Kokrajhar: Hundreds of students and others in Assam’s Bodo area have protested a federal minister’s remarks on the creation of new states in India.
The protesters led by the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) on July 20 burnt the effigy of Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, Minister of State for Home Affairs.
The minister told parliament the previous day that the National Democratic Alliance that now rules the country has taken no decision to create states in any part of the country.
The protestors in Kokrajhar carried placards and shouted slogans denouncing the minister. They demanded early creation of Bodoland.
The ABSU has warned that it would step the protests if their demand for a separate state was not met at the earliest, assamtimes.org reported.
Nion Mushahary, ABSU leader, termed Ahir’s remarks as unfortunate since his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised to solve the long standing demand of separate Bodoland during the 2014 parliament election. The student leader has alleged that BJP party had been tactically declining issue of Bodoland state creation.
“We condemning the unwanted remarks of Union Minister on small state creations, it was unfortunate for the region, whose party had promised to solve Bodoland issue during Parliamentary election in 2014,but today saffron party declined to take bold step,” Mushahary said.
He said they would intensify their mass movement for the cause of Bodoland separate state after the Independence Day on August 15 if their demands are not met by August 15. Create small states across the country including Bodoland, otherwise the situation would be critical, he added.