Bodo rebel group warns other groups of elimination

GUWAHATI, January 17: The underground National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) has declared as "banned" five other Bodo groups including the All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU), Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS) and All Bodo Women's Welfare Federation (ABWWF) for their alleged "nefarious" activities and threatened selective elimination of their leaders. A statement by the NDFB's publicity secretary B. Erakdao last evening said that the ABSU, BSS, ABWWF, Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) and the Bodo People's Action Committee (BPAC) had joined hands to "crush" the NDFB's "revolution" for a sovereign Bodo state. The only important Bodo group that has been excluded from the threat is the People's Democratic Front (PDF), a political party that has two members in the Assam Legislative Assembly. Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in the Bodo-inhabited districts of Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Darrang following the threat, with Assam Police Director-General H.K. Deka reviewing the situation today with other top officials. "Selective elimination of the leadership and shoot-at-sight orders shall be issued against the above-mentioned organisations if and when they are found guilty," the NDFB statement said, adding that such a resolution was taken at a recent national council meeting of the organisation. The NDFB squarely blamed the erstwhile ABSU Volunteer Force -- that later became the BLT -- for setting off clashes among the Bodos way back in 1988. At the same time, it also accused the "Indian machinery" of working against the interests of the Bodo people. Internecine clashes between the NDFB and the BLT in particular have been taking place sporadically during the past few months, with Bineswar Brahma, the president of the BSS falling victim to the differences between the two. Brahma was shot dead in the heart of Guwahati in August last year and the NDFB was blamed for it. Swambla Basumatary, a president of the All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU), was also killed allegedly by the NDFB three years ago. Garlabatha Basumatary, a former president of the PDF was killed allegedly by the BLT in 1999 following the failure of a "forget and forgive" understanding between the two. Reacting to the threat, the ABSU president U.G. Brahma said today that the NDFB had lost sanity and was in fact a threat to the Bodo community as a whole. "The ABSU, BPAC, ABWWF and BSS collectively command the respect of Bodo society, and by threatening these four organisations, the NDFB had not only threatened the Bodo people, but has also seriously insulted them," Brahma, talking over telephone from Kokrajhar, said. He also called the NDFB a bunch of goons out to destroy their own community. "We are sure the NDFB leaders have gone insane, and appeal to them to come to their senses so that they can repent and repair the damage inflicted on the Bodo people by such an irresponsible statement," the ABSU president added.