Former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi Calls Bodo Peace Agreement “Not Satisfactory”

Guwahati, January 29, 2020:

Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi called the third Bodo Peace Agreement signed between the Government of India and leaders of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) “not satisfactory”.

While addressing a press conference, the three-time former CM said that the Bodo Peace Accord was one-sided. Referring to the non-Bodos residing in the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD), he said, “The Koch-Rajbongshi, Adivasi, Nath-Yogi and Bengalis are deprived of the accord and the government should have discussed with the two parties. The deprivation of these people will create trouble amongst themselves.”

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Gogoi went on to say that the new agreement would promote hatred in the Karbi Hills and suggested that the central and state governments should have consulted with the Karbi people before the signing of the Accord.

Earlier, Prabajan Virodhi Manch Convener, Upamanyu Hazarika said that the third Bodo Accord will create more problems than resolving any, thereby stripping the non-Bodos of their rights residing in the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD), now renamed as Bodo Territorial Region (BTR).

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Hazarika has accused Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal-led state government of “widening the rift between indigenous communities and further worsening the status of non-Bodo indigenous communities in BTAD who had earlier become second class citizens under the 2003 Accord.”

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