Sarhad members meet Anna Hazare, urge him to visit Boragiri village. (Source: Express photo) Sarhad members meet Anna Hazare, urge him to visit Boragiri village. (Source: Express photo) Boragiri, a remote village near Kokrajhar, a town in Bodoland Territorial Council, Assam, is deprived of basic necessities like clean water, 24X7 electricity, school and hospital. The All Bodo Student’s Union (ABSU), along with city-based organisation Sarhad, is planning to bring this village into the mainstream by introducing facilities such as a museum, library, auditorium, amphitheatre and a well-equipped sports ground. “Boragiri is the village where Upendranath Brahma, who is known as the Father of Bodos and had demanded Bodoland, grew up. Throughout his life, he fought for the rights of the Bodos and wanted to see the Bodo community come in the mainstream. Due to the violence, which engulfed the region a few years ago, Bodos of the region have been further disconnected with everything happening beyond this area. Thus, in order to fulfil his (Brahma’s) dream, we have embarked up on turning Boragiri into a model village, so that other villages too can take inspiration from it and replicate it,” said Pramod Boro, president of ABSU. Over four years ago, in July 2012, violence had hit Assam due to the riots between Bengali-speaking Muslims and the Bodo community. While many lost their lives and were injured, lakhs of people were displaced and had to take shelter in relief camps. With the initiative in the mind, ABSU approached Sarhad — an organisation that has been working for Kashmiris and children since the past two decades. In July 2015, nearly 100 Bodo children from Assam, who lost their homes in the December 2014 attacks, were adopted by Sarhad. The children are currently residing at Sarhad, where they are getting free-of-cost education and stay. Talking about their participation in the Boragiri initiative, Sanjay Nahar, founder of Sarhad, said, “As of now, we have donated Rs 2 lakh. Further, we will be assisting them with books for the library, among other things. We recently met social activist Anna Hazare to visit the region to see the project and motivate ABSU members. He has agreed for it.” Boro added that the project is estimated to cost around Rs 45 lakh, which will be raised by ABSU members by mobilising local NGOs and organisations. “The construction work has already begun and will be completed in a few months. We are aiming at keeping this initiative an ongoing project and hope to add more and more features to it as years go by,” he said. For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App now

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