By Preetam BC (PNI)

 

Kokrajhar :  Protest against the government proposal to grant Scheduled Tribes (ST) status to the six populous and advanced communities of Assam continues in the state.

Amid the festive  Maghw Domashi or Bhogali Bihu celebrations in the state, various tribal organizations under the banner of Coordination Committee of the Tribal Organizations of Assam(CCTOA) today burned the copy of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2019 on the Meji Fire (bonfire) as a mark of protest against the bill which proposes to grant ST status to the six communities – Koch-Rajbongshis, Tai Ahoms, Morans, Motoks, Chutiyas and 36 Tea Tribes.  These communities are at present listed as other backward classes (OBCs).

Participating in a protest programme at Tamulpur in Baksa district, ABSU president said Pramod Boro said the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2019 has once again proved that the indigenous tribal communities are unsafe in Assam.

Sending strong warning, the ABSU president said “If anything destructive happens to the interest of the indigenous tribal communities than the 21 tribal MLAs, 4 tribal ministers and chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal who is from tribal Sonowal Kachari community will be responsible. They have never voiced to fulfill the ST backlogs and safeguard the tribal belts and block, development of culture and language of the tribal communities, there is no proposal to upgrade the tribal council to six scheduled council, he said.

Criticizing the government, Boro said “The govt wants to put the populous and advanced communities in the same categories with the smaller indigenous tribes which will create imbalance. Moreover they don’t even fulfilled the criteria to be STs, Boro said adding that the upper caste people used to look down upon the indigenous people as tribal Kachari people and never wanted to coexist with us in the society. Now after 70 years of independence they want same facilities we are enjoying as a tribal which is very unfortunate and condemnable, he said.

In Kokrajhar, ABSU general secretary Lorence Islary said the Central and state governments have hatched a plot to eliminate the genuine tribals of the state. He said the Registrar General of India (RGI) have turned down such proposals eight times(in 1981, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005 and 2006) and rejected pleas of these communities for scheduling as ST on the ground that these six communities do not fulfill the criteria set for enlisting a tribe as Scheduled Tribes under the Indian Constitution,” he said.

Ranjit K Borgoyary, former president of the All Tribal Sangha too opined that “If these majority communities are granted Scheduled Tribes status 70 years after India’s independence, it shall eliminate the political representation of the existing STs from the gram sabha to Lok Sabha and representation in education and jobs forever.

 

 

The tribal leaders said the existing tribals will be left out of the election as “the seats currently reserved for the existing STs for the Lok Sabha and Assam Assembly can be contested by any person from these six communities as the Constitution does not make any differentiation between the same group of people (Scheduled Tribe).

“These communities are educationally and economically advanced, populous (each group claiming to have over 50 lakh population) and there is no way the existing Scheduled Tribes can compete with these advanced groups,” Borgoyary said.

The indigenous leaders also stated that the seats reserved for the existing STs in the three autonomous councils (Bodoland Territorial Council, Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and Dima Hasao District Autonomous Council) under the Sixth Schedule and the other district councils created by Assam government (Tiwa Autonomous Council, Rabha Autonomous Council, Deori Autonomous Council, Mishing Autonomous Council, Thengal Kachari Autonomous Council and Sonowal Kachari Autonomous Council) can be contested by persons belonging to these six communities. “This shall destroy the existing STs and indeed nullifies the creation of these District Councils to protect the existing Scheduled Tribes, they said.

They also expressed apprehension over the loss of land in the tribal belts and blocks. “Chapter X of the Assam Land Revenue Regulation (ALRR), 1886, prohibits acquiring or possessing ‘by transfer, exchange, lease, agreement or settlement any land in any area or areas constituted into belts or blocks’ by non-tribals which includes the six communities to be given ST status. If these communities are given ST status, it implies that the protection the current STs have under the ALRR will be destroyed and the existing STs will lose all their land,” they said.

They opined that if these six communities are granted ST status, the existing STs shall not have access to higher education and government jobs.