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Non-Bodo body to fight from Kokrajhar, Mangaldai

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, March 8 � The nascent Sanmilita Janagosthiya Aikya Mancha, a conglomerate of 21 organisations of the non-Bodo people living in the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD) areas, has decided to field candidates for the Kokrajhar and Mangaldai Lok Sabha constituencies.

According to Aikya Mancha convenor Brajen Mahanta, a steering committee has been formed to select its candidates for the two constituencies. The names of the candidates for the two constituencies are expected to be declared shortly, after the steering committee finalises them in consultation with the non-Bodo ethnic groups of the BTAD areas, Mahanta said.

The Aikya Mancha, which has been formed to strengthen the agitation of the non-Bodo ethnic groups living in the BTAD areas against the Centre�s bid to further divide Assam, will resist any move to strengthen the agitation launched in support of a separate Bodoland, he said.

The Aikya Mancha resorted to a rail blockade agitation on March 3 to oppose the proposed March 4 visit of former Union Home Secretary Gopal Krishna Pillai to the State on the separate Bodoland issue. In the face of the agitation of the Aikya Mancha the visit was finally aborted, Mahanta claimed.

Explaining the reason behind this step of the Mancha, Mahanta said that the Pillai Committee was formed to boost the morale of the Bodo organisations by legitimizing their demand for a separate state. But the fact remains that in the proposed Bodoland state area, the Bodos are a minority and historically too the area was part of the Kamrup-Kamatapur kingdom of the Koch kings, he said.

He warned that creation of a separate Bodoland state comprising this area may lead to endless fratricidal clashes. Though the Delhi rulers would be benefited people of the State would be the worst losers from such clashes, he said.

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