GUWAHATI
Kokrajhar district’s Jwngdao Narzary, Chirang’s Suren Lakra, and Udalguri’s Farman Ali, strangers to each other, share a common bond – they are all victims of communal riots and political violence in Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) between 2008 and 2020.
Narzary, a Bodo, Lakra, an Adivasi, and Ali, a Bengali Muslim, have been witnesses to members of their families being burnt alive, hacked, or shot. Like thousands of others across the BTR, then called the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts, their houses and farmlands were destroyed.
The BTR is governed by the 40-seat Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), which goes to the polls on September 22.
They were among 4000,000 people displaced from almost 400 villages because of riots and extremism since the late 1990s in the areas that the BTC governs. The violence claimed more than 110 human lives, and people stayed for months across 270 relief camps in the region.
“For years, the people carried the weight of vengeance and were suspicious of each other, but efforts by the BTC authorities to reach out to diverse communities helped heal wounds,” said Sambhu Hasda, a former Adivasi extremist, underscoring the need for “inclusive spaces that foster listening, understanding, and reconciliation”.
Abu Tahir of Kokrajhar district’s Gossaigaon attributed the courage to look within and see the trauma “I had been carrying for years” to the Bodoland Happiness Mission, which he said gave the people across the BTR the strength to forgive in the pursuit of sustainable peace.
Bhutan-inspired initiative
In the 1970s, Bhutan introduced the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which assesses psychological well-being, health, education, and environmental resilience to measure the country’s progress, rather than relying solely on economic indicators. The BTR shares almost 266 km with Bhutan.
Inspired by Bhutan, BTC chief Pramod Boro launched the Bodoland Happiness Mission in 2022 across the five districts of the BTR. He is also the president of the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), which heads the BTC government with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Gana Suraksha Party as the minor partners.
Unlike the last election in 2020, the UPPL and BJP do not have an electoral understanding for the September 22 polls to the 40-seat BTC.
According to Morin Daimary, the mission’s programme manager, the Happiness Mission focuses on mental and emotional well-being, offering training in mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and peace building. It aims to foster and sustain long-term peace and unity by encouraging dialogue among the 26 communities of the BTR.
The “inclusiveness initiatives” under the mission include the publication of an all-language wordbook, accommodating even the smallest communities without decisive voting strength, and the initiation of a museum-cum-research centre for each community.
Peace volunteers
Since 2023, more than 1,700 peace volunteers have been trained, and more than 15,000 people, including former insurgent leaders, have been part of the mission. Locals believe the mission has played a major role in ensuring a violence-free build-up to the BTC election, unlike the previous electoral episodes in the BTR.
The first election to the BTR was held in 2005, two years after the BTC was formed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to end years of extremism. The BTC was ruled by the Bodoland People’s Front, composed mostly of former militants, from 2003 (pre-election) to 2020.
However, the BTR continued to be scarred by violence. This saw the youths fleeing the region for survival, children dropping out of school, and people being displaced frequently.
Entrusted by the BTC government, the Happiness Mission team sought the help of women leaders, political representatives, and community leaders to heal the wounds. “The mission has been a game-changer,” Prabhat Chandra Sutradhar, a senior advisor to the All-BTR Sutradhar Sanmilan, said.
Ahead of the BTC polls, political parties are trying to cash in on the peacebuilding efforts in the BTR amid the polarisation in Assam beyond. They include the UPPL’s ally-turned-rival BJP, which has been claiming to have single-handedly brought peace to the once-violent region.
Published – August 27, 2025 07:14 pm IST
