Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah addressed the 13th Triennial Bathou Mahasabha Conference in Tezpur, Assam, today.

In his address, Shri Amit Shah said that India is a country with diversity of beliefs and Bathou religion has grown up along with the traditional Sanatan Dharma and it is a very important part of India. He said that due to new perspective and efforts of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Bodoland problem in the Northeast was resolved and today this region is leaving the path of violence and moving forward on the path of development. He said that Dularai Bathou Gouthum was established in Guwahati in 1962 and since then it has been working for the Bodo community and Bathou religion. Shri Shah said that this Mahasabha has worked to reflect the Bathou religion in the lifestyle of the Bodo community with practical and scientific analysis. He said that the Assam government has declared the second Tuesday of the month of Magh as a holiday for Bathou Puja.

The Union Home Minister said that he prays for the peace of the entire world and especially our Northeast region through the spiritual vision of Bathou Mahasabha i.e. Dharma, Non-Violence, Peace, Forgiveness and Compassion. He said that only those who know the meaning of Bathou religion can know about Bathou community. He said that Ba means five and Thou means deep, that is, the science of the five elements and the process of understanding their deep secrets. He said that the basic principle of the Bathou religion of Bodo community is to give the message of unity of the five elements. He said that according to the philosophy of Bathou religion, Borai Bathou permeates the universe. Shri Shah said that this philosophy of five elements is the philosophy of worship of nature and the flag of Bathou religion also reflects this. Shri Shah said that both, the Bathou flag and religion, give the message of worship of the five elements.

Shri Amit Shah said that the five moral messages of Bathouism provide guidance to the entire country and the world. He said that Bathou religion is moving forward on the basis of these five basic messages of sacred experience, sacred practice, compassion, truth and renunciation of hatred. He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Government of India and the Government of Assam are committed to strengthening all religions. He said that according to our belief systems there is nothing greater than nature and PM Narendra Modi’s government at Center will leave no stone unturned to preserve and promote our religions that focus on nature-worship, especially in the Northeast. He said that we will definitely do whatever is required for the protection of all religions.

The Union Home Minister said that the Bodo movement has a long history and the Bodo people have struggled a lot to save their culture. He said that the policy of the previous governments was to enjoy power by diverting attention from the fundamental issues and due to this policy thousands of people lost their lives. He said that now under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, Bodo Agreement was signed and today there is an atmosphere of peace and harmony in the entire Bodoland. Shri Shah said that Bodoland has not witnessed a single incident of violence in the last 3 years and Bodoland is now on the path of progress. He said that a new saga of development has started here. Prime Minister Modi's mission of developing and establishing peace in the entire Northeast has been successful today.

Shri Amit Shah said that tenure of Prime Minister Modi has seen a 73% reduction in incidents of violence in the entire Northeast, 71% reduction in deaths of security forces personnel and 86% reduction in civilian deaths. He said that the Modi government has signed nine peace agreements in the last 10 years and about 9000 youth have given up arms and joined the mainstream. He said that due to the agreement finalized by the Modi government on January 27, 2020, more than 1600 youth have joined the mainstream of the society. He said that the Union government and the Assam government together have given a development package of Rs 1500 crore for the development of this area. He said that today, under the leadership of Chief Minister of Assam, Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma, entire Assam is moving on the path of development with peace. He said that the government has created the Bodo Kachari Welfare Autonomous Council, and now the state government has done the work of recognizing the local Bodo language as an associate official language of Assam. 10 colleges of Bodoland Territorial Region have been localized and a compensation of Rs. 4 lakh has also been provided to 4,200 cadres of the erstwhile NDFB.

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