Pramod Boro quits Absu after 30 years, may enter politics

GUWAHATI: After serving the All Bodo Students' Union (Absu) for three decades, Pramod Boro, one of the most prominent Bodo leaders, quit the Bodo organisation on Thursday.
Absu activists bid a tearful adieu to Boro - a signatory of the third Bodo Accord signed with the Centre last month - who announced his decision at the special two-day convention of the student body in Tamulpur in Baksa district on Thursday.
Welcoming the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) Accord, the delegate house of the session resolved to indefinitely suspend all forms of "Bodoland movement" and other agitations, and focus on other activities of social uplift.
Since joining Absu about 30 years ago, Boro has been a part of the central committee of the student body for 19 years and was headed by him since 2009. While speculation has been doing the rounds that Boro may join former Rajya Sabha MP Urkhao Gwra Brahma-led United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), he said people were not happy with politicians who were "alienated from society".
"I realised that there was no reason why issues of the Bodo people cannot be solved. The only need is a zeal to work. I will take a decision on joining (electoral) politics without delaying much time," Boro told TOI.
Calling the third Bodo Peace Accord a milestone in ushering in peace to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) areas, he said the immediate task of the government was to implement the peace agreement by withdrawing the pending cases against the NDFB cadres and rehabilitating them. Besides, he said developing education infrastructure in the BTR was going to be vital.
"Due to lack of provincialisation of schools in the BTC areas over the years, the quality of education has suffered. This issue should be addressed as per the clauses of the Bodo Accord. Simultaneously, adequate number of teachers should be appointed and a separate directorate should be established for Bodo medium schools. Both the Centre and the state should take efforts to implement all clauses of the accord without delay," Boro added.
The house relieved Pramod Boro from the president's post of the Absu and has inducted vice-president Dipen Boro as the president of the student body till next conference to be held in January 2021.