Organisations demanding a separate Bodoland in Assam on Tuesday welcomed the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 and bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories while demanding the Centre to resolve the Bodoland issue.

The All Bodo Students’ Union (Absu), Peoples’ Joint Action Committee for Bodo-land Movement and National Democratic Front of Boroland (Progressive) staged a demonstration at Chirang on Tuesday over this demand.

“The Bodoland-movement organisations believe that the manner in which the Union ministry of law and justice has issued the notification invoking powers under Article 370 of the Constitution, indicates that the Centre has a political will that surmounts all obstacles to its aim and vision. We call upon the government to exercise the same political will and urgency in dealing with the statehood demand like Bodoland,” a statement said.

The organisations said the BJP had promised to fulfil their statehood demand ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. “It is also well known fact that the party is in favour of creation of small states as per its Bhubaneswar Convention of 1996,” said Absu president Pramod Boro.

Activists of the Bodoland movement group also raised the demand at a demonstration at Kasikotra in Chirang district on Tuesday.

“In 1969, the demand for Telangana state was raised which was later fulfilled. Recently, Jammu and Kashmir has been bifurcated to protect the rights of its residents. If so, then why the Bodoland demand, which has been raised since 1967, cannot be fulfilled by the government?” he asked.

“The government should leave aside its divide and rule policy and address the issue of Bodoland,” said former Rajya Sabha MP Urkhaw Gwra Brahma.

“No government can sustain itself by depriving the Bodos of their rights, so the government should address the Bodoland issue to bring lasting peace in the state,” said NDFB (P) president Gobinda Chandra Basumatary.

Additional reporting by Tejesh Tripathy in Bongaigaon