New Delhi [India], November 16 : Noting that the Bodo community has faced many challenges but has shown immense resilience and committment to peace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that coming to the Bodoland Mahotsav is a very emotional moment for him and the affection from the Bodo community is something he greatly cherishes.
PM Modi today inaugurated the first Bodoland Mohotsav, a two day mega event on language, literature, and culture to sustain peace and build a vibrant Bodo society.
PM Modi said the government is committed to ensuring progress and prosperity for the vibrant Bodo community. He said the Bodo community has also shown violence can never solve any problem.
"You cannot imagine how emotional this moment is for me. Maybe, these people sitting in air-conditioned rooms in Delhi, those who give different kinds of theories have no idea how big this opportunity is. Fifty years of bloodshed, violence for 50 years, youths of three-four generations lost their lives to this violence... after so many decades, Bodo is celebrating a festival today.," PM Modi said.
"I don't know if people sitting in Delhi know the importance of these things. And this has not happened just like that... you all have created a new history today by untying every knot very patiently. My Bodo brothers and sisters, in the year 2020, I got the opportunity to visit Kokrajhar after the Bodo Peace Accord, the love and affection you gave me there, it felt like you treated me as one of your own. I will always remember that moment. After so many decades, Bodo community celebrating 'utsav', you have scripted new history," he added.
PM Modi said that after the Bodo Peace Accord, Bodoland witnessed a new wave of growth.
"In the last four years, the development of Bodoland has been very important. After the signing of the Peace Accord, Bodoland has witnessed a wave of development. I feel very satisfied after looking at the positive and encouraging results of the Peace Accord," PM Modi said.
He greeted the citizens of India on the auspicious occasion of Kartik Purnima and Dev Deepavali. He greeted all the Sikh brothers and sisters from across the globe on the 555th Prakash Parva of Sri Gurunanak Dev.
He added that the citizens of India were celebrating the Janjatiya Gaurav Divas, marking the 150th birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda.
The Prime Minister underlined that a strong foundation has been laid for the bright future of the Bodo people. Shri Modi remarked that the development undertaken in the last four years in Bodoland was extremely important.
"Bodoland has witnessed a new wave of development after the peace agreement," he said.
He said Bodo Peace Accord had opened new paths for many other agreements and noted that more than 10 thousand youths in Assam alone have given up weapons, deserted the path of violence to return to the mainstream of development as a result of the peace accords.
He added that it was beyond the imagination of anyone that the Karbi Anglong Accord, the Bru-Reang Accord and the NLFT-Tripura Accord would become a reality.
Highlighting the priority accorded by the Central and State Governments to the needs and aspirations of the Bodo community in the Bodo Territorial Region, PM Modi noted that the Central Government has given a special package of Rs 1500 crore for the development of Bodoland while the Assam government had granted a special development package.
He added that more than Rs 700 crore had been spent to develop the infrastructure related to education, health and culture in Bodoland.
The Prime Minister remarked that the Government had taken decisions with utmost sensitivity towards the people who have given up violence and returned to the mainstream.
He said that more than 4,000 former cadres of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland had been rehabilitated while many youth had been given jobs in Assam Police.
He noted that the Assam government had given assistance of Rs 5 lakh to each family affected by the Bodo conflict. The Prime Minister also said that the Assam government was spending more than Rs 800 crore every year for the development of Bodoland.
Emphasizing the importance of skill development and availability of opportunities for the youth and women for the development of any region, Modi underlined that SEED Mission meant welfare of youth through skilling, entrepreneurship, employment and development and expressed confidence that the Bodo youth were getting huge benefit from this.
PM Modi said he was pleased to see the gun wielding youth in the past were now moving ahead in the field of sports.
He noted the two editions of Durand Cup being held in Kokrajhar along with participation of teams from Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan was historic. The Prime Minister underlined that after the peace agreement, the Bodoland Literary Festival had also been held continuously in Kokrajhar for the last three years, denoting a great service to Bodo literature. He also greeted the people on the occasion of the 73rd foundation day of Bodo Sahitya Sabha.
He added that it was a day of celebration of Bodo literature and Bodo language, with a cultural rally being held tomorrow.
Noting that there is a tradition of weaving in every Bodo family, PM Modi said that necessary efforts had been undertaken to promote the cultural heritage of the Bodo community through Bodoland Handloom Mission.
"Assam is a great strength of India's tourism sector, while Bodoland is the strength of Assam's tourism," he said and noted that dense forests of Manas National Park, Raimona National Park and Sikhna Jhalao National Park, which were once used as hide-outs, were now becoming a medium to fulfil the ambitions of the youth.
He expressed confidence that the growing tourism in Bodoland would create many new employment opportunities for the youth.
Remembering Bodofa Upendra Nath Brahma and Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma for their contributions, PM Modi remarked that Bodofa always put forward the democratic method for the integrity of India and the constitutional rights of the Bodo people while Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma united the society by following the path of non-violence and spirituality.
The Prime Minister remarked that the entire North East, including Assam, is the Ashtalakshmi of India and the dawn of development would rise from Eastern India to give new energy to the resolve of a developed India. Therefore, he said, the Government was constantly making efforts for permanent peace in the North East by trying to find amicable solutions to the border disputes between the states of the North East.
Emphasizing that the golden era of development of Assam and North East had begun in the last decade,PM Modi said 25 crore people have come out of poverty in 10 years due to the policies of the Government.
He added that lakhs of people from Assam have also defeated poverty. Highlighting that Assam was creating new records of development during the present Government's tenure, PM Modi said that the government has focused especially on health infrastructure.
He added that in the last one-and-a-half years, Assam got four big hospitals, namely the Guwahati AIIMS and Kokrajhar, Nalbari, Nagaon Medical College, which have reduced people's difficulties. He added that the opening of cancer hospital in Assam had given great relief to the patients of North East.
PM Modi remarked that the number of medical colleges in Assam has increased to 12 from 6 before 2014. He added that there was work underway to open 12 more new medical colleges, which would open new doors of opportunities for the youth.