Prime Minister has greeted people of three northeast states- Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya on their Statehood Day.

What is the news?

• Today marks the 51st anniversary of the formation of the states, which were created on this day in 1972.
• While Manipur and Tripura were princely states which were absorbed into India in October 1949, Meghalaya, on the other hand, was part of Assam.
• The states came into being the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, enacted on December 30 that year.

Quick backgrounder

• These states attained statehood under the North Eastern Region (Reorganization) Act of 1971.
• The NE composition consisted of Assam plains from the old Assam Province, the hill districts, and the North Eastern Frontier Tracts (NEFT) of the North-Eastern borderland.
• Later on the NE region was turned into seven sisters with the statehood of Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland.

[1] Meghalaya

• Apart from accounts of the more essential Khasi kingdoms in the chronicles of the neighbouring Ahoms and Kacharis, little is known of Meghalaya prior to the British rule.
• However, in the early 19th century, the British desire to build a road through the region to link Bengal and Assam led to a treaty with the ruler (Syiem) of the Khasi principality of Nonkhlaw.
• In 1829, opponents of the treaty persuaded the Syiem to repudiate it, and a subsequent attack on Britishers led inevitably to its military operations against the Khasis.
• By the mid-1830s, most local rulers had submitted to the British.
• For the next century, the British exercised its political control over the area, then known as the Garrows and Cossiya (Khasi) States, but the tribals who were left to fend themselves managed to preserve their traditional culture in seclusion.

Integration into India

• In 1947, the rulers of the region acceded to the newly independent India.
• The first PM Nehru evolved a policy to preserve and protect the culture of the tribal people.
• The region was given special protection in the Indian constitution along with other tribal areas, and it retained a great deal of autonomy.
• In 1960, when Assamese became the state’s official language, agitation for autonomy and self-rule gathered strength.
• Unlike many other hill regions in north-eastern India, this movement was largely peaceful and constitutional.
• In 1970, Meghalaya became an autonomous state within Assam and achieved full statehood on January 21, 1972.

[2] Manipur

• Over 500 princely states had negotiated their accession to the Indian union before independence.
• According to News Nine, the rulers of these states signed a document called the ‘Instrument of Accession’.
• On August 11, 1947, Bodhachandra Singh, then Maharaja of Manipur, signed the document. He had been assured that the autonomy of Manipur would be maintained.
• Elections were held in Manipur in June 1948, but its legislative assembly had differences of opinion on the merger.
• However, the Maharaja signed a Merger Agreement with India in September 1949.

[3] Tripura

• Maharajas of the Manikya dynasty ruled the former princely state of Tripura.
• It was an independent administrative unit under the Maharaja even during British rule in India.
• However, according to Tripura State Portal, this independence was qualified, subject to the Britishers’ recognition, as the paramount power of each successive ruler.
• As per Rajmala, in the royal chronology of Tripura, around 184 kings ruled over the state before it merged with the Indian Union on October 15, 1949.
• Since then, the history of Tripura has been interspersed with various political, economic and social developments.

Attainment of full statehood

• On January 26, 1950, Tripura was accorded the status of a ‘C’ category state, and on November 1, 1956, it was recognized as a Union Territory.
• With its people’s sustained efforts and struggle, it gained full statehood on January 21, 1972, as per the North-East Reorganisation Act, 1971.
• Its democratic set-up further stretched to the village level in 1978 with an election to the local bodies that ultimately culminated in introducing a three-tier Panchayati Raj System.

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The annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) released a report on insurgency-related incidents in Nagaland.

It recently said that the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) was involved in 44% of insurgency-related incidents in 2020.

Why in news?

• The Union government had, in 2015, signed a framework agreement with the NSCN-IM to find a solution to the Naga political issue.
• The negotiations are yet to be concluded.

Who are the Nagas?

• The term Naga was created by the British for administrative convenience to refer to a group of tribes with similar origins but distinct cultures, dialects, and customs.
• The Naga tribes are accumulated in Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Myanmar.

Why did the Naga insurgency begin?

