Assam attack - Time the government woke up

The Assam attack, which claimed over 50 lives, has left the nation in shock and it has been one of the most brutal attacks of recent times in which women and children were targeted mercilessly.

While the attack has been attributed by the Intelligence Agencies and the Assam police to a retaliatory strike, there are various other issues that need to be considered and addressed while dealing with this issue.

Failures by the government:

It appears that while dealing with the issue, none of the governments have taken a serious note to the problem.

It appears to be a complicated mess at the moment. There have been peace agreements that have been entered into since 1987 the year the Bodoloand movement started, but it has clearly not resolved the issue.

Two peace accords were signed, but it never took shape and this has led to the continued problem and the result of which was seen in this brutal attack of yesterday.

The First peace accord:

The first peace accord was signed between the government of Assam and the Bodos. On 20th February 1993 it was decided that the government of Assam would demarcate boundaries and identify villages with a population of over 50 percent Bodo population.

It was decided that these villages with a 50 per cent of more population of Bodos would be included in the Autonomous council and the ethnic cleansing process would commence. However the government never carried out this process completely.

The Second accord:

The Second peace accord was signed between the Government of India and the Bodo Liberation Tigers on the 10th of February 2003.

This accord was relatively successful and even led to the formation of the Bodoland Territorial Council which spread over the districts of Kokrajhar, Baksa, Udalguri and Chirang.

However, it was found that in these areas which formed part of the Bodoland Territorial Council there was a population of nearly 60 per cent who opposed the creation of the Bodoland and the failure to identify this kept the problem going.

The cease fire of 2005:

In the year 2005 there was a cease fire that was announced by the NDFB. There was however a problem since the Bodo groups had broken into two.

While the NDFB signed the cease fire accord, the founder of the movement Ranjan Daimary did not agree to the same.

In fact Daimary was arrested in 2010 and told by the government to come on board. It was found that he was carrying out terrorist activities with support from Bangladesh based groups.

With the split in the movement, the government is doing the balancing act of entering into talks with two factions. This has clearly not helped the cause as each faction is trying to outdo the other.

The NDFB(S):

In the midst of all these issues, there was a further split in the movement with the formation of the NDFB.

The faction that carried out yesterday's attack was the NDFB (Songbijit). This faction is fighting for recognition and was waiting for the government to invite it.

In the absence of any agreement between the NDFB (S) and the government this faction has intensified its strikes.

However, the government is already dealing with the various other factions and has found it extremely difficult to satisfy all.

Will government consider separate Bodo land:

The big question is whether the government will consider a separate Bodo Land. The demand by the main groups fighting these groups is for a separate Bodo Land.

However, the problem once again is with the various factions. The biggest challenge would be to get all these groups on board and chalk out a solution.

The UPA government failed miserably on this issue and even setting up a committee to sort out the crisis failed.

In fact the UPA angered these persons further when they declared Telangana as a separate state which only intensified the demand for a separate Bodo Land. This now leaves the new government with a herculean task on hand.