Bodoland

Bodoland
Capital and largest city	Kokrajhar 26°24′N 90°16′E / 26.4°N 90.27°E / 26.4; 90.27
Official languages	Bodo
Ethnic groups	46.8% Bodos 5.2% Non-Bodo Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes including Rabhas, and less quantity of Garos 48% Other communities including Bengalis, tea and ex-tea tribes, Assamese, Nepalis and a few Hindi-speaking communities [1]
Government	Autonomous Territorial Council in India
• Chief, BTC	Hagrama Mohilary
• Deputy Chief, BTC	Kampa Borgoyary
Legislature	Bodoland Territorial Council (legislative powers in 40 subjects) and Assam Legislative Assembly
Establishment
• BTC Accord	10 February 2003
Area
• Total	8,821.68 km2 (3,406.07 sq mi)
• Proposed area	25,478 km square
Population
• Census	3,155,359
• Density	374/km2 (968.7/sq mi)
Currency	Indian rupee
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	left
Calling code	+91
Website http://www.bodoland.gov.in

Bodoland, officially the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD), is an autonomous territory consisting of areas located in the extreme north on the north bank of the Brahmaputra river, within the state of Assam and north east region of India, by the foothills of Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh. The region is predominantly inhabited by the indigenous Bodo people. The official map of Bodoland includes four districts of BTAD recognised by the Government of India. It is administered by the Bodoland Territorial Council, which covers over eight thousand square kilometres. The territory came into existence under the BTC Accord in February 2003.^[2]

Etymology

It is said that the original home of Bodos was in the north of China in between the head-waters of the Huang Ho and the Yang-tzse Kiang rivers from which they moved out and dispersed in different directions. One of the groups moved into Tibet and settled there for centuries. Thus Tibet became their home before coming to India. As is known, the original name of Tibet was Ti-bod. It is conjectured by some of the scholars that the Mongoloids who lived in Ti-bod were identified as bod who later changed to Bodo.

Before the impact of Sanskritisation they were known as Kachari by the Hindus in Assam and as Meches in Bengal. The controversial spelling of the word is ‘Bodo’ where the letter ‘d’ is pronounced not as ‘d’ but as hard’ r.’ It was Brian Hodgson who first applied the generic name Bodo to this group of languages but their own name for their race is Boro. This generic name is also applied to the tribes and sub-tribes belonging to the Bodo group. The Bodo intellectual leaders of the national convention who took the decision to accept the generic name’ Bodo’ as the racial name were aware of it as it was already in use. At present it is found that the use of the names Bodo and Boro are going on in parallel. The decision of the 1952 national convention is thus honored.^[3]

History

Historically it was inhibited by the Boros or Bodos or the Kacharis before the intrusion of the Aryans. The British gained control of the region through the Treaty of Yandabo upon winning the First Anglo-Burmese War in 1826. The war was primarily for the control of Northeast India between the British and Burmese empires. It was than known as the Kachari Dwars or Kachari plains or Kachari country by the British during the British Raj. The Bodo people in the Brahmaputra Valley have survived in the midst of Aryan and Shan invaders and settlers, while one of its cousins known as Koch, that ruled the Koch Kingdom have now gradually become a semi-Hindu caste, due to their inter-marriage with the Dravidians and gave birth to a mixed Mongoloid-Dravidian race,^[4] who now talks the Indian Bengali or Assamese. Surviving remnants of the royal family of Koch empire proved aboriginal members of the Koch caste spoke Bodo language.

Demand for a homeland

Along with the other parts of Northeast India, regional aspiration in the region reached a turning point in the 1980s. The isolation of the region, its complex social character and its backwardness compared to other parts of the country have all resulted in the complicated set of demands ranging from demand for autonomy and opposition to 'outsiders' to movements for secession.

The region is also the gateway to the North Eastern Region of India, where one of the main students organization, All Bodo Students Union (ABSU), allied with National Democratic Front of Boroland - Progressive (NDFB-P), National Democratic Front of Boroland - D.R. Nabla faction, People's Joint Action Committee for Boroland Movement (PJACBM) which is an amalgamation of over three dozen Bodo organisations^[5] and it's supporters are demanding from the Government of India that a separate state (within the Indian Union) be created comprising the seven districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Udalguri, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji of Assam which have a significant Bodo population.^[6][7] On the other hand, it is also claimed as a sovereign state (Complete independence) by the separatist insurgent group NDFB.^[8]

The Bodoland movement is similar to the story of Mizoram and the Mizo National Front except that the later was granted full-fledged statehood with special powers and MNF agreeing to give up secessionist struggle, the former has not yet had such a happy ending and the region continues to be extremely sensitive.^[9]

It is currently an autonomous Administrative unit constituted under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India covering an area of 8,795 km² (Provisional).

The administrative unit has been created with a mission to accomplish development in the area of economic, education, preservation of land right, linguistic aspiration, socio-culture and ethnic identity of Bodos and above all to speed up the infrastructure development of communities in the BTC area. The actual functioning of council was started on 7 December 2003 by constituting the 12 members of the Council provisionally. After the Council Election on 13 May 2005 and subsequent bye-election in November 2005, the 40-member Legislative Council has been formed to look after the development works in the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts. The remaining six members are nominated by the Governor of Assam from the unrepresented Communities. Thus there are altogether 46 members of the Council, representing all communities of BTC Area known as Member of Council Legislative Assembly (MCLA).

Politics

Geography

The geographical boundary of BTAD lies between 260 7'12'' N to 260 47' 50'' N Latitude and 890 47' 40'' E to 920 18' 30'' E Longitude and is in the North Western part of Assam. Kokrajhar town the Administrative Head Quarter lies roughly between 260 25' N Longitude and 990 16' 38'' E Latitude.

Its strategic location is blessed with beautiful forests of flora and founa.^[1]

Economy

Agriculture in Kokrajhar district

The economy is largely agricultural based and is lagging behind in urbanization and development. The region is industrially backward with most of its population depending on agriculture for livelihood. Most of the industries like oil, gas and major industries of the state are located in upper Assam.

Tourism

Tourism in the region is regulated by the department of Bodoland Tourism. Manas National Park is the major tourist attraction of the region. It also have many wildlife sanctuaries, reserve forests, site seeings, picnic spots and events.^[10]

Infrastructure

Demographics

Education

Culture

A green coloured Aronai with white Agor (design)

The Bodos have a distinct culture from the rest of the world, ranging from dance and music to festivals and attires. It also contributed significantly to the development of the Assamese culture.

Sports

Football is the most popular sport in the region. The region has many Football clubs of which Baarhoongkha AC, Udalguri FC and Global FC is the most widely known as they participate in Assam State Premier League, the premier football league of the state. Bodoland Martyrs Gold Cup is organised every year in memory of Bodoland martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for the cause of Bodoland movement.^[18] The region has also produced many national level athletes. Other sports followed in the region are Badminton, Basketball, Volleyball, Cricket, Taekwondo, Kabaddi, Chess, Archery, and other indigenous sports.^[19]

See also

• Bodo people
• Bodo culture
• Bodo language
• Bodo Sahitya Sabha
• 2012 Assam violence

References

External links

• Official Website

Coordinates: 26°24′00″N 90°16′12″E / 26.40000°N 90.27000°E / 26.40000; 90.27000