New Delhi: Against Centre's reported move of giving Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six communities of Assam, the influential All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) has vouched to oppose the move.
Talking to ETV Bharat, Pramod Boro, president of ABSU said that his organisation will oppose the move of giving ST tag to six Assam communities including Koch Rajbongshi, Tai Ahom, Chutia, Matak, Moran and Tea Tribes.
"These communities do not need the tag of Scheduled Tribe, they are not deprived of anything. In fact, they're a part of the mainstream society," said Boro.
He said that the move of providing these six communities with the new status will destroy the identity of the already existing ST communities in the state.
In January, the BJP government had introduced the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the floor of the Rajya Sabha to grant ST status to six communities of Assam. The Bill proposed the inclusion of these six communities as ST.
But the Bill was not passed due to protests and lack of a number of BJP MPs in the Upper House.
Earlier this year, BJP led Assam Government had constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to expedite the process of safeguarding the language, culture and literature of these six communities. However, the GoM minister headed by state minister Himanta Biswa Sharma is yet to submit his report.
"There is a political conspiracy behind these communities not being accorded the ST status," said Koch Rajbongshi leader Trailokya Ray.
He accused the Bodoland People Front (BPF), an ally of the ruling BJP Government in Assam of 'politicizing' the matter.
"BPF has 12 MLAs in Assam Assembly and one Rajya Sabha MP...they are the partner of the BJP government...if Government doesn't give us ST status at the earliest, they will face opposition ahead of the 2021 Assembly election," said Ray.
Interestingly, granting ST status to Tai Ahom community of Assam is also a demand of the pro-talk faction of United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa), a rebel outfit, currently in talks with the government.
The ST status will offer education, scholarships, reservation in jobs, besides special benefits from government schemes.
The communities demanding ST also claimed that they fulfil all the criteria required to get ST status.
"We fulfil all the criteria for getting ST status..." said Rajbongshi leader Ray.
The criteria presently followed for the specification of a community as a Scheduled Tribe are:
1. indications of primitive traits
2. a distinctive culture
3. geographical isolation
4. shyness of contact with the community at large
5. backwardness
However, along with ABSU, as many as 19 ST communities have been opposing the ST status to the six communities saying they do not fulfil these criteria.
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