Bodo agreement: Amit Shah signs accord with dreaded Bodo militant group NDFB

Guwahati, Jan 27: Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday signed an accord with banned Assam-based rebel group National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) to fulfil its key political and economic demands, including safeguarding the Bodo language and culture.

The tripartite agreement was signed in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in New Delhi on Monday.

The tripartite agreement to be signed by the top leadership of the four factions of the NDFB, All Bodo Student Union (ABSU), Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry Satyendra Garg and Assam Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna.

The NDFB factions, which signed the pact, are led by Ranjan Daimari, Govinda Basumatary, Dhiren Boro and B Saoraigra. Saoraigra took over the NDFB faction in 2015 after removing chief IK Songbijit, who had allegedly ordered the killing of nearly 70 tribals in December 2014.

Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that the Centre has assured the state government that the areas under the BTAD will not be declared a Union Territory and no new areas will be added to it and that the state's territorial integrity will be maintained.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also left for New Delhi on Sunday evening to participate in the talks.

It will be the third Bodo accord to be signed in the last 27 years since the violent movement for a separate Bodoland state began. It has claimed thousands of lives and caused the destruction of public and private properties.