Bodoland

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bodoland Territorial Area Districts in Assam

Bodoland ( Bodo : बड़ोलेण्ड), sometimes also Bodaland or Boroland , is the unofficial name of an area in northeast India in the state of Assam on the border with Bhutan , or with the neighboring Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and West Bengal , which is mainly ethnic the Bodo is inhabited. Since the 1980s there has been a flare-up of ethnically motivated violent unrest there. Since 2003, four districts of Assam have enjoyed regional autonomy under the name Bodoland Territorial Area Districts . There are demands to transform the region into an independent state in India. Radical militant groups are fighting for complete independence from India.

history

The history of Bodoland is closely linked to the history of Assam. Between 1228 and 1826, most of Assam was under the rule of the Ahom dynasty . Due to the relatively remote geographical location, an extraordinary ethnic heterogeneity developed in what is now northeastern India . The region was at the interface between Indo-European and Tibetan-Burmese culture, between Hinduism and Islam on the one hand and Buddhism on the other. In the valley regions of the Brahmaputra , where the great majority of the population lived, the Assamese language , which belongs to the Indo-European language family , and Hinduism dominated. In the remote mountain regions and relatively isolated valleys in the foothills of the Himalayas , a large number of different Tibetan-Burmese ethnic groups, most of which adhered to local religions or Buddhism , were able to assert themselves or develop . During the British colonial period, some of these ethnic groups (e.g. the Naga ) were largely Christianized by European missionaries . The Bodos also adopted a small part of the Christian faith.

Western Assam came under the rule of the British East India Company in the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826 after the First Anglo-Burmese War . In the years that followed, the British colonial rulers expanded their domain until it reached today's borders. Assam became a province of British India . During the British colonial period, many Bengali came to the country as employees of the British administration, as well as many Adivasi as workers on the newly established tea plantations .

Northeast India in 1951
Northeast India in 1970
Northeast India since 1972

After India gained independence in 1947, Assam was integrated into the Indian Union as a federal state. In the following decades the non-Assamese-speaking parts of the population began to strive for regional autonomy. In 1963 Nagaland was therefore separated from Assam and raised to a state of its own. In 1972 the area of ​​the so-called North-East Frontier Agency , as well as Meghalaya and Mizoram , which was disputed between India and China , were also separated and converted to the union territories or states of Arunachal Pradesh , Meghalaya and Mizoram. As a result, the state of Assam shrank by two thirds from an initial 227,281 km² (1951) to 78.543 km² (2014).

Bodo movement

There were also movements of autonomy in the settlement areas of the Bodo. In 1967 the Plains Tribals Council of Assam (PTCA, "Assamese Council of the Tribal Peoples in the Foreland") was founded as a political party, which called for the establishment of a Udayachal union territory for the Bodo and other tribal peoples. The All Bodo Students Union , founded in 1967, became a driving force in the movement for the creation of a separate state of Bodoland , which was to encompass the settlement areas of the Bodo north of Brahmaputra . In 1984 the more radical United Tribal Nationalists' Liberation Front, Assam (UTNLF) split off from the PTCA .

In parallel to the Bodos' aspirations for autonomy, a much larger ethnically motivated movement has been taking place since the 1970s. Since the 1970s, led by student associations (the All Assam Students Union (AASU) ), there had been a partly militant movement by Assamese against the millions of (Muslim-majority) Bengali immigrants to Assam. The climax of this so-called " Assam Movement " was in the years 1979 to 1985. The unrest claimed thousands of lives. The majority of Bodo activists supported the positions of the AASU and the Assam movement. In 1985, which was Assam Agreement ( Assam accord ) between the leaders of Assam Movement, the Government of Assam and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi signed. After the subsequent elections to the parliament of Assam, a government was formed under the leadership of the newly founded Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). However, the leaders of the Bodo movement were disappointed that this government was unwilling to comply with their demands. From 1987 the Bodo movement radicalized. There were road and railroad blockades, arson and bombing attacks that left numerous deaths and the economy of Assam suffered. After long negotiations, the Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC) Accord between the government of Assam and the Bodo activists was concluded on February 20, 1993 . After this agreement, Bodoland remained part of Assam, but received limited self-government. The rest phase that followed was short-lived, among other things because no agreement was reached on the borders of Bodoland. Extremist groups such as the predominantly Hindu-borne Bodoland Liberation Tigers (BLT) and the predominantly Christian National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) carried out ethnic cleansing, primarily against allegedly illegally immigrated Muslim Bengali in the settlement areas of the Bodos.

