Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Council draws flak for land transfer policy

GUWAHATI: The Bodoland Territorial Council has drawn flak for its stand on land transfer, with several organisations saying the council is biased against non-tribals.

Bodoland People’s Front (BPF)-led Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) had said on January 12 that no person can sell land in the BTC area to a non-tribal person without the permission of the BTC authority. The BTC area in Assam, the sixth scheduled area under the Constitution, has a sizeable non-tribal population.

The BPF is a partner in the BJP-led government in Assam.


The Opposition party in the state, the Congress, has joined organisations including the Udalguri district student representatives of Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), Asomiya Yuva Manch (AYM), All-Assam Gorkha Students’ Union (AAGSU) and Assam Santhali Students’ Union (ASSU) in opposing the move. Agitating members of these groups burnt the effigy of BTC chief Hagrama Mohilary and raised slogans against the Council for allegedly taking an “anti-non-tribal” stand.

Congress leader Durga Das Boro said the party may take legal recourse if the BTC administration implements the decision, which could affect about 70% of the population staying in Bodoland.

“The BTC accord states that the BTC will not make any law which is in contravention of the rights and privileges enjoyed by a citizen of India in respect to their land, and bar any citizen from acquiring land, either by way of inheritance, allotment, settlement or by way of transfer, within the BTC area,” he said.

BPF, however, has defended the move saying it a part of the BTC accord.

Boro said the BTC, headed by Hangrama Mohilary, has failed to do any development and is now resorting to this to create rift between communities.

Encroachment of land and forest in tribal areas is a sensitive issue. In 2003, the Central government had come up with BTC, or the Bodoland Territorial Administration Districts (BTAD), the sixth schedule arrangement under the Constitution, to pacify those demanding a separate state.

The BTC arrangement was done after the political accord with the erstwhile militant outfit Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT), following which BLT cadres joined the political mainstream.