ABSU backs Telangana demand

The All-Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) on Tuesday extended full support to the movement for the creation of a separate Telangana State and demanded that the Centre institute a State Reorganisation Commission to look into all the demands for a separate State. It wanted high priority for the demand for Bodoland and Telangana.

In a statement, ABSU president Pramod Boro stated that the student body supported the “democratic and peaceful movement” for the creation of Telengana from the present Andhra Pradesh.

The ABSU, which has revived its “divide Assam fifty-fifty” and Bodoland demands, criticised the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for remaining indifferent though the general strike to press for Telengana had crossed three weeks, affecting the lives of millions of people. 

The ABSU said smaller States were able to give fair social, political, economic and cultural justice to all sections of society. Administration and governance were comparatively better in smaller States. Besides, there were numerous political, social and economic benefits, Mr. Boro said.

The ABSU spearheaded a vigorous statehood movement in collaboration with the erstwhile Bodo People's Action Committee (BPAC) from 1987 to 1993. It culminated in the signing of the first Bodo accord that paved the way for the creation of the erstwhile Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC). The student body revived the statehood demand in 1996, alleging that the BAC had failed to fulfil the aspirations of the Bodo people. It suspended the movement after the Centre and the Assam government signed the second Bodo accord with the erstwhile Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT), a militant outfit, leading to the creation of the present Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) under amended provisions of the Sixth Schedule. 

Source: The Hindu