GUWAHATI, April 2 - The demand for division of Assam on 50:50 basis by the All Bodo Students� Union (ABSU) and other militant outfits of the Bodo community has been described as constitutionally unacceptable and politically dangerous by the Octogenarians� Club of Guwahati.
A meeting held under the presidentship of Prof Mahesh Bhuyan made it clear that with just 4.1 per cent population speaking the Bodo language, the demand for 50 per cent area of the State was absurd, and most provocative.
Explaining the genesis of the problem and the violent movement launched by the Bodo organisations causing immense loss of human lives and public property, DN Chakravartty, general secretary of the organisation, said that 13 lakh Bodo people could legitimately claim about one thousand square km only and not 39,000 km as claimed by the ABSU and others.
Referring to the prevailing socio-economic problems of Assam, Chakravartty said that while the anarchists and Communist bodies had for long been misguiding the people with their wrong information and harmful philosophy, there were brilliant intellectuals with high degrees from prestigious universities wasting their brilliance in petty matters not worthy of being dealt by even ordinary sloganeers.
Chakravartty also mentioned about the necessity of allowing reservations for Assamese Muslims reserving five Assembly seats and one seat in the Parliament besides offering them other economic and educational facilities.
Former Union minister Renuka Devi Barkataky, Surendra Kumar Baruah and Ajit Barkakati, while participating in the discussion, explained the economic and social misery brought to Assam by the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) with its futile movement to carve out an independent Assam.
Earlier, the association mourned the deaths of Arun Sarma, Bhadra Bora, Dr Renu Devi, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Dr Sankha Baruah and Kamakhya Sabhapandit.