• Residing in the Naga hills of Assam during the advent of the British and the annexation of Assam in 1820, the Nagas did not consider themselves a part of British India.
• The British adopted a way of governance over the Nagas that involved keeping in place their traditional ways of life, customs, and laws while putting British administrators at the top.
• At the time of the withdrawal of the British, insecurity grew among the Naga tribes about the future of their cultural autonomy after India’s independence.
• This was accompanied by the fear of the entry of “plains people” or “outsiders” into their territory.

Do you know?

In a memorandum to the Simon Commission in 1929, representatives of Naga tribes demanded that Nagas be left free after Independence and not be included in the Indian Union.

Collective actions of the Nagas

• Above mentioned factors gave rise to the formation of the Naga Hills District Tribal Council in 1945, which was renamed the Naga National Council (NNC) in 1946.
• Amid uncertainties over the post-independence future of the Nagas, a section of the NNC, led by Naga leader A.Z. Phizo declared the independence of the Nagas on August 14, 1947.
• The underground insurgency began in the early 1950s when Mr. Phizo founded the Naga Federal Government (NFG) and its armed wing, the Naga Federal Army (NFA).

Outcome of the then insurgency

• The Central Government sent the armed forces into Naga areas to curb the insurgency.
• It imposed the contentious Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) which is still in place in parts of Nagaland.
• The Nagas, led by Mr. Phizo, demanding an independent state outside of India, boycotted the 1952 and 1957 general elections and armed clashes grew.
• Unlike other groups in the north east which were accepting some form of autonomy under the Constitution, Nagas rejected this in favour of sovereignty.

Negotiations with the govt

• Some leaders among the NNC formed their own group to hold discussions with the government, leading to the formation of the State of Nagaland in 1963.
• This, however, did not satisfy many in the NNC and NFG, who, following years of negotiations with the government, eventually signed the Shillong Accord of 1975, agreeing to surrender arms and accept the Constitution.

When did the NSCN come into the picture?

• This signing of the Shillong Accord was not agreeable with many top leaders of the NNC and those operating from Myanmar.
• A/c to them, the agreement did not address the issue of Naga sovereignty and coerced them to accept the Constitution.
• Three NNC rebel leaders, formed the National Socialist Council Of Nagaland (NSCN) to continue the armed movement for ‘independence’.

Again split in NSCN

• In 1988, after years of infighting and violent clashes along tribal lines and over the main cause of the movement, the NSCN split into two factions.
• One, led by Mr. Muiwah and Swu called the NSCN-IM and the other, led by Mr. Khaplang called the NSCN-K.
• The NSCN-IM demanded and continues to demand for ‘Greater Nagaland’ or Nagalim.
• It wants to extend Nagaland’s borders by including Naga-dominated areas in the neighbouring States of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
• The NSCN-IM has now grown to become the most powerful insurgent group, also playing a role in the creation of smaller groups in other States.

Where do the peace talks stand now?

• In 1997, the Government of India got the NSCN-IM to sign a ceasefire agreement to begin the holding of talks with the aim of signing a Naga Peace Accord.
• After this ceasefire, there have been over a hundred rounds of talks spanning over 24 years between the Centre and the insurgent group, while a solution is still awaited.

Issues of contention

• Independence celebration: Nagas across Nagaland, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh celebrate August 14 as Independence Day. According to Naga historians, Gandhi agreed that the Nagas would celebrate their independence a day ahead of India, on August 14, 1947.
• Naga flag: In the Naga narrative, passed down generations by word of mouth, the Naga flag was not designed by a mortal but is of divine origin.
• Secessionist tendencies: A large section of the Nagas still holds dear the idea of the Naga identity and their tribal roots.

Way ahead

• The Naga struggle claimed thousands of lives over decades and devastated countless homes, all over the idea of a sovereign Naga nation.
• If the NSCN (I-M) accedes to economic and political packages alone, without a separate flag and constitution, it remains to be seen whether it will be seen as a solution, or as a defeat.

Also read,

[Burning Issue] Naga Peace Talks

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Less than a month after the Union government gave the seal of approval to an agreement to partially resolve the disputed sectors on the Assam-Meghalaya border, Arunachal Pradesh CM and his Assam counterpart decided to form district-level committees for settling their inter-state boundary disputes.

