Introduction[edit]

Bodoland is the gateway to the beautiful North Eastern Region of India, where local
politicians have demanded very recently that a separate State (within the Indian Union)
be created by carving out some area of eight districts of the current State of Assam,
namely Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup, Darang and Sonitpur
districts. It is an autonomous Administrative unit constituted under the Sixth Schedule of
the Constitution of India covering an area of 8,795 km 2(Provisional). The administrative
unit has been created with a mission to accomplish development in the area of
economic, education, preservation of land right, linguistic aspiration, Socio-culture and
ethnic identity of Bodos and above all to speed up the infrastructure development of
communities in the BTC area. The actual functioning of council was started on 7
December 2003 by constituting the 12 members of the Council provisionally. After the
Council Election on 13 May/05 and subsequent bye election in November/2005 all the
40 Members of Legislative Council has been formed to look after the development
works in the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts. The remaining 6 (Six) Members are
nominated by the Governor of Assam from the unrepresented Communities. Thus
altogether 46 M.C.L. As represented in the Council from all communities of BTC Area
for area development. As per Memorandum of Settlement in the tripartite talks in the
year 2003, 40 (forty) subjects have been entrusted to the BTC Authority for all round
development of the people in this area. Subjects namely (i) Tribal Research Institute, (ii)
Lotteries and Theatres etc., (iii) Intoxicating liquors etc., (iv) Registration of Birth and
Death yet to be taken up by the council. The entire area covered under the BTC has
been recognized with Kokrjhar as original district and forming other new district thus

totaling 4(four) districts in BTC Area. The area under those four district has been
estimated as follows:
Sl No

Area in km2.

Name of the District

Kokrajhar

3169.2

Chirang

1069.96

Baksa

3056.89

Udalguri

1673.93

[2]

Demand for a homeland, called Bodoland

The early history of Bodos is largely unknown. For centuries majority Bodos remained
as farmers, weavers, and peace loving society. Like many cultures in the world today,
Bodos are also ethnocentric or nationalist society. Cultural
assimilation with Assamese was not productive. In brief, before the British Raj,
Dimasa Kachari Kingdom may have included a vast area extending far and
beyond Assam, a small state in the North-East India. History suggest that Dimapur was
the capital of Kachari kingdom (Dimasa Kachari kingdom), The Dimasas are part of
Tibeto-Burman Bodo race. The British-India colonial rulers effectively adapted divide
and rulepolicy for over 300 years. It is likely that Kachari were lagging behind their
fellow Indians in terms of education and employability. Since the time of British
Raj, Assamis known to produce oil and natural gas, and Assam tea. Before
independence (1947), North-East India was a remote place.
Compared to other parts of India, such as West Bengal and Maharastra, opportunity for
general and mass education came to North East India only after Indian independence
(1947). Following Indian independence, the Bodos were given the opportunity to take
advantage of scheduled tribe (ST) status. This process lead to the creation of tribal belts
and blocks, protected lands meant for farming and grazing, specifically for the Bodo
people. However, the list of ST in Assam continues to grow. There are a sizable number
of Assamese who are claiming ST or SC status.
Plains Tribals Council of Assam[edit]
In the early 1960s the Plains Tribals Council of Assam (PTCA), a political party
representing Bodos and other plains tribals of Assam realized that tribal belts and

blocks were gradually being acquired by rich landlords or new immigrants through illegal
means. Moreover, Bodos had little or no access to economic aid that were given by the
central government. Without economic package to the Bodo dominated areas,
education was a distant cry. In those days, there were hardly any roads and other
infrastructures that connected Bodo dominated area to the main cities of Assam. These
were the reasons for which, in 1967, PTCA demanded a Union Territory
called Udayachal, to be carved out of Assam. The proposed Udayachal map included
mainly those areas that was known as tribal belts and blocks. The creation of tribal belts
and blocks (for scheduled-tribes) was a mechanism to protect farming and grazing
lands mainly from rich landlord and illegal immigrants. The demand for Udayachal never
materialized. Due to persistent apathy of successive governments towards Bodo
community, by the end of 1970s it became clear that Bodos had a little or no influence in
the Indian political process. Specifically, in Assam Bodos areas were very much
neglected. Often the financial packages meant for tribal-development were diverted and
misused. For similar reasons, Khasis and Garos, carved out Meghalaya from Assam. In
the late 1980s, All Bodo Students' Union's (ABSU) became very concerned about
decades of neglect and apathy by the subsequent state government towards the Bodo
community. ABSU and Bodo political parties jointly demanded a separate state, called
Bodoland. However their ultimate goal is to become an indistinguishable part of India.
They equally want to contribute in the development of their nation.
All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU)[edit]
The official Bodoland Movement[3] for an independent state of Bodoland started on
March 2, 1987 under the leadership of Upendranath Brahma of the All Bodo Students'
Union (ABSU).After Upendra Brahma,an Assam revolution member himself when
denied ticket to play loksabha elction, returned home to create a separatist group with
the intension to move Bodos away from Assam. The ABSU created a political
organization, the Bodo Peoples' Action Committee (BPAC), to spearhead the
movement. The ABSU/BPAC movement began with the slogan "Divide Assam 50-50".
The ABSU/BPAC leadership of the movement ended with the bipartite Bodo Accord [4] of
February 20, 1993 and the creation of the BAC. The accord soon collapsed amidst a
vertical split in ABSU and other Bodo political parties brought about mainly by the split
between S. K. Bwiswmuthiary and Premsingh Brahma, and violence erupted in Bodo
areas leading to a displacement of over 70,000 people.
Bodo students plights[edit]
Despite the Bodo accord, neglect remains from the Indian Government, with no
economic improvement is evident in Bodo dominated areas. Lately, there have been
signs of efforts to improve these situations by the Assam Government. However, there
are thousands of people still languishing in refugee camps in very poor conditions,
which includes both Bodos and non-Bodos. Although, dozen of lane roads have been
repaired in last few years, while hundreds of bridges and other infrastructures remain in
somewhat neglected condition. The national highway is in the process of expansion.
Whether the creation of BTC(BTAD) addresses the issues of Bodo self-determination
remains an open question.[5]

Demographics[edit]