Three major Bodo organisations—the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU), the United Boro People’s Organization (UBPO) and the Ex-NDFB Welfare Association—staged a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar on Thursday, demanding urgent, time-bound implementation of the Bodo Peace Accord signed in 2020 and immediate passage of the 125th Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2019.The demonstration followed a national seminar held on Wednesday at the Constitution Club, which was attended by leaders from ten Sixth Schedule councils across Northeast India. The organisations accused the government of delaying key commitments made under the Accord, despite repeated assurances at multiple high-level meetings over the past five years.ABSU president Dipen Boro said the Bodo people had exercised remarkable patience since the signing of the Accord, but progress remained slow and incomplete. He stated that the government must act swiftly to uphold its commitments, warning that continued delays could undermine the credibility of the peace agreement. He also reiterated the demand for immediate tripartite talks involving the Centre, the Assam government and ABSU to review the status of pending clauses and to fast-track their implementation.Despite the restoration of peace in the Bodoland region, several critical provisions of the Accord remain unimplemented. Representatives of the organisations said that more than a dozen review meetings had been held with the Union and State governments, including multiple engagements with the Union Home Minister, but concrete action on the ground had been limited.
As part of their intensified democratic movement, the groups announced a mass gathering in Kokrajhar in December, where they expect nearly two lakh people to participate.Their demands include passage of the 125th Constitutional Amendment Bill to enhance the financial and administrative powers of Sixth Schedule councils; granting of ST (Hill) status to Bodo-Kachari people in Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao; full-fledged operationalisation of the Boro Kachari Welfare Autonomous Council; provincialisation of educational institutions in and outside the BTR; inclusion of additional tribal-majority villages in the region; and recognition of tribal land rights under the Forest Rights Act.They also called for the withdrawal of pending cases against former NDFB members, ex-gratia for families of those killed during the movement, special recruitment drives for Bodo youth in security forces, and the establishment of a cultural and academic complex in memory of Bodofa Upendranath Brahma.A major thrust of their demand relates to the ₹1,500-crore Special Development Package promised under the Accord, which includes proposals for a central university, regional campuses of national educational institutions, medical and sports infrastructure, technical institutes, and major road connectivity projects.