Date: 29-08-2007
With interest I have gone through the interview of BSG with Mr. Ranjan Daimari alias D. R. Nabla. After going through the interview I would like to make the following observations:
According to Mr. Nabla "Since the historically untraced ages the Boro had been ruling through out the Brahmaputra and Barak Valleys, with extension in Cachar Hills of Assam and Tripura and in some parts of West Bengal, Bihar, Nepal and Bangladesh".
But the question is if there is no "historical trace" how come Mr. Nabla informs that Boro's ruled different parts of the North east of India including Bihar, Bangladesh and Nepal? As you know the Dutch are famous for keeping records. The VOC had a trading post at Chinchura, near present day Kolkata. They traded in the Eastern part of India and kept records. Even diary's of Dutch sailors who visited Assam in 1662-63 informs about life and rulers of that area. In the Dutch records there is no mention of Boro or Bodo tribe's in these areas. You cannot find also any mention of the name in the Portuguese or Moghul writings. Or are they mentioned under another name?
Clarification: Boro were known by different names such as Kirata, Mleccha, Asura, Danava, Kachari, Mech, Dimasa. Tipperah, Koch in different places in different times. The sixth northern districts of present West Bengal was ruled by the Koch and was semi-independent native state even during the British rule. The Koch Bihar was annexed by India only on 28th August 1949. Because of the rule of the Boro people, they are still found and scattered in Bengal, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Mr. Nabla said "The Boro people lived as a free nation with dignity and honour till the British invaded and annexed their dominions into British India Administration".
British were not the first to subjugate the Boro's. Before the British came to Assam, the Ahoms ruled Assam for more than 600 years. Boro's and later the Kacharis and other tribes lived under the Ahoms. Tripura, Bengal, Bihar etc. were under the rule of the Moghuls and later under the British.
Clarification: Ahoms were the first invaders. But they could not fully conquer and control all the dominions of the Boro people. The Ahom territory was mostly limited to present Dibrugarh and Sibsagar districts. Only occasionally their territory was extended to Guwahati. Even during the height of Ahom rules the Boro people were free and ruling in the Cachar with extension to the hills, in Tripura, Nothern bank of Brahmaputra and Koch Bihar (in present northern West Bengal). The invasion of Ahoms and Mughal were of no much effect to the Boro dominions.
According to Mr. Nabla "the NDFB feels that ULFA should spell out their socio-economic and political system of sovereign Assam".
What about the "socio-economic and political system of sovereign Bodoland? Did NDFB spell it out?
Will there be space for non-Boro in the Bodoland of NDFB? Their conflict with the Adivasis is well known which led to violent expulsion of non-Bodos from the region, which resulted in the displacement of more than 87,000 ethnic Santhals, and a smaller number of Bengalis and Nepalese.
Clarification: The NDFB has its own constitution and manifesto where the aims and objective and the guiding principles of the Party is inscribed. The socio-economic and political system of sovereign Boroland is declared by the NDFB in the Constitution as well as in the Manifesto. I don’t think so even the Congress and Mahatma Gandhi had such a vision for post independence India. Let Wahid go through the constitution and the manifesto of the NDFB.
“There is no country in the modern world that is not a multi racial and Boroland shall not be exception to this. The NDFB is not against any caste, creed, community or religion. People of any community or religion shall live in sovereign Boroland… (Manifesto of the NDFB; Boroland and its people: page 21)”
Santhals, who are mainly from Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal of India, are rapidly destroying the forest reserves and its flora and fauna of Boroland. Not only that, the Santhals raped and murdered three young Boro girls in 1994, out of that incident an ethnic conflict flared up. The NDFB had nothing to do with the ethnic conflict that took place out of the rape and murder. I don’t know any displacement of Nepalese. Not Bengalees but few suspected Bangladeshi Muslims became the victims of communal conflict. There are few who are still in the rehabilitation camps. The Indians are deliberately trying to change the demography of not only in Boroland but also in the entire Region. These Indians are deliberately pushed by the Indian government to out number the indigenous peoples of the region. That is why recently the All Arunchal Pradesh Students’ Union has deported more than 30, 000 suspected people that they call as “movement for survival.” The Nagas in Tuensang district did the same. Every now and then you can hear that ULFA or the other organizations are killing the Indians or other alien peoples just for survival. In Tripura the indigenous Borok people have become microscopic minority. The Boro people are not exception to that in their own land. It is just a civilian aggression that is more danger than the armed aggression.