Arunachal-Assam Boundary Dispute

• Assam has had boundary disputes with all the north-eastern states that were carved out of it.
• While Nagaland became a State in 1963, Meghalaya first became an Autonomous State in 1970 and a full-fledged State in 1972.
• Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram were separated from Assam as Union Territories in 1972 and as States in 1987.
• None of the new States accepted the “constitutional boundary” that they said was dictated by the partisan administration of undivided Assam without consulting the tribal stakeholders.
• They also claimed that the disputed areas were traditionally under the control of tribal chieftains before Assam, post-India’s independence, inherited the “imaginary boundaries” drawn during British rule.
• The issue with Arunachal Pradesh has more to do with a 1951 report prepared by a sub-committee headed by Assam’s first Chief Minister, Gopinath Bordoloi.

Genesis of the dispute

• Arunachal Pradesh and Assam have disputes at about 1,200 points along their 804 km boundary.
• The disputes cropped up in the 1970s and intensified in the 1990s with frequent flare-ups along the border.
• However, the issue dates back to 1873 when the British government introduced the inner-line permit vaguely separating the plains from the frontier hills.
• This area became the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) in 1954, three years after a notification based on the 1951 report saw 3,648 sq. km of the “plain” area of Balipara and Sadiya foothills being transferred to the Darrang and Lakhimpur districts of Assam.
• Arunachal has been celebrating its statehood with an eye on China since 1987, but what has been causing resentment is the inability of the people living in the transferred patches.
• Leaders in Arunachal Pradesh claim the transfer was done arbitrarily without consulting its tribes who had customary rights over these lands.
• Their counterparts in Assam say the 1951 demarcation is constitutional and legal.

Earlier attempts for resolving dispute

• There were several efforts to demarcate the boundary between Assam and NEFA/Arunachal Pradesh between 1971 and 1974.
• To end the stalemate, a high-powered tripartite committee involving the Centre and the two States was formed in April 1979 to delineate the boundary based on Survey of India maps.
• About 489 km of the inter-state boundary north of the Brahmaputra River was demarcated by 1984, but Arunachal did not accept the recommendations and staked claim to much of the areas transferred in 1951.
• Assam objected and approached the Supreme Court in 1989, accusing Arunachal Pradesh of “encroachment”.
• The apex court-appointed a local boundary commission in 2006 headed by one of its retired judges.
• In its September 2014 report, this commission recommended that Arunachal Pradesh should get back some of the areas transferred in 1951. However, this did not work out.

Way forward

• Following the model adopted in the exercise to resolve the dispute with Meghalaya, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have agreed to form district-level committees.
• They will be tasked with undertaking joint surveys in the disputed sectors to find tangible solutions to the long-pending issue based on historical perspective, ethnicity, contiguity, people’s will and administrative convenience.
• The two States have decided to form 12 such committees involving the districts sharing the boundary. Assam has eight districts touching the boundary with Arunachal Pradesh, which has 12 such districts.

Conclusion

• The Assam-Meghalaya boundary agreement has raised hopes of the Assam-Arunachal boundary dispute being resolved.
• This is especially in light of egging the north-eastern States to end their territorial issues once and for all by August 15, 2022, when the country celebrates 75 years of independence.
• Moreover, there is a general belief that the region’s sister-States are in a better position to fast-track the resolution since they are ruled by the present regime with the same dispensation at the Centre.

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Assam and Meghalaya partially resolved a 50-year-old dispute along their 884.9 km boundary.

What is the news?

• An agreement was signed between Assam CM and his Meghalaya counterpart in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.
• According to the partial boundary deal, Assam will get 18.51 sq. km of the 36.79 sq. km disputed area while Meghalaya will get the remaining 18.28 sq. km.
• The agreement is expected to pave the way for resolving disputes in the boundary and similar areas of difference between Assam and three other NE States.

What is the Assam-Meghalaya Boundary Dispute?

