“Bodos do not belong to Rabha Hasong”: Community groups warn Assam Government ahead of elections

A joint platform of Bodo community organisations has demanded that more than 300 Bodo-inhabited villages currently falling under the jurisdiction of the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council be removed and placed under the Bodo Kachari Welfare Autonomous Council, accusing the Assam government of neglecting the issue despite repeated appeals.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday at the office of the South Kamrup District Bodo Students’ Union, the Bodo Coordination Protection Committee asserted that the Bodo community “does not belong” within the administrative framework of the Rabha Hasong council. The committee alleged that the state government had misled the community and failed to address long-standing concerns regarding the administrative status of Bodo villages in the area.

The committee is a joint platform comprising 19 Bodo community organisations from South Kamrup and Goalpara districts. Among those present at the press conference were the committee’s spokesperson Dhiraj Hajowary, executive president Tulsidhar Bodo, advisor Prafulla Kumar Bodo, along with the presidents of the South Kamrup and Goalpara District Bodo Students’ Unions and several leaders and members of the participating organisations.

During the briefing, the committee stated that 312 Bodo villages currently located within the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council area should be excluded from the council and brought under the Bodo Kachari Welfare Autonomous Council, after which elections should be conducted accordingly. The leaders said that memoranda and appeals have been submitted to the government multiple times but no concrete action has been taken so far.

The committee further alleged that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had not given due attention to the issue despite its repeated representation by community groups. Condemning what they described as the government’s “deceptive and indifferent” stance, the organisations urged the state government to take immediate steps to address the matter.

Warning of political repercussions, the committee said that if the concerns of the Bodo community remain unresolved, the community would respond appropriately in the upcoming elections.

The Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council, established to administer areas inhabited largely by the Rabha community, currently covers 779 villages across Kamrup and Goalpara districts, making the demand for administrative reorganisation a significant political issue in the region.