Creation of the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts in 2003

Election results (won seats) for the Bodoland Territorial Area Council
Political party 2010 2015
AIUDF 0 4th
BPF 31 20th
AGP 0 0
CPI (M) 0 0
BJP 0 1
INC 3 0
AITC 0 -
Independent 6th 15th
total 40 40

In 2001 there was a ceasefire between the Bodoland Liberation Tigers and the Indian police force. After lengthy negotiations, the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) Accord ("Agreement on the Bodoland Territorial Council") was signed on February 10, 2003 between the government of Assam, representatives of the Indian government and representatives of the Bodoland Liberation Tigers . In this agreement the boundaries of the future autonomous Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) (district areas of Bodoland) were precisely defined. For this purpose, the district boundaries of Assam were redrawn in these areas, so that the Bodoland Territorial Area coincides with the district boundaries. The BTAD are the following: Kokrajhar , Chirang , Baksa , Udalguri . The entire area covers 8,795 km². According to the 2001 census, 292,000 people lived there, of which 52% were assigned to the scheduled tribes (about 90% of them Bodo).

The competencies of the elected self-governing council (Bodoland Territorial Council) have been significantly expanded. The Bodoland Liberation Tigers then laid down their arms and transformed into a political party, the Bodoland People's Front . The other major rebel organization, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), was not involved in the negotiation of the agreement and on May 25, 2005 also concluded a ceasefire agreement with the Indian security forces. However, it was divided into three factions, NDFB (P) under Dhiren Boro, NDFB (R) under Ranjan Daimary and NDFB (S) under Ingti Kathar Songbijit, due to the different assessments of the peace agreement. The first two factions essentially joined the agreement and gave up the demand for a Bodoland independent from India, while the Songbijit faction NDFB (S) continued the armed struggle.

The goal of creating a state of Bodoland of its own did not disappear from the political agenda of the non-militant Bodo factions after the 2003 agreement. When the Indian government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced its support for the formation of a new state of Telangana from parts of Andhra Pradesh in August 2013 , agitation for a state of Bodoland revived. There were strikes, railroad and road blockades and several government buildings in Bodoland went up in flames. In February 2014, a commission was formed under GK Pillai, an official in the Indian Ministry of the Interior, to explore the possibilities of establishing a state of Bodoland. Under the Modi government , which was newly elected in May 2014 , this committee, which was formed in the last days of office of the previous government, has not yet been activated. The concession of quasi “ethnically homogeneous” states in the multi-ethnic state of India is also viewed critically in principle.

Acts of terrorism and ethnic cleansing

According to the Assam government, the clashes in Bodoland claimed a total of 731 lives between 1993 and 2012, 558 of them between 1993 and 2003 and 173 between 2003 and 2012. According to other lists, the number of victims is significantly higher. The South Asia Terrorism Portal counts 1,804 deaths between 1992 and 2001, including 1,262 civilians. After a certain relaxation between 2003 and 2012, violence has increased significantly again since 2012. The NDFB (S) fraction under IK Songbijit is largely responsible for this. The number of NDFB (S) fighters is estimated at around 270 (as of 2014). The terrorist actions of the Bodo activists are primarily directed against immigrant Muslims, but also against Adivasi. Women and children are not spared either. The aim of these actions is to spread fear and horror among these population groups and to induce them to flee Bodoland. As a rule, the acts of violence also lead to refugee movements of tens of thousands of people, who, however, return to their places of residence after a certain period of time. Indian administration and government employees have also been hit by attacks. The share of terrorist groups in these acts of violence cannot always be precisely determined, as there is also unorganized “spontaneous” violence between the population groups. In addition, several other militant rebel groups are active in Assam, some of which have overlapping goals.

In July to September 2012, around 80 people were killed in confrontations between Muslims and Bodos, especially in the Kokrajhar district.

In May 2014, at least 45 people were killed by NDFB (S) activists in Baksa and Barpeta districts in connection with the general election .

