The Bodos and Their Ethnic Movement with Special Reference to Assam.

Abstract: The Bodos are the race of Mongolian people who are described to be the inhabitants of a country lying to the north of the Himalayas and the West of China. It is one of the largest indigenous ethnic groups of Assam. The Bodo is a generic term refers to all the Tibeto Burman (Bodo) speaking people of Chino-Tibeto origin. (Chhetri Atreya, 2007:1-2).The north eastern region of India is considered as the homeland of multi ethnic group. This region is inhabited by people belonging to various caste, community, culture, ethnicity, languages and religion. In Contemporary time ethnics assertion movements in North- east India has emerged strongly. These movements are the collective voice of people of various ethnic groups. These groups assert their aspirations, demands and rights for the preservation and protection of their unique ethnic heritage, cultural diversity, language, traditions and to protect their ancestral homeland, safeguarding their distinct ethnic identity as well as to gain political rights which are given as per the Indian constitution. The assertion of ethnic movement mainly based on the protection of the ethnic identity and socio-cultural heritage of an ethnic group.Through this paper an attempt is made to look into the origin and history of the Bodos and various causes of ethnic assertion of Bodo group in Assam. The article also tries to look into the state government’s initiatives as well as the role of civil society to solve the ethnic assertion of Bodo ethnic group.Key Words: History and Originality, present Socio-economic and political status and various causes of Bodo ethnic movement, and Suggestions