NEW DELHI, Nov 26 - Kokrajhar MP Naba Sarania on Tuesday demanded that the proposed inclusion of new villages in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) should be aborted and the non-Bodo villages should be excluded from the Bodoland areas.
Moving a motion under Rule 377 in Lok Sabha, Sarania said that the Government of India is holding negotiations with the NDFB and there is a proposal to include 500 villages from Sonitpur to Dhubri within the BTC.
�At the time of signing of the memorandum of settlement (MoS) leading to formation of BTC, promises were made to safeguard the rights of the non-Bodos. But till today they don�t enjoy political rights, rights over their land and property,� he said.
�The non-Bodos do not even enjoy rights to speak their own language. Even today, within the Bodoland areas colleges do not have access to Assamese language books. In the BTC areas 71 per cent of the population speaks Assamese,� he claimed.
�The non-Bodos also do not have right to jobs and they are deprived of government jobs. Development funds do not reach them. At a time when people are fighting for exclusion from the BTC areas, the government is considering a proposal to include additional 500 more villages,� he said.
