Govt effort to end Bodo issue peacefully

The government will soon convene a meeting with representatives of the Assam government and the Bodo State Movement Council.

The Union home ministry is trying to find an amicable solution to the separate Bodo state demand.

''We should discuss the problem in depth and reach a negotiated settlement,'' an official said.

Since the Centre had committed itself to creating a separate Uttarakhand state within Uttar Pradesh and a Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council in Bihar, the official said the Centre could not ignore the Bodos's demand.

Home Secretary K Padmanabhaiah held talks with some Bodo leaders and assured them that the Centre would consider their demands sympathetically. He also discussed the matter with Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.

Various organisations of the movement for a separate Bodoland have been demanding a sovereign state as well as a separate state within Assam. In fact, the problem had assumed serious proportions after the Bodo agreement was signed between the Centre and the Bodo leaders in 1993.

Bodo leaders say then minister of state for home Rajesh Pilot signed the accord in a hurry, but never got it implemented.

After the agreement, the Bodo Council Act was passed, but no election was held. In between, several changes also took place in its leadership. While the political wing is asking for a separate state, the militants demanded a sovereign state.