Nationalism, according to Mr. Nabla "is a modern and recent phenomenon, was unthinkable among the illiterate and rustic Boro people"
This indirectly implies why it is difficult to come across information about Boro history. They even did not have a set of alphabets. First it was the Assamese Alphabet and now it is the Devnagari alphabets used in the Boro language. As part of colonization, the strategy the British followed in the region was to allow the missionaries to build their religious and educational institutions and use them as agencies of integrating the tribal folk with the west. According to the information in one of the Internet sites with information about Bodoland mentions that the most of the NDFB members are Christians. The Boro’s, which were converted in to Christianity, now want to introduce the Roman alphabets in the Boro language. T he Boro Thunlai Afat – a Boro literary organization was formed on the 16th November 1952 to revive and promote the Boro language and the cultural that were on the deathbed.
The comments of Mr. Nabla also answer the question why in the past the Boro's did not take arms against the British and fought for their independence. They only submitted memorandum and that too by two distinct youth organisations one from the Kachari tribe and the other from the Boro tribe.
During the British rule the Assam Kachari Juvok Sanmiloni and the Boro Juvok Sanmiloni submitted a memorandum to the visiting Simon Commission (1928-29) demanding recognition as a distinct tribal society, and separate from the Hindu society. They demanded that the people be identified as Boro in the census Report of British India and a separate Boro Regiment in military service of British India Government. From the above it can be concluded that the Boro's in the past were willing to serve the British and not fight against them.
Even at that time there was no representation on behalf of the all the Boro's of Assam. The representatives were not only from the Boro tribe but also from the Kacharis. At that time they did not demand for an independent Bodoland.
After the British left India there was hardly any political movement of the Boro's. The movements, which were started, were not for an independent land but a separate state within the Indian union. There was a mass movement for nearly 25 years started by the Plain Tribal Council of Assam (PTCA), a political party founded on 27th of February 1967. The PTCA mass movement was to get a separate state – Udayachal for the Plains Tribal's within the Indian Constitution. The All Bodo Student's Union (ABSU) from time to time lent their helping hands towards the PTCA movement. Later the PTCA got fragmented into PTCA and PTCA (Progressive). The latter changed its name to United Tribal Nationalist Liberation Front (UTNLF)) in 1984, which demanded "Missing Bodoland". UTNLF was later renamed United Boro Nationalist Liberation Front (UBNLF) and demanded a union territory of Bodoland. There was never a demand for a sovereign country. These Bodo movements failed due to mutually destructive rivalry among the leaders themselves.
Clarification: Since the British rule the Boro people struggled peacefully and democratically for their rights and survival. But nothing is achieved. The armed struggle is the last resort for all. So the Boro people took arms. ABSU, BLT and NDFB took arms as a last resort. It is because of the guns, bullets and bombs that the Indian government could hear the cry of Boro people and made an accord with ABSU and later with BLT.
Why did the Indians needed 300 years to wake up and fight against British? Why the Indians did not drive away the British in the 16th century? What was the problem? Because of the innocent and rustic Indians could not feel the colonialism of British?
You will be surprised to know that 95 per cent of the members of the NDFB are non-Christians. The NDFB is fighting for the cause of the Boro people. Not for Christianity or for any religion. Adoption of Roman script for the Boro language was the decision of the Boro literary organization in 1971 when both the President Ramdas Basumatary and General Secretary Bihuram Boro were non-Christians.
