Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts (BTAD) erupted in violent protests on Tuesday by several non-Bodo communities over alleged atrocities by the Bodo militants, which led to injury of two persons in police firing in Kokrajhar district.
The non-Bodo protesters had also set on fire a police vehicle at a place called Kursakata near Gossaigaon forcing the police to resort to firing, where two people were injured. In a similar protest in neighbouring Chirang district, the All Bodoland Minority Students Union (ABMSU), several protesters blocked the railway tracks at Patiladaha in the district protesting against the atrocities of non-Bodo communities by the Bodos. The ABMSU also condemned the recent statement of Joint Secretary (NE) of the Ministry of Home Affairs Sambhu Singh saying that the non-Bodo organisations opposing creation of a separate Bodoland State are not from the BTAD.
“Some non-Bodo community organisations took out a rally in Kursakata area in the district alleging atrocities on the non-Bodos by the Bodos. As the rally went ahead some Bodo youth allegedly came in and asked the protesters to stop the rally, leading to scuffle among them,” said the Kokrajhar Superintendent of Police Sunil Kumar while adding that police came in and took the youth into custody.
“However, the protesters demanded the police to hand over the youth to them. As the police refused to comply with their demands, the protesters resorted to vandalism forcing the police to resort to lathi charge and then firing, leading to the injury of two protesters” he said. later some of the protesters also set on fire a police vehicle. Although the police said that two persons have been injured, locals claimed that one person was killed and two others were injured.
The protest and the subsequent development on Tuesday is primarily a reaction of peoples’ anger in the BTAD areas, where the non-Bodos have been subjected to extortion, intimidation and atrocities by carried out by the Bodo militants. While the Bodo civil society organisations have been carrying out movement demanding a separate State for the Bodos in the four districts of BTAD — Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa dn UDalguri — some militants outfits, who are not in ceasefire pact with the government had stepped up abduction and extortion in the district. The BTAD areas in Assam had witnessed worst ever violence between the dominant Bodos and Bengali speaking Muslim settlers in the areas last year killing over 100 civilians from both the communities.