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Regard for bard, disregard for unifier by Dipankar Roy

They observed a minute’s silence for the 1,180 martyrs of Bodoland movement. That’s routine.

They observed a two-minute silence for Bhupen Hazarika. That’s a huge departure from routine.

The silence would have been that of a graveyard, but for the whirring of the generator set at one corner of the field at Silikabari, 6km south from where the Absu’s five-day cycle rally covering 10 districts culminated this morning. It was no coincidence that there were 1,180 cyclists.

At the meeting that followed, full-throated cries of “Divide Assam 50-50”, “No Bodoland, no rest,” from the estimated gathering of 8,000 rent the air anew.

The contradiction was stark — The outpouring of respect for Bhupenda and, immediately after, an intense wish to distance themselves from the state the bard belonged to, a state that he always wished and prayed would stay together.

“Bodor bhaxare bor mane botah, doi mane paani, sikhla mane hol goxani joni (By the language of the Bodos, bor is the wind, doi is water, sikhla is the goddess),” is how Bhupenda had explained Assam’s famous storm, Bordoisila, to his people.

Today, the storm seems to have gathered force like never before, threatening the very existence of Bhupenda’s Assam.

“We respect the Assamese, their leaders, Sankardev, Madhabdev, but leave alone respecting us they don’t even recognise us,” said Pramod Boro, the president of Absu, which has renewed its movement for a separate state, comprising areas that lie between Sankosh to the west and Sadiya to the east on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra.

Citing an instance, Boro said the Absu had approached Dispur with a request to observe Upendranath Brahma’s birthday (March 31) as “student day” in the state’s schools but it was turned down. “We had even said on that particular day schools need not be closed down, everything would function normally, but our request was not acceded to.”

Upendranath Brahma, known as the father of the Bodoland movement that was launched under his leadership in 1987, is held in great esteem by the community and was conferred the title of Bodofa (father).

So, Boro said, allow the Bodos to be by themselves. “Only we can protect ourselves, our identity, our language and our culture. In the hands of others, we will not survive and we want to survive.”

And then came the warning that not only Assam but the entire Northeast would dread to see carried out.

“Bodoland is the gateway to the Northeast and all would suffer if we are not given a separate state in the next winter session of Parliament,” he said, as he spoke of bandhs and blockades of highways and rail tracks.

“After 2003 (after the accord with the BLT when Absu suspended its statehood movement) we had not resorted to such agitations because of the inconvenience caused to people, but no more. Now we want Bodoland and we will resort to every kind of democratic agitation to secure our right,” he said.

“How much is the cost of fuel in Manipur now?” he asked, not really looking for an answer to the question that was in effect a statement — a threat of creating a Manipur-like situation.

Led from the dais, the crowd chanted, “Ei jui jolise, rajya amar lagibo.”

Egging them on were two Telangana movement activists, including the Telangana Joint Action Committee convener, Gali Binod Kumar, and Jaya Vindhyala, the president of the Andhra Pradesh chapter of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).

“Jai Telangana”, “Jai Bodoland”, the people repeated after them. They emphasised the need for smaller states, saying that the demands for states from across the country be met by the government.

“We will continue to support the demand for a separate state for the Bodos even after we get Telangana,” Kumar said.

The threats and the seemingly new found determination among the Bodos notwithstanding, the fact remains that there are far too many voices from the Bodo areas making the same demand, but separately. Yesterday, not too far away from today’s venue, the NDFB (Progressive) had reiterated the demand for a separate state.

“It does not really matter. We are after all making the same demand. Let the government call one and we’ll all be there together. Today every Bodo wants a separate state. There is absolutely no confusion about the goal,” Absu vice-president Guneswar Goyari said, adding that the two autonomous councils constituted after the 1993 and 2003 accords had failed to deliver and a full state was now the only option to meet the aspirations of the Bodos.