• Meghalaya, carved out of Assam as an autonomous State in 1970, became a full-fledged State in 1972.
• The creation of the new State was based on the Assam Reorganisation (Meghalaya) Act of 1969, which the Meghalaya government refused to accept.
• This was because the Act followed the recommendations of a 1951 committee to define the boundary of Meghalaya.
• On that panel’s recommendations, areas of the present-day East Jaintia Hills, Ri-Bhoi and West Khasi Hills districts of Meghalaya were transferred to the Karbi Anglong, Kamrup (metro) and Kamrup districts of Assam.
• Meghalaya contested these transfers after statehood, claiming that they belonged to its tribal chieftains.
• Assam said the Meghalaya government could neither provide documents nor archival materials to prove its claim over these areas.
• After claims and counter-claims, the dispute was narrowed down to 12 sectors on the basis of an official claim by Meghalaya in 2011.

Other boundary disputes in North-East

The states of the Northeast were largely carved out of Assam, which has border disputes with several states.

During British rule, Assam included present-day Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya besides Mizoram, which became separate state one by one. Today, Assam has boundary problems with each of them.

• Nagaland shares a 500-km boundary with Assam.
• In two major incidents of violence in 1979 and 1985, at least 100 persons were killed. The boundary dispute is now in the Supreme Court
• On the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary (over 800 km), clashes were first reported in 1992, according to the same research paper.
• Since then, there have been several accusations of illegal encroachment from both sides, and intermittent clashes. This boundary issue is being heard by the Supreme Court.
• The 884-km Assam-Meghalaya boundary, too, witnesses flare-ups frequently. As per Meghalaya government statements, today there are 12 areas of dispute between the two states.

 How did the two governments go about handling the issue?

• The two States had initially tried resolving the border dispute through negotiations but the first serious attempt was in May 1983 when they formed a joint official committee to address the issue.
• In its report submitted in November 1983, the committee suggested that the Survey of India should re-delineate the boundary with the cooperation of both the States towards settling the dispute.
• There was no follow-up action. As more areas began to be disputed, the two States agreed to the constitution of an independent panel in 1985.
• Headed by Justice Y.V. Chandrachud, the committee submitted its report in 1987.
• Meghalaya rejected the report as it was allegedly pro-Assam.
• In 2019, the Meghalaya government petitioned the Supreme Court to direct the Centre to settle the dispute. The petition was dismissed.

How was the ice broken?

• In January 2021, Home Minister urged all the north-eastern States to resolve their boundary disputes by August 15, 2022, when the country celebrates 75 years of Independence.
• It was felt that the effort could be fast-tracked since the region’s sister-States either had a common ruling party.
• In June 2021, the two States decided to resume talks at the CM level and adopt a “give-and-take” policy to settle the disputes once and for all.
• Of the 12 disputed sectors, six “less complicated” areas — Tarabari, Gizang, Hahim, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pilingkata and Ratacherra — were chosen for resolving in the first phase.
• Both States formed three regional committees, one each for a district affected by the disputed sectors.

What were the principles followed?

• These committees, each headed by a cabinet minister, were given “five principles” for approaching the issue.
• These principles are historical facts of a disputed sector, ethnicity, and administrative convenience, willingness of people and contiguity of land preferably with natural boundaries such as rivers, streams and rocks.
• The committee members conducted surveys of the disputed sectors and held several meetings with the local stakeholders.
• This paved the way for the March 29 closure of the six disputed sectors.

Issues with this settlement

• Officials in Assam said it was better to let go of areas where they did not have any administrative control rather than “live with an irritant forever”.
• However, residents in the other six disputed sectors feel the “give-and-take” template could spell disaster for them.
• The fear is more among non-tribal people who could end up living in a “tribal Meghalaya with no rights”.

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Union Home Minister is expected to seal the final agreement to end the dispute in six areas of the Assam-Meghalaya boundary ahead of Meghalaya’s 50th Statehood Day celebration on January 21.

Can you recall the chronology of reorganization of the entire North-East region?

Assam- Meghalaya Boundary Dispute

• Assam has had a boundary dispute with Mizoram for decades and several rounds of talks have been held since 1994-95 to solve the issue.
• Till 1972, Mizoram was a part of Assam and acquired full statehood in 1987.
• The 164.6 km-long border between the States runs along with Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts in Assam and Kolasib, Mamit and Aizawl districts in Mizoram.
• There are several border areas where violence have been reported.