It is unfortunate that the Boro do not have their script. So the Boro people wanted to have the Roman Script as their script. But the Indian government had imposed Devanagiri against the will of the Boro people. In the movement for the Roman script, thousands were put into jail, many have suffered and the Indian government had butchered 21 lives. Is there any example in the world that even for a mere script 21 lives had to be sacrificed? Now the Mizo, Naga, Garo, Khasi are writing their language in Roman Script. The Mishing and Karbi of Assam have started writing their language in Roman Script. Borok of Tripura wants to adopt Roman for their language. Imposition of Devanagiri by the government of India is clearly a discriminatory act.
Many Organizations and Parties of the Boro people launched movement for either Union Territory or Statehood under Indian Constitution. But NDFB went a step further and took armed and is fighting for the liberation for Boro people and Boroland. No Union Territory or Statehood can resolve the problems of Boro people. Under Delhi the Boro can never resolve their genuine problems and decide their own fate. For example, the Nagas, the Meiteis, Tripuris, Garo- Kashi, Assamese are fighting even after having their own statehood. The Boro people will have to fight even after having their own statehood. So the NDFB is fighting for ultimate goal - the liberation and freedom.
One of the arguments put by Mr. Nabla is: "Right from the USA to East Timor have fought and secured the right to self-determination, or have become independent and sovereign. So we will also fight and secure the right to self-determination".
If I understand him correctly and if we follow his train of thoughts than today's Australia and New Zeeland should be given back to the aboriginals; USA to their original inhabitants and Israel should be handed over to the Palestinians.
According to Boro's, their forefathers came from Tibet. Hence they are as foreign to the North East as the Ahoms, and others who migrated to Assam at a later stage.
Clarification: No historians can prove that Boro are form Tibet. In a national life sometimes two questions arise: 1. to submit for forever or 2. to fight and live with dignity. Instead of submitting their heads, many nations have fought and secured their right position. Some have become independent and sovereign. We have decided not to submit for forever but to fight for our rights and dignity. Wahid wants us to remain like native peoples of Austarlia and New Zealand. It is up to them whether they want to fight or not. May be the Australian and New Zealand governments are more progressive and civilized than the Indian government. That is why these native people don’t have to fight. All the Palestinians would have been in Refugee camps by now but because of their struggle, Israel had to concede West bank and Gaza Strip to the Palestinian people.
Not all Boro's want an independent homeland. A majority of the Boro is represented by the Bodoland People's Progressive Front (Hagrama faction), which is a coalition partner of the Congress-led State Government. This demand of an independent Bodoland was included in the 'constitution' of the NDFB, only recently on March 10, 1998. NDFB took almost 12 years after its formation to write their constitution demanding an independent Bodoland.
In the short period of Boro history we see a complete turnabout on the part of the leaders of some of the 'Bodo liberation movements' - from a position of rebellion to a law-abiding citizens of India. For example: Bijoy Hrankhwal of Tripura and the leaders of the BLT.
Clarification: The liberation movement starts with few. We are armed revolutionaries. We don’t need many. The armed revolutionary party should not be compared with the political party. Since the very beginning we have aimed to liberate Boro people and Boroland for distinct identity and civilization and to establish a democratic socialist society to promote liberty, equality and fraternity free from socio-politico and economic exploitation, oppression, suppression and colonization. The Constitution of the Boro Security Force was adopted and enacted in the Constituent Assembly on the 24th January 1988. So our party was run by this Constitution till the new Constitution of the NDFB was adopted in 1998. Wahid can read the Constitution of the BSF. We will be glad to see the Constitution of Congress of 1886. Do have the copy of it? Isn’t the Congress started to help the British government when it started its movement? Why the Indians adopted their Constitution only in 1950? Why not in 1947?
There may be failed leaders like Bijoy Rangkhwal and of BLT, but we are fortunate to have more leaders and organizations to fight for the cause of the Boro people. We have organizations like NDFB, NLFT and TPDF that have been fighting for years against India.
