Guwahati, Nov. 7: A day after the Assam government invited the Bodo Liberation Tigers for “final discussions” on the proposed Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), the Sanmilita Janagosthiya Sangram Samiti (SJSS) declared that it would take its agitation to the United Nations.

The executive committee of the SJSS, which is a federation of 18 non-Bodo organisations opposed to the constitution of a new administrative set-up, will meet on November 9 to finalise its strategy.

The meeting between the government and the BLT leadership will be held four days later.

“We have decided to move the United Nations because the Centre and the state government have not cared to respond to our demands for a halt to the process of creating the BTC. The state government has decided to impose the BTC on everyone and ignore the non-Bodos, who comprise the majority of the population in the proposed council’s territory,” SJSS deputy chief convenor Brajen Mahanta told The Telegraph today.

The SJSS will stage a demonstration in front of Parliament during the winter session. This is part of the strategy to mobilise opinion against the BTC through a countrywide campaign.

Terming the state government’s invitation to the BLT “a conspiracy to trigger a conflict between the Bodo and the non-Bodo communities”, Mahanta said at least 1,000 of the 3,070 villages cleared for inclusion in the BTC territory did not have a sizeable Bodo population.

“It will be a travesty of justice if the government imposes an administrative set-up on us. The Bodos, who are in the minority in these villages, will rule the majority non-Bodo population,” Mahanta said.

The SJSS leader reiterated that the concept of “territorial autonomy” for a particular community was not feasible for an area with a mixed population. “It will encourage other ethnic groups in the state to raise the demand to carve out territories along ethnic lines. By giving its consent to the creation of the BTC, the Congress government has paved the way for division of the state into small territories and more intense ethnic conflicts.”

The Cabinet sub-committee on the BTC, which met here yesterday, is examining the BLT’s demand for the inclusion of 93 additional villages in the proposed Bodo set-up.

Health minister Bhumidhar Barman, who heads the four-member sub-committee, said a consensus on the issue was expected at the November 13 meeting.

“If a decision is taken, we will apprise Congress MLAs and MPs from the Bodo belt about it the same day. The Cabinet will formally endorse the inclusion of additional villages by November 15. The idea is to remove all hurdles in the way of constituting the BTC by this date,” he said.