For some of the signatories like Hagrama and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the motions of signing a peace accord – including displaying victory signs – were almost an exercise in time travel. They did the same in 2003 when the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) led by Hagrama had surrendered, and the BTC was created. Similar to what the 2003 Accord did with the BLT cadres, seventeen years later, the 2020 Accord promises to do the same with the NDFB cadres and rehabilitate them.

Criminal cases against them will be withdrawn. Heinous crimes will be reviewed. Kin of Bodo rebels killed in this struggle will be compensated. New Bodo areas will be brought under the fold of a Bodoland Regional Council, and money will be pumped in for development. In sum, this attempt at peace appears to follow a familiar template. It repeats a process that has been done before. It just rechristens the Bodoland Territorial Council and tries really hard to erase the hard drive of violence, and reboot lives for sustainable peace. A realisation that might be impossible given the accord’s attempt to hear only Bodo voices.