Trouble brews in Assam: Scheduled Tribes warn of widespread agitation after report recommends ST status to 6 more communities

The ST communities in Assam are currently categorised as ST (Plains) with 10% reservation and ST (Hills) with 5% reservation. It has been recommended that the relatively smaller communities — the Morans, Motoks and Koch-Rajbonghis in the undivided Goalpara area — be included in the ST (Plains) list.

The report recommends the creation of a distinct ST (Valley) category for the Ahom, Chutia, tea tribes and Adivasis, and Koch-Rajbongshis — excluding those residing in the undivided Goalpara region — which will have separate reservations for state government recruitment and educational institutions. The GoM report states that with this arrangement, “existing ST(P) and ST(H) quotas will remain fully protected”. However, the report recommends that in the case of central government reservations, all these communities compete under the common ST pool, as there is a single national ST list.

Issue at national level

Aditya Khaklari, chief convener of the Coordinating Committee of Tribal Organisations of Assam (CCTOA), which is leading the existing ST communities’ opposition, said that this arrangement would affect the existing ST communities at a national level.

According to the census, ST communities accounted for 12.4% of the state’s population, while the communities demanding ST status are estimated to make up around 27% of Assam’s population.

“There is no such sub-categorisation of STs at the national jobs. If this is implemented, the existing tribals will lose access to jobs and education institutions because they cannot compete at the all-India level, particularly with advanced communities like the Tai Ahoms, Chutias and Koch-Rajbongshis of Upper Assam. We oppose these recommendations, and we have demanded a high-level discussion with the Chief Minister on this,” he told The Indian Express.

The CCTOA, in a statement, has declared that if attempts at a discussion with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma fail, they will launch a mass movement, including using means such as blockades of railways and national highways.

Prohibitory orders

The district administration in Kokrajhar, the headquarters of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), on Sunday issued prohibitions on gatherings in the town and near the BTC Secretariat, citing the likelihood of “occurrence of law and order situation due to activities by anti-social elements”. It said “many political/student and other organisations may organise agitational programmes like bandh, railway NH blockade, dharna, strike, etc in the district”.

The order came a day after hundreds of students stormed the BTC Secretariat and damaged infrastructure there during a protest on Saturday evening ahead of the GoM report being tabled in the Assembly. The Bodos are a Plain tribe and are Assam’s largest ST community.

The organisations representing the six communities that demanded ST status have said that they are happy with the GoM’s recommendations.

“We appreciate the government’s step and are satisfied with the recommendations. We don’t want conflict with the existing ST communities; we are just trying to secure the rights that are due to us… The protest in Kokrajhar on Saturday happened even before the report was tabled and the contents were known, so someone must have provoked them. But they shouldn’t worry, their rights will remain intact,” said All Koch Rajbongshi Students Union chief adviser Khitish Barman.