The All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) on Sunday formally withdrew its 16-year old movement for creation of a separate state of Bodoland following signing on February 10 of a pact between the Centre, the Assam government and the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT).
It paved the way for the creation of a Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) under the provisions of the amended Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
The ABSU's decision came at the end of its 35 annual conference in Kokrajhar. The ABSU had launched the agitation for a separate state in 1986.
The conference expressed confidence that the BTC would fulfil the aspirations of the Bodos and the non-tribals. It urged the central and state governments to take all necessary steps for proper implementation of all the clauses of the accord for the protection of the socio-economic rights of all sections of people living in the area covered by the BTC.
Talking to newspersons after the conference, re-elected ABSU president Rabi Ram Narzary said that the outfit would extend all possible help to the BTC for the proper implementation of the accord.
He said that the ABSU would also play a vital role in formation of a new political party for the implementation of the accord. "Our job (in the implementation of the accord) will now be to act as a watchdog," he said.
Member of Parliament Urkhau Gwra Brahma revealed that the central and state governments and the BTC would form a tripartite committee for the implementation of the accord.
Though the ABSU would not be directly involved in this task, it would have a vital role to play in this regard to ensure successful implementation of the accord, he said.
For the first time, a tribal council would govern non-tribals, Brahma said adding the accord had received support from all sections of society and that care would be taken to protect everyone's interests.
