82% of Bodo peace accord fulfilled, 100% to be completed in 2 years: Amit Shah
Union home minister Amit Shah said that 100% clauses of the Bodo peace accord would be fulfilled in the next two years and once that happens it will lead to lasting peace in the region
GUWAHATI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that nearly 82% of the Bodo peace deal signed five years ago have already been fulfilled and the rest would be completed in the next two years.
Shah, who is on a three-day visit to Assam and Mizoram, was addressing the 57th annual conference of All Bodo Students Union (ABSU), the premier student organisation of the 3.5 million Bodo tribe of Assam, being held at Dotoma.
“When we had signed in Bodo peace accord on January 27, 2020, leaders from Congress laughed at me saying that peace isn’t possible in Bodoland. But now, 82% of the accord’s clauses have been fulfilled.” Shah said in his address.
“I would like to assure that 100% clauses of the accord would be fulfilled in the next two years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Once that happens it will lead to lasting peace in the region,” he added.
The Bodo peace accord was signed with four factions of the terror outfit National Democratic Front of Bodoland, ABSU and United Bodo Peoples’ Organisation (UBPO). The groups who had been seeking a separate Bodoland state for decades, gave up that demand and joined the mainstream by shunning violence as per the deal.
As per the accord, which is the third one after the previous deals signed in 1993 and 2003, the Centre and Assam government would take steps to rehabilitate the cadres of all four factions through measures like payment of ex-gratia, funding of economic activities through existing schemes, provide vocational training and recruit them in government jobs as per eligibility.
In the past three decades, nearly 4,000 people—civilians, Bodo militants and security personnel—had died due to the Bodo insurgency.
“At one time (in the past), there used to be violence and demands for separation (in Bodoland). But now, education, development and industrialisation are being talked about. The governments at Centre and Assam have given ₹1,500 crore for development of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR),” said Shah.
He said that in the past three years ₹227 crores have been released to ensure rehabilitation of 4,881 NDFB cadres who gave up arms and returned to the mainstream following the peace accord.
“Since the government under (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi was formed, nine peace deals have been signed with terror outfits in Assam, and this has resulted in 10,000 youths giving up arms and returning to the mainstream,” said Shah.
He said that the Centre has decided to name a major road in Delhi after social activist and former ABSU president Upendra Nath Brahma, who is fondly called Bodofa (father of Bodos). Shah said that the road would be renamed at an event in the first week of April and a bust of the late leader and a plaque would be placed there.
