GUWAHATI: People’s Joint Action Committee for Bodoland Movement (PJACBM) along with All Bodo Students Union staged a rally in Kokrajhar on Monday demanding immediate “creation of a separate state of Bodoland” even as it voiced opposition to the proposed Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Amendment Bill, 2019.
About 40,000 people took part in the “Rally for protection and justice” also demanding political rights to Bodos living in outside proposed Bodoland in Assam and grant of ST (Hills) status to Bodos in Karbi Anglong.
“We have been pushing for the creation of Boroland for long and now we want the Centre to fulfill our demand at the earliest,” Erakdao Brahma, convener of PJACBM, told The Shillong Times on Monday.
The committee said that the Centre’s proposed Bill to grant ST status to six indigenous communities would threaten the very existence and rights of the Bodo community.
“We oppose the proposed Bill. We are also not convinced by the assurances of Group of Ministers to protect the rights and interests of the existing tribal communities while looking at how the process of granting ST status to the six indigenous communities could be facilitated,” Brahma said.
He further warned that the committee would continue to stage a democratic agitation till its demands are fulfilled. “As of now, we are yet to chart our future course of agitation but what we can assure is that a sustained democratic movement would be carried out till our demands are met,” he added.
