Bodo peace accord proved Congress wrong: Amit Shah in Assam

The Union Home Minister addressed the 57th annual conference of the All Bodo Students’ Union on its concluding day

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the Congress party had mocked him after he signed the third Bodo Peace Accord, but it had sustained to prove the grand old party wrong.

He took a swipe at the Congress while addressing the 57th annual conference of the All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) at Dotma near Kokrajhar, headquarters of the 8,970 sq. km. Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), where tribal council elections are due by December.

The BTR is ruled by the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress is likely to be the only mainstream political party to challenge the alliance in the upcoming elections.

“Congress made fun of me when the BTR peace agreement was signed on January 27, 2020. They said there will be no peace in Bodoland and this agreement will turn out to be a joke,” Mr. Shah said.

“Today, the accord has brought peace and development in a region where discussions once revolved around conflict and bloodshed. About 82% of the accord’s clauses have been implemented and we are committed to fulfilling the remaining clauses in two years to ensure everlasting peace,” he said.

He lauded the ABSU for its big role in the prevailing peace and development in the BTR, which comprises five districts. “There would have been no peace in Bodoland without the union’s involvement,” the Minister said, adding that the government had provided ₹1,500 crore for the development of the BTR administered by the autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).

Rehab of extremists

Mr. Shah said the Centre had spent the bulk of ₹287 crore in the past three years on the rehabilitation of 4,881 extremists who signed the 2020 peace accord along with the ABSU. Altogether nine peace accords had been signed in Assam, and more than 10,000 youth were brought to the mainstream under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.

“Modi-ji freed the entire northeast from terrorism, bandhs, and blockades,” Mr. Shah said.

Lauding Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for employing 400 of such Bodo youth in a commando battalion, he commended BTC chief Pramod Boro for several initiatives to strengthen peace and development in the region. He added that the prevailing peace had resulted in the Centre withdrawing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from the BTR.

Bodofa’s bust

The Home Minister announced that the Centre would name a major road in Delhi after Bodofa (‘Guardian of the Bodos’) Upendranath Brahma, who was born at Dotma. “Bodofa’s bust will be unveiled there in April in the presence of all your leaders and the Assam Chief Minister,” Mr. Shah said.

He reminded the people of the tenure of the late former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, during which the Bodo language was included in the Eighth Schedule. “The ABSU is taking education, empowerment and development forward. It is due to the ABSU’s efforts that examinations are conducted in the Bodo language up to Class 12,” he said.

Earlier, Mr. Sarma said the BJP-led government had been realising Bodofa’s dreams toward a developed BTR. He announced the start of the BTR’s second university at Kokrajhar in April, while forecasting the region would be Assam’s economic hub after Kokrajhar was connected by railway to Bhutan’s Gelephu, where a holistic urban development project is in progress.

Anti-drugs drive

Referring to the seizure of methamphetamine tablets worth ₹88 crore, and the arrest of four members of an international drug cartel in Imphal and Guwahati recently, Mr. Shah said the Modi government’s crackdown on drugs would continue.

“No mercy for drug cartels,” Mr. Shah posted on social media platform X, praising the Narcotics Control Bureau on its success.

Published - March 16, 2025 03:02 pm IST