Roots of the dispute

• In the Northeast’s complex boundary equations, showdowns between Assam and Mizoram residents are less frequent than they are.
• The boundary between present-day Assam and Mizoram, 165 km long today, dates back to the colonial era when Mizoram was known as Lushai Hills, a district of Assam.
• The dispute stems from a notification of 1875 that differentiated Lushai Hills from the plains of Cachar, and another of 1933 that demarcates a boundary between Lushai Hills and Manipur.
• Mizoram believes the boundary should be demarcated on the basis of the 1875 notification, which is derived from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) Act, 1873.
• Mizo leaders have argued in the past argued against the demarcation notified in 1933 because Mizo society was not consulted.

Other boundary disputes in North-East

The states of the Northeast were largely carved out of Assam, which has border disputes with several states.

During British rule, Assam included present-day Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya besides Mizoram, which became separate state one by one. Today, Assam has boundary problems with each of them.

• Nagaland shares a 500-km boundary with Assam.
• In two major incidents of violence in 1979 and 1985, at least 100 persons were killed. The boundary dispute is now in the Supreme Court
• On the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary (over 800 km), clashes were first reported in 1992, according to the same research paper.
• Since then, there have been several accusations of illegal encroachment from both sides, and intermittent clashes. This boundary issue is being heard by the Supreme Court.
• The 884-km Assam-Meghalaya boundary, too, witnesses flare-ups frequently. As per Meghalaya government statements, today there are 12 areas of dispute between the two states.

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Five Assam police personnel were killed in an exchange of fire with the Mizoram Police after the protracted border row between the two northeastern States took a violent turn.

Assam-Mizoram Boundary Dispute

• At the heart of the dispute over the 165-km Assam-Mizoram boundary are two border demarcations that go back to the days of British colonial rule, and disagreement over which demarcation to follow.
• British tea plantations surfaced in the Cachar plains – the Barak Valley that now comprises the districts of Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj — during the mid-19th century.
• Their expansion led to problems with the Mizos whose home was the Lushai Hills.
• In August 1875, the southern boundary of Cachar district was issued in the Assam Gazette.
• The Mizos say this was the fifth time the British had drawn the boundary between the Lushai Hills and the Cachar plains, and the only time when it was done in consultation with Mizo chiefs.

Creation of new states

• But in 1933, the boundary between Lushai Hills and the then princely state of Manipur was demarcated – it said the Manipur boundary began from the trijunction of Lushai Hills, Cachar district of Assam and Manipur state.
• The Mizos do not accept this demarcation, and point to the 1875 boundary which was drawn in consultation with their chiefs.
• In the decades after Independence, states and UTs were carved out of Assam – Nagaland (1963), Arunachal Pradesh (UT 1972, formerly NEFA), Meghalaya (UT 1972), Mizoram (UT 1972).

A matter of perception

• Mizoram says Assam has been pushing its people 10-12 km inside their territory.
• Mizoram’s official stand is that the boundary should be demarcated on the basis of notification in 1875 that distinguished the Lushai Hills (erstwhile district of Assam that became Mizoram) from the plains of Cachar.
• The notification is based on the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act, 1873, which makes it obligatory for Indians beyond to possess a travel document to enter Mizoram.
• Assam also has border disputes with Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Nagaland.

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A national party leader has promised to implement Article 244 (A) of the Constitution to safeguard the interests of the people in Assam’s tribal-majority districts.

What is Article 244(A)?

• Article 244(A) allows for the creation of an ‘autonomous state’ within Assam in certain tribal areas.
• Inserted into the Constitution in 1969 by the then government, it also has a provision for a Legislature and a Council of Ministers.

Try this PYQ from CSP 2018:

Q.The Government enacted the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act in 1996. Which one of the following is not identified as its objective?

(a) To provide self-governance

(b) To recognize traditional rights

(c) To create autonomous regions in tribal areas

(d) To free tribal people from exploitation

How is it different from the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution?