With interest I have gone through the interview of BSG with Mr. Ranjan Daimari alias D. R. Nabla. After going through the interview I would like to make the following observations:
According to Mr. Nabla "Since the historically untraced ages the Boro had been ruling through out the Brahmaputra and Barak Valleys, with extension in Cachar Hills of Assam and Tripura and in some parts of West Bengal, Bihar, Nepal and Bangladesh".
But the question is if there is no "historical trace" how come Mr. Nabla informs that Boro's ruled different parts of the North east of India including Bihar, Bangladesh and Nepal? As you know the Dutch are famous for keeping records. The VOC had a trading post at Chinchura, near present day Kolkata. They traded in the Eastern part of India and kept records. Even diary's of Dutch sailors who visited Assam in 1662-63 informs about life and rulers of that area. In the Dutch records there is no mention of Boro or Bodo tribe's in these areas. You cannot find also any mention of the name in the Portuguese or Moghul writings. Or are they mentioned under another name?
Clarification: Boro were known by different names such as Kirata, Mleccha, Asura, Danava, Kachari, Mech, Dimasa. Tipperah, Koch in different places in different times. The sixth northern districts of present West Bengal was ruled by the Koch and was semi-independent native state even during the British rule. The Koch Bihar was annexed by India only on 28th August 1949. Because of the rule of the Boro people, they are still found and scattered in Bengal, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Mr. Nabla said "The Boro people lived as a free nation with dignity and honour till the British invaded and annexed their dominions into British India Administration".
British were not the first to subjugate the Boro's. Before the British came to Assam, the Ahoms ruled Assam for more than 600 years. Boro's and later the Kacharis and other tribes lived under the Ahoms. Tripura, Bengal, Bihar etc. were under the rule of the Moghuls and later under the British.
Clarification: Ahoms were the first invaders. But they could not fully conquer and control all the dominions of the Boro people. The Ahom territory was mostly limited to present Dibrugarh and Sibsagar districts. Only occasionally their territory was extended to Guwahati. Even during the height of Ahom rules the Boro people were free and ruling in the Cachar with extension to the hills, in Tripura, Nothern bank of Brahmaputra and Koch Bihar (in present northern West Bengal). The invasion of Ahoms and Mughal were of no much effect to the Boro dominions.
According to Mr. Nabla "the NDFB feels that ULFA should spell out their socio-economic and political system of sovereign Assam".
What about the "socio-economic and political system of sovereign Bodoland? Did NDFB spell it out?
Will there be space for non-Boro in the Bodoland of NDFB? Their conflict with the Adivasis is well known which led to violent expulsion of non-Bodos from the region, which resulted in the displacement of more than 87,000 ethnic Santhals, and a smaller number of Bengalis and Nepalese.
Clarification: The NDFB has its own constitution and manifesto where the aims and objective and the guiding principles of the Party is inscribed. The socio-economic and political system of sovereign Boroland is declared by the NDFB in the Constitution as well as in the Manifesto. I don’t think so even the Congress and Mahatma Gandhi had such a vision for post independence India. Let Wahid go through the constitution and the manifesto of the NDFB.
“There is no country in the modern world that is not a multi racial and Boroland shall not be exception to this. The NDFB is not against any caste, creed, community or religion. People of any community or religion shall live in sovereign Boroland… (Manifesto of the NDFB; Boroland and its people: page 21)”
Santhals, who are mainly from Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal of India, are rapidly destroying the forest reserves and its flora and fauna of Boroland. Not only that, the Santhals raped and murdered three young Boro girls in 1994, out of that incident an ethnic conflict flared up. The NDFB had nothing to do with the ethnic conflict that took place out of the rape and murder. I don’t know any displacement of Nepalese. Not Bengalees but few suspected Bangladeshi Muslims became the victims of communal conflict. There are few who are still in the rehabilitation camps. The Indians are deliberately trying to change the demography of not only in Boroland but also in the entire Region. These Indians are deliberately pushed by the Indian government to out number the indigenous peoples of the region. That is why recently the All Arunchal Pradesh Students’ Union has deported more than 30, 000 suspected people that they call as “movement for survival.” The Nagas in Tuensang district did the same. Every now and then you can hear that ULFA or the other organizations are killing the Indians or other alien peoples just for survival. In Tripura the indigenous Borok people have become microscopic minority. The Boro people are not exception to that in their own land. It is just a civilian aggression that is more danger than the armed aggression.
