Tension builds up in Bodo region as council hangs

On the other side are the non-Bodo groups. An umbrella body of 18 bodies, Sanmilita Janagosthiya Sangram Samiti, is putting pressure on both not to sign any accord leading to creation of the council.

‘‘Both Dispur and Delhi fail to understand the tension in Bodo-inhabited districts…There is pressure to revive the original demand for a state,’’ says ABSU chief Rabiram Narzary. He has reason to be alarmed.

Though nobody here would admit it, there is an undercurrent of tension in the entire Bodo-inhabited belt, extending from the Assam-West Bengal border in the west to Udalguri in the east.

The ABSU has convened a meeting of all Bodo groups here on September 26 to review the situation and Narzary is hoping that the Centre and the state would do something early. He says that there’s still scope for a negotiated settlement under the Sixth Schedule. ‘‘The ABSU and the Bodo People’s Action Committee have kept every option open, and time has not run out for action as regards creation of the council.’’

While the ABSU and other Bodo groups support the peace process from outside, it was the BLT negotiating with the Centre. But even its spokesman Maino Daimari seems disgusted. ‘‘The Centre has not looked into why a settlement has not come through,’’ he says.

There are others who blame the state saying while the Home Ministry had sent a copy of the draft MoU to it, the latter claims ignorance about it. ‘‘It is for Home to find out what is wrong,’’ Narzary says.

The delay in the process has given a boost to efforts of the underground National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) to undermine the credibility of the BLT and ABSU.