• The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution — Articles 244(2) and 275(1) — is a special provision that allows for greater political autonomy and decentralized governance.
• It is applicable to certain tribal areas of the Northeast through autonomous councils that are administered by elected representatives.
• Article 244(A) accounts for more autonomous powers to tribal areas.
• In Autonomous Councils under the Sixth Schedule, they do not have jurisdiction of law and order.

How did the demand arise?

• In the 1950s, a demand for a separate hill state arose around certain sections of the tribal population of undivided Assam.
• In 1960, various political parties of the hill areas merged to form the All Party Hill Leaders Conference, demanding a separate state.
• After prolonged agitations, Meghalaya gained statehood in 1972.
• The leaders of the Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills were also part of this movement. They were given the option to stay in Assam or join Meghalaya.
• They stayed back as the then government promised more powers, including Article 244 (A). Since then, there has been a demand for its implementation.
• In the 1980s, this demand took the form of a movement with a number of Karbi groups resorting to violence. It soon became an armed separatist insurgency demanding full statehood.

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Union Home Minister has said that Inner-Line Permit (ILP) had been the Centre’s biggest gift to Manipur since its statehood.

Note the states where ILP is required.

The Inner Line

• A concept drawn by colonial rulers, the Inner Line separated the tribal-populated hill areas in the Northeast from the plains.
• To enter and stay for any period in these areas, Indian citizens from other areas need an Inner Line Permit (ILP).
• Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram are protected by the Inner Line, and lately, Manipur was added (in December last year).
• The concept originates from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act (BEFR), 1873.

Its’ Inception

• The policy of exclusion first came about as a response to the reckless expansion of British entrepreneurs into new lands which threatened British political relations with the hill tribes.
• The BEFR prohibits an outsider’s — “British subject or foreign citizen” — entry into the are beyond the Inner Line without a pass and his purchase of land there.
• On the other hand, the Inner Line also protects the commercial interests of the British from the tribal communities.
• After Independence, the Indian government replaced “British subjects” with “Citizen of India”.
• Today, the main aim of the ILP system is to prevent settlement of other Indian nationals in the States where the ILP regime is prevalent, in order to protect the indigenous/tribal population.

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The recent violence and tension on the Assam-Mizoram border underline the differences the two States have had since 1972 when Mizoram was carved out of Assam as a Union Territory.

Try answering this:

Q.Assam has had boundary problems with almost all of its north-eastern neighbours. Discuss.

*Also note the states bordering Assam.

What is the Dispute?

• Mizoram was carved out of Assam as a Union Territory in 1972. In 1987, it became a full-fledged state.
• The two states have sparred over where the border lies in the past, leading to the occasional violence.
• The disagreement stems from differing views on which border demarcation to follow.
• Mizoram’s perception of the border is based on an 1875 notification that flows from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act of 1873.
• The Act demarcated the Lushai Hills from the plains and valleys in the North East, restricting free travel between the two zones. The hills were deemed to be “excluded areas”.
• Assam, for its part, goes by a 1933 notification by the state government that demarcated the Lushai Hills, as Mizoram was then known, from the province of Manipur.

The Assamese problem

• Assam has had boundary problems with all its north-eastern neighbours, except Manipur and Tripura that had existed as separate entities.
• The primary reason is that the other States, a part of Assam during the British rule, have contested the boundaries since they became States, beginning with Nagaland in 1963.
• Assam has accepted several recommendations of border commissions set up by the Supreme Court, but other States have been sticking to “historical boundaries” that go back to the period before 1826.
• However, the border residents have to bear the brunt of the unrest unless an acceptable solution is arrived at.

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Context

There are indications that the new Bodo accord does not spell closure of the statehood movement by Bodo groups.

Power-sharing experiment under the Sixth Schedule

• Sixth Schedule expected as a panacea: The experiment of power-sharing and governance under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution was expected to be the panacea of the ethno-nationalist identity questions in the Northeastern States.
• Complexities of exclusion: Euphoria, as well as anger over the third Bodo Accord, have, however, held the mirror reflecting the complexities of exclusion of communities in such ethnocentric power-sharing and governance model.

