•  The All Bodo Students Union (ABSU), NDFB (Progressive) and People’s Joint Action Committee for Boroland Movement (PJACBM) slammed the BJP-led state and Union governments and observed 26 April as ‘Betrayal Day’ in seven different districts for failing to give a positive gesture towards the solution of Bodoland problem.
• The ABSU president said the state government had been giving responses only to ULFA but has been systematically ignoring the NDFB.

The Bodoland Issue:

• The Bodos are an ethnic and linguistic community centered on the Udalguri and Kokrajhar of Assam. They are largest of the 18 ethnic sub-groups within the Bodo-Kachari group.

Demand for Seperate Bodoland

• The demand for a separate land for Bodos has its roots as back as 1930s when Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma, a leader of the Bodos submitted memorandum to Simon Commission demanding for a separate political set up for the indigenous and tribal people of Assam. This demand was met neither by British India nor by Independent India.
• The second wave of demands came up in 1960s and the third one in 1980s. This time, demand for Bodoland began on 2 March 1987 under the leadership of Upendranath Brahma of the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) and its political organization Bodo Peoples’ Action Committee (BPAC). The objective of the ABSU/BPAC movement was to get Assam divided 50-50 between Bodoland and Assam.
• The movement became violent soon. In 1993, the Assam Government entered into a bipartite Bodo accord with ABSU to form a Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC) to fulfill socio-economic aspirations of the Bodos. This experiment failed due to non-implementation of various provisions of the Accord. It collapsed within a year. The statehood demand was again revived by ABSU in 1996.
• In 2003 under the NDA Government, a second tripartite Bodo Accord was signed between the Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT), a militant outfit, the Central Government and the Assam Government. Via agreement, the Bodos were granted the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), within the State of Assam under Sixth Schedule.