In October 2014, several non-Bodo organizations called on the Assam government to act. The state of lawlessness in Bodoland has reached a level that requires government intervention. The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), a party elected primarily by Muslims in Assam, has called for the confiscation of weapons from former Bodo rebels.

On December 23, 2014, NDFB (S) activists killed approximately 80 Adivasis villagers in Kokrajhar and Sonitpur districts. The Indian army leadership then announced tightened action against the NDFB (S) militiamen. On January 12, 2015, the Assam police succeeded in arresting 12 NDFB (S) fighters and in securing an extensive arsenal in Chirang district.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sudhir Jacob George: The Bodo Movement in Assam: Unrest to Accord. Asian Survey, Vol. 34, No. 10 (Oct. 1994), pp. 878-892 JSTOR 2644967
  2. ^ Nazimuddin Siddiqui: h Bodoland Territorial Area District Elections 2015: A Discussion. Economic & Political Weekly, Vol. 50, Issue No. 31, August 1, 2015 full text , PDF
  3. ^ Memorandum of Settlement on Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). South Asia Terrorism Portal, accessed January 13, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Bodo land at a glance. (No longer available online.) Bodoland Territorial Coucil, archived from the original on August 10, 2015 ; accessed on January 13, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / bodoland.in
  5. ↑ Bangladesh hands over NDFB chief Ranjan Daimary to BSF. The Time sf India, May 1, 2010, accessed January 16, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Dhruba Jyoti Deka: If India dares, let the people of Boroland to decide their destiny - NDFB Military Chief IK Songbijit. Times of Assam, August 10, 2013, accessed January 15, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Sushanta Talukdar: Bodos to intensify statehood movement. The Hindu, March 3, 2012, accessed December 29, 2014 .
  8. ↑ TELANGANA AFTERMATH: Why Assam burns again. indiatogether.org, August 30, 2013, accessed January 15, 2015 .
  9. ↑ Will try to formulate a win-win formula for Bodoland: GK Pillai. rediff.com, March 27, 2014, accessed January 15, 2015 .
  10. ^ Bharti Jain: After Telangana, Center moves to carve out Bodoland state from Assam. The Times of India, February 27, 2014, accessed January 6, 2014 .
  11. ↑ Aman Sharma: Assam terror attacks: No action on Bodoland panel. The Economic Times, December 26, 2014, accessed January 15, 2015 .
  12. ↑ Namrata Goswami: Violence in Bodo Areas: The Risks of Conceding 'Exclusive' Ethnic Homelands. Institute for Defense Studies and Analyzes (IDSA), September 12, 2012, accessed January 7, 2015 .
  13. ↑ Assam: Clashes in BTC areas claimed 731 lives since 1993. rediff.com, December 11, 2012, accessed January 13, 2015 .
  14. ^ Casualties in Violence by the National Democratic Front of Bodoland in Assam. Retrieved January 16, 2015 .
  15. ↑ Karbi by birth, Songbijit is most dreaded Bodo militant, carries Rs 10 lakh on his head. The Indian Express, December 26, 2014, accessed January 15, 2015 .
  16. ^ Eight active rebel groups in Assam. The Times of India, December 16, 2014, accessed January 16, 2015 .
  17. ↑ Assam violence due to Bodo-Muslim feud: Minorities body. The Indian Express, August 17, 2012, accessed January 16, 2015 .
  18. ↑ Assam violence: Death toll rises to 45 in Bodoland Territorial Area Districts. May 11, 2014, accessed January 15, 2015 .
  19. ↑ Call for govt action in Bodoland Territorial Areas District to improve law and order. The Times of India, October 27, 2014, accessed January 13, 2015 .
  20. ↑ Center must seize arms from BTAD rebels: AIUDF. The Times of India, December 26, 2014, accessed January 13, 2015 .
  21. ^ Massacre in India's "Bodoland". Deutsche Welle, December 24, 2014, accessed January 16, 2015 .
  22. ↑ 'Don't blame Bodos for NDFB-S killings'. The Times of India, January 6, 2015, accessed January 15, 2014 .
  23. ↑ Assam violence: Army chief vows to intensify operations against militants. The Times of India, December 26, 2014, accessed January 15, 2015 .
  24. ↑ 12 NDFB (S) members nabbed in joint operation in Assam's Chirang district. The Times of India, January 12, 2015, accessed January 13, 2015 .