Specifics of the new Accord

• The new Accord was signed by the All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU), United Bodo People’s Organisation and all the four factions of the insurgent outfit- National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) with Delhi and Dispur on January 27.
  • It promises more legislative, executive and administrative autonomy under the Sixth Schedule to Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) and expansion of the BTC territory in lieu of statehood.
• The Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD), the autonomous region governed by BTC, will be known as Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) after demarcation of the augmented territory.

The emergence of the faultlines in the new Accord

• What went wrong in the previous Accord? The previous Bodo Accord signed by the erstwhile insurgent outfit, Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) with Delhi and Dispur on February 10, 2003, led to the creation of the BTC as a new experiment of territorial autonomy under the Sixth Schedule.
  • No assent by the Governor to any BTC legislation: The constitutionally mandated legislative power of the BTC has been reduced to a farce as the Assam Governor has not given assent to any of the legislation passed by the BTC Legislative Assembly.
• Intensification of demand for Kamatapur State: Bodo groups have suspended their statehood movement.
  • The new Bodo Accord has triggered the intensification of the movement for Kamatapur State by organisations of the Koch-Rajbongshi community.
  • Overlapping territory: The territory of the demanded Kamatapur State overlaps with the present BTAD, proposed BTR and demanded Bodoland.
• Demand for ST status: Clamour for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status by the Koch-Rajbongshis, Adivasis and several other non-ST communities has also grown.
• Faultlines over ST status: Deeper ethnic faultlines in an ethnocentric power-sharing model will become exposed when the Koch-Rajbongshis and the Adivasis are granted ST status, as promised by the government.
  • For, the reservation of seats of BTC is for the STs and not exclusively for the Bodos.
  • The new accord has no clear answer to such critical questions.
  • In BTAD, the ST communities account for 33.50% of the total population and the Bodos account for over 90% of the ST population in the BTAD.
  • The ST populations are an overwhelming majority in territories overseen by nine other autonomous councils under the Sixth Schedule in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.
• Minority governing majority: Such a demographic composition in the BTAD has allowed the space for political mobilisation of other non-Bodo communities.
  • It also allowed the articulation of the campaign that the BTC is a faulty model as it allows the minorities to govern the majorities.
  • Exclusion demand: The organisations of these communities have been demanding exclusion of villages with less than 50% Bodo population from the BTAD.
• Counter argument by Bodos: Bodo organisations have a counter-argument that non-Bodo is a political identity construction articulated to capture power in the BTAD by certain political forces.
• The new accord promises to increase the current strength of BTC to 60 from 40 but “without adversely affecting the existing percentage of reservation for tribal[s]”.
• Constitutional provision for dealing with such situations: Sub-paragraph 2 of the first paragraph of the Sixth Schedule provides that, “If there are different Scheduled Tribes in an autonomous district, the Governor may, by public notification, divide the area or areas inhabited by them into autonomous regions.”
  • However, constitutional amendments were made following the previous Bodo Accord to ensure that this provision shall not apply in respect of the BTAD.
• What could be the solution to the present situation? The provision of setting up regional autonomous councils under the Sixth Schedule can be explored to create the space for communities aggrieved by exclusion from the power-sharing model of BTC.

Provision of commission

• The new accord promises to appoint a commission by the Assam government.
  • What the commission will deal with? It will look into the demands for inclusion of villages with ST majority and contiguous to the BTAD, and exclusion of villages which are contiguous to non-Sixth Schedule areas and have majority non-ST population.
  • However, the core area of the BTAD will continue to have many villages with majority non-ST population which were included for contiguity.

Evaporating of euphoria over the accord

• Failure in uniting the four factions: Euphoria among the Bodos over the accord is also fast evaporating with efforts to unite all the four factions of NDFB having turned futile.
  • The factions are divided into two camps.
  • The new accord will be the pivot of political mobilisation in the BTAD during the forthcoming BTC elections due in April.
• Revival in homeland demand: A shift in the political equilibrium in the BTC resulting from a likely expansion of the ST list in Assam has the potential to keep the Bodos out of power in the BTC and push Bodo organisations to revive their homeland demand

Conclusion

Peace will continue to be fragile in Assam’s Bodo heartland until an all-inclusive power-sharing and governance model is evolved under the provisions of the Sixth Schedule.

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