Telangana and its distant cousin in Bodoland
This write-up was posted earlier on NAPM's MOI e-Bulletin (Footprints). Dated August 16, 2013: http://issuu.com/fp_napm/docs/v1i7_final/1
The recent judgement of Telangana has led to a revival of demand for statehood from different parts of India. A famed politician and former CM of Uttar Pradesh opined for carving four states out of the present Uttar Pradesh. Then, there is a mention of Vidharbha as separate state from Maharashtra and there are possibilities of similar demand from other states in India. The affirmation of the creation of Telangana as separate state has spread like wildfire to the eastern part of India, to be precise, to North-eastern states where there have been movements for decades, for statehood demand raised by several communities.
The news of Telangana has spurred numerous agitations for separate statehood- prominent agitations being that of Gorkhaland and Bodoland in West Bengal and Assam respectively. There are four separate agitations for statehood in Assam led by Bodo, Karbis, Koch Rajbongshis and Dimasa people; besides the Kukis of Manipur and Nagas of Nagaland/Manipur. West Bengal and Assam have been shut down for some time now with the protestors clamping down the functioning of the states and there has been heavy deployment of armed personnel to check any untoward incidents through curfew, patrolling and flag marches.
The news of the creation of Telangana is being perceived as betrayal by Bodo and Gorkha leaders and the ongoing agitation is now more aggressive, putting greater pressure in asserting their demands for statehood. According to sources from the government, various outfits including Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) whose prominence is in the Darjeeling hills, and the Bodoland People’s Front and the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU), are planning to come together in a joint platform to strategise their respective demands for statehood.
The All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) reiterated a week ago that creation of Bodoland is legitimate and it is only through this step that the rights and interests of the Bodos will be safeguarded, despite the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to which they objected for failing to uplift them.
"The demand for a separate Bodoland is the aspiration of the Bodo people, based on which our leader Upendranath Brahma had launched the movement in 1987. In the 1990s, the government created the Bodoland Autonomous Council. Then the Bodoland Territorial Council was formed under the Sixth Schedule. All these arrangements failed to fulfill the aspirations of the Bodo people and only a separate state can help realise them. A separate Bodoland is our constitutional right and our struggle will be a relentless one," said ABSU president, Pramod Boro.
Boro criticised the Sixth Schedule by drawing inferences from the similar agitations for statehood of the Karbis and Dimasas, hinting that had the Sixth Schedule safeguarded the tribals effectively, there wouldn’t have been a demand for statehood from them today.
"The Sixth Schedule status to Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao were the oldest ones in the state. But the extent of backwardness and poor governance over the years have compelled the people of these two district to realize that the administrative arrangement under sixth schedule is not an adequate measure to help them develop in all fields," Boro said.
The latest development in the agitation for Bodoland, as reflected by the Chief Minister of Assam, glaringly highlights his cautious efforts at putting the onus on the centre. "Till today I have not discussed it but I am open to it, neither am I opposing it.... If the Government of India decides (to create Bodoland), I have no objection," Gogoi said. "The demands have been going on for a long time... the moment they announced (Telangana), it triggered off. The demand has been going on, it is not that this is a new one. As you know, most of the insurgency groups also have been demanding for a separate state," Gogoi added.
The assurance for creation of Telangana irrespective of its merits or demerits can also be viewed as political opportunism, as the general elections are coming up in the year 2014. According to critics, the UPA has been accused of having opened the Pandora’s box with its decision to create Telangana , in view of the spurt of agitations for separate statehood and another protests opposing them. The creation of a separate state from an existing one is a debatable issue- the rationality of it is reflected in some states for example Uttarakhand. The larger question that needs to be sorted out is how such creation fuels further demands for statehood. It remains a challenge to find middle ground, and an even bigger challenge to know which side to take. The legitimacy of giving in to demands for separate state needs to be drawn from merits (after measuring the demerits) rather than political opportunism.