Nationalism, according to Mr. Nabla "is a modern and recent phenomenon, was unthinkable among the illiterate and rustic Boro people"
This indirectly implies why it is difficult to come across information about Boro history. They even did not have a set of alphabets. First it was the Assamese Alphabet and now it is the Devnagari alphabets used in the Boro language. As part of colonization, the strategy the British followed in the region was to allow the missionaries to build their religious and educational institutions and use them as agencies of integrating the tribal folk with the west. According to the information in one of the Internet sites with information about Bodoland mentions that the most of the NDFB members are Christians. The Boro’s, which were converted in to Christianity, now want to introduce the Roman alphabets in the Boro language. T he Boro Thunlai Afat – a Boro literary organization was formed on the 16th November 1952 to revive and promote the Boro language and the cultural that were on the deathbed.
The comments of Mr. Nabla also answer the question why in the past the Boro's did not take arms against the British and fought for their independence. They only submitted memorandum and that too by two distinct youth organisations one from the Kachari tribe and the other from the Boro tribe.
During the British rule the Assam Kachari Juvok Sanmiloni and the Boro Juvok Sanmiloni submitted a memorandum to the visiting Simon Commission (1928-29) demanding recognition as a distinct tribal society, and separate from the Hindu society. They demanded that the people be identified as Boro in the census Report of British India and a separate Boro Regiment in military service of British India Government. From the above it can be concluded that the Boro's in the past were willing to serve the British and not fight against them.
Even at that time there was no representation on behalf of the all the Boro's of Assam. The representatives were not only from the Boro tribe but also from the Kacharis. At that time they did not demand for an independent Bodoland.
After the British left India there was hardly any political movement of the Boro's. The movements, which were started, were not for an independent land but a separate state within the Indian union. There was a mass movement for nearly 25 years started by the Plain Tribal Council of Assam (PTCA), a political party founded on 27th of February 1967. The PTCA mass movement was to get a separate state – Udayachal for the Plains Tribal's within the Indian Constitution. The All Bodo Student's Union (ABSU) from time to time lent their helping hands towards the PTCA movement. Later the PTCA got fragmented into PTCA and PTCA (Progressive). The latter changed its name to United Tribal Nationalist Liberation Front (UTNLF)) in 1984, which demanded "Missing Bodoland". UTNLF was later renamed United Boro Nationalist Liberation Front (UBNLF) and demanded a union territory of Bodoland. There was never a demand for a sovereign country. These Bodo movements failed due to mutually destructive rivalry among the leaders themselves.
Clarification: Since the British rule the Boro people struggled peacefully and democratically for their rights and survival. But nothing is achieved. The armed struggle is the last resort for all. So the Boro people took arms. ABSU, BLT and NDFB took arms as a last resort. It is because of the guns, bullets and bombs that the Indian government could hear the cry of Boro people and made an accord with ABSU and later with BLT.
Why did the Indians needed 300 years to wake up and fight against British? Why the Indians did not drive away the British in the 16th century? What was the problem? Because of the innocent and rustic Indians could not feel the colonialism of British?
You will be surprised to know that 95 per cent of the members of the NDFB are non-Christians. The NDFB is fighting for the cause of the Boro people. Not for Christianity or for any religion. Adoption of Roman script for the Boro language was the decision of the Boro literary organization in 1971 when both the President Ramdas Basumatary and General Secretary Bihuram Boro were non-Christians.
It is unfortunate that the Boro do not have their script. So the Boro people wanted to have the Roman Script as their script. But the Indian government had imposed Devanagiri against the will of the Boro people. In the movement for the Roman script, thousands were put into jail, many have suffered and the Indian government had butchered 21 lives. Is there any example in the world that even for a mere script 21 lives had to be sacrificed? Now the Mizo, Naga, Garo, Khasi are writing their language in Roman Script. The Mishing and Karbi of Assam have started writing their language in Roman Script. Borok of Tripura wants to adopt Roman for their language. Imposition of Devanagiri by the government of India is clearly a discriminatory act.
