Bodo language row triggers protests across BTC; BoNSU revives separate Bodoland demand

KOKJHAR, July 6, 2026 — Protests erupted across the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) region on Sunday following reports that the General Purposes Committee (GPC) of the Assam Legislative Assembly had decided to remove the Bodo language from the Assembly's official emblem.

Members of the Bodo National Students' Union (BoNSU) staged demonstrations in Kokrajhar, smearing black paint on Assamese-language signboards at several business establishments along J.D. Road, Bow Bazar and other parts of the town. The protest sparked widespread public debate and criticism.

Addressing a press conference at the Kokrajhar Press Club, BoNSU president Banjit Manzil Basumatary termed the reported move a conspiracy against the Bodo community and said it would never be accepted.

He said Bodo is a constitutionally recognised language included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and that any attempt to undermine it amounts to an insult to the indigenous tribal communities of Assam. He accused the state government of adopting a discriminatory approach towards the language.

Basumatary further said the alleged anti-language policy had forced BoNSU to revive its long-standing demand for a separate Bodoland state. He announced that the organisation would restart its statehood movement from Monday and recalled its earlier "Divide Assam 50-50" campaign.

He also claimed that linguistic discrimination by successive governments had contributed to the creation of states such as Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland. He urged the Centre to grant separate statehood to the Bodo community, alleging decades of language-based discrimination.

BoNSU adviser Pabitra Boro, who joined the protest in Kokrajhar, accused Assam Legislative Assembly Speaker Ranjit Kumar Dass of repeatedly insulting the Bodo community. He alleged that the Speaker's actions reflected prejudice against the Bodo language and its speakers.

Warning of stronger protests, Boro said that if the Bodo language is not given due respect in Assam, people in the BTC region would oppose the use of Assamese. He further claimed that no one should be allowed to write or speak Assamese in the BTC if discrimination against the Bodo language continues.

However, Assam Legislative Assembly Speaker Ranjit Kumar Dass later clarified that the Bodo language would continue to remain on the Assembly's official emblem. He said there was no proposal to remove Bodo and added that Hindi had been included on the emblem from Sunday, while the existing languages would remain unchanged.