Kokrajhar (Assam), March 14 (IANS): Bodo leaders on Tuesday threatened to destabilise the entire northeastern region of the country if the government continued to ignore their demand for a separate state. They said that both the state government and the Centre should be prepared to face law and order problem if an amicable solution was not reached over the issue. The Bodos have been demanding a separate state for the 60-lakh-odd Bodo community in Assam since the late 1960s. The Bodo leaders allege that the governments at the Centre and in the state have failed to honour promises made to the community. The Bodo activists have since March 10 begun a hunger strike in Kokrajhar and scores of hunger-strikers -- who include the aged in large numbers -- have begun showing signs of weakness. The hunger strike is jointly led by ABSU, National Democratic Front of Bodoland-Progressive (NDFB-P) and the People's Joint Action Committee for Bodoland Movement (PJACBM). A massive mass rally, with around a lakh of people participating, was taken out in Kokrajhar town on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the health condition of scores of activists on hunger strike deteriorated and they had to be taken to the RNB Civil Hospital.