Many Organizations and Parties of the Boro people launched movement for either Union Territory or Statehood under Indian Constitution. But NDFB went a step further and took armed and is fighting for the liberation for Boro people and Boroland. No Union Territory or Statehood can resolve the problems of Boro people. Under Delhi the Boro can never resolve their genuine problems and decide their own fate. For example, the Nagas, the Meiteis, Tripuris, Garo- Kashi, Assamese are fighting even after having their own statehood. The Boro people will have to fight even after having their own statehood. So the NDFB is fighting for ultimate goal - the liberation and freedom.
One of the arguments put by Mr. Nabla is: "Right from the USA to East Timor have fought and secured the right to self-determination, or have become independent and sovereign. So we will also fight and secure the right to self-determination".
If I understand him correctly and if we follow his train of thoughts than today's Australia and New Zeeland should be given back to the aboriginals; USA to their original inhabitants and Israel should be handed over to the Palestinians.
According to Boro's, their forefathers came from Tibet. Hence they are as foreign to the North East as the Ahoms, and others who migrated to Assam at a later stage.
Clarification: No historians can prove that Boro are form Tibet. In a national life sometimes two questions arise: 1. to submit for forever or 2. to fight and live with dignity. Instead of submitting their heads, many nations have fought and secured their right position. Some have become independent and sovereign. We have decided not to submit for forever but to fight for our rights and dignity. Wahid wants us to remain like native peoples of Austarlia and New Zealand. It is up to them whether they want to fight or not. May be the Australian and New Zealand governments are more progressive and civilized than the Indian government. That is why these native people don’t have to fight. All the Palestinians would have been in Refugee camps by now but because of their struggle, Israel had to concede West bank and Gaza Strip to the Palestinian people.
Not all Boro's want an independent homeland. A majority of the Boro is represented by the Bodoland People's Progressive Front (Hagrama faction), which is a coalition partner of the Congress-led State Government. This demand of an independent Bodoland was included in the 'constitution' of the NDFB, only recently on March 10, 1998. NDFB took almost 12 years after its formation to write their constitution demanding an independent Bodoland.
In the short period of Boro history we see a complete turnabout on the part of the leaders of some of the 'Bodo liberation movements' - from a position of rebellion to a law-abiding citizens of India. For example: Bijoy Hrankhwal of Tripura and the leaders of the BLT.
Clarification: The liberation movement starts with few. We are armed revolutionaries. We don’t need many. The armed revolutionary party should not be compared with the political party. Since the very beginning we have aimed to liberate Boro people and Boroland for distinct identity and civilization and to establish a democratic socialist society to promote liberty, equality and fraternity free from socio-politico and economic exploitation, oppression, suppression and colonization. The Constitution of the Boro Security Force was adopted and enacted in the Constituent Assembly on the 24th January 1988. So our party was run by this Constitution till the new Constitution of the NDFB was adopted in 1998. Wahid can read the Constitution of the BSF. We will be glad to see the Constitution of Congress of 1886. Do have the copy of it? Isn’t the Congress started to help the British government when it started its movement? Why the Indians adopted their Constitution only in 1950? Why not in 1947?
There may be failed leaders like Bijoy Rangkhwal and of BLT, but we are fortunate to have more leaders and organizations to fight for the cause of the Boro people. We have organizations like NDFB, NLFT and TPDF that have been fighting for years against India.
With warm regards,
Wahid Saleh
2 comments:
ha, I will try out my thought, your post give me some good ideas, it's really amazing, thanks.
- Murk
Man i am a Bodo u i have dat u gt sme fakts thru wit sense dat sme so kalled revolutionaries ignore 2 understand but at da same tym u have alot of things in a way which makes of thing that u still have several misconception or uclear knowledge of Bodo history.
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