P. Chidambaram, Union Home Minister. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Union Home Minister, P. Chidambaram on Wednesday disclosed that the Centre
was engaged in back channel talks with the jailed chief of the National
Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) Ranjan Daimary in Assam, and reiterated the
Centre’s resolve to hold dialogues with any group that shuns violence.
“We are talking with Ranjan Daimary. He is in prison and we are talking with
him through the back channel,” Mr. Chidambaram informed the Rajya Sabha during
Question Hour.
He said the Union Government was in touch with Mr. Daimary and hoped that
once the talks start, there would be progress. “One faction of the NDFB was in
favour of talks with the government, but the one led by Mr. Daimary was not. The
Centre is committed to engage in political dialogue with any group, which is
ready to shun violence,’’ he remarked.
NDFB was formed under Daimary’s leadership in November 1994 to demand a
separate Bodoland in Assam. The outfit broke into two following the Assam bomb
blasts in 2008 in which Mr. Daimary was named as the mastermind. The hardline
faction of NDFB, which project itself as the real NDFB, is led by Daimary.
Mr. Chidambaram said the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution was amended for
the creation of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), which took office in May
2005. Bodo language has also been included in the Eighth Schedule of the
Constitution. About 846 ex-Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT) cadres have also been
recruited in central police forces and the approval for appointment of 400
ex-BLT cadres as Special Police Officers (SPOs) has been given to the State
government.
On the query whether the recent Supreme Court judgment on SPOs would affect
this decision, he said: “I don't think so.”
A Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) was signed between the Union Government,
Assam Government and the Bodo Liberation Tiger in 2003 for setting up the
Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam and the inclusion of the Bodo language in
the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, among others.
“The government is committed to implement MoS in letter and spirit. The
implementation of MoS is being reviewed in the Home Ministry periodically,” he
stated.
He said the Assam Government had late last year recommended the inclusion of
the tribes living in Karbi Anglong and N.C. Hills districts and Scheduled Tribes
(hills) living in the plain districts of Assam in the list of Scheduled Tribes
(Hills) along with Bodo Kacharis. “As per approved modalities of the government,
the proposal of the Assam Government needs consultation with the Registrar
General of India and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes,” he added.
