Bodo accord has brought peace to BTR, says Amit Shah in Kokrajhar, Assam

Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that a year since it was signed, the Bodo accord has been able to bring peace to the troubled Bodo Territorial Region (BTR) in Assam.

“Peace has returned to Bodo areas due to the accord. There used to be killings and abductions here, but I can assure that in a few years, this region will become the most developed part of Assam,” he said, while addressing a rally in Kokrajhar, the BTR headquarters, to mark one year of the signing of the accord.

“Several steps have already been taken to implement clauses of the accord. I have come to reiterate the commitments made last year and assure that the Centre and state governments would fulfil all the promises made in the accord,” he added.

Shah mentioned how the Bodo accord was crucial in ensuring a peaceful election to the Bodo Territorial Council (BTC) held last month. He lambasted the opposition Congress for failing to fulfil promises and implement accords.

The event was attended by chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, senior minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP state president Ranjeet Kumar Dass, BJP in-charge for Assam, Baijayant Jay Panda, and several other dignitaries.

After the event in Kokrajhar, Shah will address an election rally in Nalbari before departing to New Delhi.

The Bodo Accord, the third peace deal with Bodo rebel groups, was signed in New Delhi on January 27 last year by the Centre with all four factions of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) and United Bodo Peoples’ Organisation (UBPO).

It was expected to end decades old violent demand for a separate Bodoland state and bring peace to areas dominated by Bodos, the largest tribe in Assam. Soon after signing of the accord, 1,615 cadres of NDFB laid down arms and in March, the outfit disbanded itself.

The deal renamed Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD), which included four districts, as Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). Redrawing of BTR boundaries, grant of ₹5000 crore, rehabilitation of NDFB rebels and naming Bodo as associate official language of the state were also part of the deal.

Soon after signing of the accord, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a meeting in Kokrajhar in February last year and stated that the deal has put a full-stop to all Bodo demands and ushered lasting peace.

In the past year, the BJP-led ruling coalition in Assam has set up a commission to redraw BTR boundaries as per the accord, named Bodo as associate official language and gave ₹4 lakh each to 1,279 surrendered cadres of NDFB.

Last month, BJP emerged as the second largest party in the BTC polls and become a part of the executive council headed by United Peoples’ Party Liberal (UPPL), its new partner in BTR, after parting ways with Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF), which headed the council for 17 years.