were adopted. They appealed to the organizations and their stake holders to extend support to their 12-hour bandh on September 15 and make it a success.