• Berlao K Karjie

The Boro or Bodo or Kachari formed a solid bloc of the Mongoloid population spreading throughout the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys. Since the historically untraced ages, the Bodos had exercised their highly developed political, legal and socio-cultural influences. Bodo people lived as a free nation with dignity and honour till the British invaded and annexed their dominions one after another into British India territory just after the Treaty of Yandaboo signed on the 24th February, 1826 A.D. Since then Bodos have been struggling to get proper socio-political status. The political movement and developments of the Bodos can be divided into three main phases viz. Pre-Colonial period (1901-1917), Post-Colonial period (1950-2003) and the Post-BTC period (2003 onwards). In this paper a detailed study of the Bodo movement in its three main phases will be discussed. The mid 19th century political struggle and the movement of socio-political status under the initiative of Gurudev kalicharan Brahma and the formation of All Assam Plain Tribal League (AAPTL) with the participation of the Bodos in the first general elections in 1937 comprises some of the important events in the Pre-Colonial Bodo politics. The Post-Colonial movement started with the demand for separate homeland with the growing political consciousness and with the increasing feeling of inferiority complex among the plain tribes. The formation of different Bodo organisations like All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU), Plains Tribal Council of Assam (PTCA), United Tribal National Liberation Front (UTNLF) etc. took up the momentum of the movement. This phase also saw the rise of the militant groups who took up arms in support of the demand for separate Bodoland. In the third phases after the formation of BTC the movement still continues under the leadership of ABSU.

Keywords- Territory, Movement, Organisations, Leadership

"THE BODO MOVEMENT: PAST AND PRESENT", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.89-99, June-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906D67.pdf

"THE BODO MOVEMENT: PAST AND PRESENT", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp89-99, June-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906D67.pdf