Shah says Congress mocked Bodo peace accord, but it brought lasting change
Guwahati: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the Congress had mocked him over the signing of the third Bodo accord, but it ultimately brought peace and development to Bodoland.
“I remember the Congress made fun of me when the BTR (Bodoland Territorial Region) peace agreement was signed on 27 January 2020. They said there would be no peace in Bodoland and this agreement would be a joke,” Shah said while addressing the 57th annual conference of the All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) at Dotma in Kokrajhar district.
He disclosed that 82 per cent of the accord’s clauses had already been implemented by the government and assured that the remaining provisions would be completed within two years. “There will be ever-lasting peace in Bodoland,” he said.
Shah acknowledged ABSU’s contribution to stability in the region. “ABSU had a big role in the prevailing peace and development in Bodoland. Without its role, there would not have been the Bodo accord and peace in Bodoland,” he said.
He stated that the government had allocated Rs 1,500 crore for the development of the BTR, which consists of five districts and is governed by the autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council.
“We brought thousands of youngsters into the mainstream. In the last three years, Rs 287 crore was spent on the rehabilitation of 4,881 cadres of the NDFB (erstwhile insurgent group National Democratic Front of Bodoland, with whom the third Bodo peace accord was signed). Ninety per cent of the funds came from the Centre,” he said.
He praised Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for employing 400 Bodo youths in a commando battalion. According to Shah, a total of nine peace accords have been signed in Assam, bringing over 10,000 youths into the mainstream under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Modi Ji freed the entire Northeast from terrorism, agitation, bandhs, blockades, and violence,” he said.
Shah also announced that the Centre would name a major road in Delhi after Bodofa Upendranath Brahma. “A bust of the Bodofa (Father of the Bodos) will be unveiled there in the first week of April in the presence of all your leaders and the Assam CM,” he added.
He highlighted that the Bodo language was included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure as Prime Minister.
“ABSU is taking education, empowerment, and development forward. It is due to ABSU’s efforts that examinations are conducted in the Bodo language up to Class 12,” the home minister said.
Shah noted that due to the prevailing peace, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act had been withdrawn from the entire BTR, and the region was even able to host the Durand Cup.
“The hotels in Delhi have included ‘Mushroom from Bodoland’ in their cuisines. An industrial environment is slowly developing across Bodoland. There was a time when Bodoland was volatile, but now there is peace and development,” he added.