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Journalism of Courage
It has been a good season for peace prospects in the Northeast. We use the term 8216;prospects8217; advisedly because, ultimately, talks and accords amount only to intentions and must await their transformation into political practice to be really tested. But every process of change begins with good intentions and it is in that spirit that we welcome the tripartite agreement, signed on Monday, between the Bodo Liberation Tigers, the Centre and the government of Assam, creating an autonomous, self-governing Bodoland Territorial Council.
The Bodos, as a major tribe in the region, have long lived with the feeling that they have been cheated by history. Despite being among the earliest settlers in Assam 8212; it is believed that they once ruled the region between Cooch Behar and the Naga Hills 8212; they have generally been dealt the thick end of the stick, not just in terms of development initiatives but in terms of land lost to settlers from across the national border. The Assam Accord, when it came in 1985, benefitted the Assamese to the exclusion of the indigenous groups. It is this palpable deprivation that fuelled popular anger, which in turn kept alive several groups fighting for causes ranging from Bodo autonomy to Bodo independence. Apart from engineering massacres of those they regarded as 8216;outsiders8217; 8212; the 1994 incident at Bansberia allegedly to liberate 8216;Bodoland8217; from Assam is a case in point 8212; some of these outfits quickly descended to extortion, gun-running and drug-dealing.
