School of happiness to strike roots in Assam in 2024

A first-of-its-kind school for imparting lessons on humanity and societal happiness will take root in Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) at the dawn of 2024.

A first-of-its-kind school for imparting lessons on humanity and societal happiness will take root in Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) at the dawn of 2024.

The foundation of the International School of Peace and Happiness is scheduled to be laid in the first week of January at Bijni in western Assam’s Chirang district, one of five in the BTR. The project would be initiated after a year of planning by the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), which administers the BTR formed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

“Conflicts of the kind Manipur has been experiencing are heart-wrenching for a region known for its natural splendour and hospitality. The areas now under BTR went through a similar phase over 50 years of movement (for Statehood),” BTC’s chief executive member, Pramod Boro said on Saturday.

The BTR areas have had a history of extremism resulting in ethnic conflicts, especially between the Bodos, the largest plains tribe in the northeast, and migrant Muslims, and between the Bodos and Adivasis. Hundreds were killed and more than 500,000 people were displaced in major communal clashes in 1993, 2008, and 2012.

Mr. Boro said the idea of a school specialising in peace-building and spreading happiness had germinated since his party, the United People’s Party Liberal, formed the BTC government with the BJP and the Gana Suraksha Party three years ago.

“The objective was to instil in youth and community leaders the human values for co-existence in a region and country inhabited by people of diverse faiths, cultures, languages, and ethnicity — all interdependent. We felt such values needed formal schooling through which a team of peace ambassadors can be produced toward resolving conflicts at the micro and macro levels,” he said.

The school of happiness had its genesis in a pilot project called Bodoland Happiness Mission introduced almost a year ago. Some 400 youth and community leaders were chosen to become peace and happiness volunteers after undergoing a few weeks of training at the Bodoland Community Counselling Centres.