Offer To Bodo Militants

For long the Union Government chose to deal only with the moderate Bodo leadership even though it was the extremists who called the shots. Unlike the overtures to the ULFA, which often spurned the Centre's peace offer and raised secessionist demands, very little effort was made to bring the Bodo groups to the negotiating table. True, the Centre's efforts led to the February 1993 accord, but it failed to solve the Bodo imbroglio. It was an effort to solve the Bodo tangle on the cheap. While the Bodo militant groups rejected it out of hand and the moderates became disillusioned, the Centre and the Assam Government worked at cross purposes. As the Bodo violence continued unabated, the State Government organised stage-managed surrender of the lower ranking leaders.

 

The Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) has responded positively to the peace initiative and has agreed to abjure violence. The only difficulty is that the BLT , today, is the weakest among the ultras. What is needed at this stage is to extend the offer to two other banned Bodo outfits the Bodo Liberation Tiger Force (BLTF) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). A few months ago the two outfits came under one umbrella. While one group has been demanding a separate Bodoland State within India, the other group has made secessionist demands.

The Government has done well to clarify that the invitation for talks is applicable to other groups as well. Despite the ability of the Bodo ultras to hit where it hurts, the extremists do not enjoy the kind of support among the Bodo people as they once did. Earlier they were seen as fighting for a noble cause, today such a perception has changed thanks to their senseless violence and acts of extortion. The experience of the north-eastern States suggests that signing accords with some groups to the exclusion of others is hardly the best way to bring about peace. What is important is to sustain the momentum created by the Centre's overtures towards Naga militants. The resolution of the Naga and the Bodo problems will have a sobering influence on the ongoing movements for autonomy, statehood or outright secessionism.