Assam oppn claims ST status report 'vague' govt says ‘all satisfied’

    Guwahati/ Kokrajhar/ Haflong, Nov 30 (PTI) The report on demand for ST status by six communities of Assam has evoked mixed response, with the government claiming on Sunday that it was to the satisfaction of all sections, the opposition claimed it was vague.
    Amid continued protests by several groups who are currently on the state's scheduled tribes list, the Congress accused Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of attempting to stoke conflict between the six communities demanding ST status and the existing such groups.
    The ruling BJP asserted that submission of the report is the first step towards resolution of a decades-old issue.
    The report of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on the demand for ST status by Ahom, Chutia, Moran, Matak, Koch-Rajbongshi and Tea Tribes (adivasis) communities was laid in the Assembly on Saturday. If these communities are granted ST status, they will come under reservation for education and jobs.
    The report, however, recommended a three-tier reservation system of STs so that the demand can be met without affecting the quota of the existing tribal groups.
    Sarma, talking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme in Sonitpur district, said the report was acceptable to all.
    
    “The report is out now, and it is there for everyone to see. I think, the report has been able to satisfy all sections of people,” he said.
    Asked about opposition to the report by some groups, Sarma said, “Every issue will have some people in its favour and some against. This is democracy. All people will not accept something just because I have said it.”

    State Congress president Gaurav Gogoi said in a post on X that the “Congress has supported the claim that six indigenous communities of the state must be declared as ST without affecting the rights and privileges of the existing ST groups”.
    An assembly resolution to this end was passed during the last Congress government, he said, referring to a motion adopted under his father and Assam’s three-time and longest serving CM Tarun Gogoi’s administration.
    On the GoM's report laid in the Assembly, Gogoi said, “Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma while bringing a report to grant category wise ST status has been unable to show that the rights of the existing ST communities remain intact.”
    “As an indigenous community, we want the best for our tribal brothers and sisters. But it seems that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is stoking another conflict between 6 indigenous communities and the scheduled tribes of Assam,” the Congress leader claimed.

    He alleged that this is typical divide and rule politics as practised by the British during the colonial era.
    “People of Assam are fed up with this politics and will not wait for too long. We want to live in harmony as a strong united Bor Axom (greater Assam),” Gogoi, an Ahom himself, asserted.
    Another opposition AIUDF leader Rafiqul Islam alleged that the BJP-led government has no intention of granting ST status to the six communities.
    “The BJP government has been in place here for last 10 years, but they have not taken any resolution in the matter. The report was silently placed and no discussion or resolution was allowed. This is a betrayal of the people,” he said.
    Meanwhile, students' organisation of various ST communities staged a protest in front of the Cotton University premises in Guwahati on Sunday, demanding that no new groups be classified with them.
    The Dimasa Students’ Union announced in Haflong that it will organise a protest rally in the Dima Hasao district headquarter town on Wednesday against the GoM report.
    Students from the Bodoland University had on Saturday stormed the assembly hall of the BTC secretariat in Kokrajhar, and vandalised property during the protest against the Assam cabinet's approval of the report.
    Condemning use of violence, Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) Speaker Tridip Daimary said in Kokrajhar, “We support their issue. But it has to be a non-violent movement. No one can indulge in violence in the name of agitation…We urge the police administration to arrest those involved.”
    He pointed out that the agitators came armed with sticks and ‘attacked' the assembly hall.
    “The attack was intentional. Perhaps, it was to murder our BTC employees or elected representatives,” he claimed.
    Prohibitory orders under section 163 of BSS has been promulgated in BTC secretariat complex and adjoining town areas following the violence.
    The order, prohibiting assembly of more than four persons, processions, picketing, among other restrictions, will remain in force until further notice.
    The BJP has, however, welcomed the report, terming it a historic moment for the state.
    
    “The decades-old issue is heading towards a resolution. This is a move towards protecting the rights of the indigenous people,” the party's state spokesperson Pranjal Kalita said.

    He exuded confidence that the Centre will formulate a way to meet the recommendations of the report in the near future.

    The BJP's ally, United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), which is based in the Bodo heartland, has been cautious in its approach.
    “It is not a bill or an Assembly resolution. Just the report of the group of ministers has been laid,” UPPL legislator Lawrence Islary said.
    “Our stand is clear that the existing ST communities should not face problems. That has been our demand before the state government,” he said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)