PM Modi To Address Rally In Kokrajhar Of Assam Today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Kokarajhar in Assam to attend an event celebrating the signing of the historic Bodo accord. PM Modi will be visiting the Nort-east for the first time since protests broke out in Assam and elsewhere, against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Security forces have kept strict vigil in place after two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were found, following a tip-off from an arrested member of United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA).

In the face of anti-CAA protests, Prime Minister Modi was forced to cancel his meeting with Japanese PM, Shinzo Abe scheduled to have been held in December. He also had to skip the inaugural programme of the Khelo India Youth Games in January, which he was scheduled to attend.

The Bodo accord, the third since 1993, is considered a major milestone for the establishment of peace in the region. The first Bodo agreement, inked in 1993, failed to inspire confidence. The second 2003 Bodo accord, led to the setting up of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). However, the demand for Bodoland was not given up, notwithstanding the signing of the previous accords.

On January 27, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Assam government and the Bodo groups the Bodo accord under which the Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) will be redrawn and renamed. The area is at present spread over the districts of Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang and Udalguri. Non-Bodo population would be kept out while villages with a dominant Bodo presence would be included, as per the accord.