ST status: Adivasis give Dispur, Delhi 15 days

Adivasis and tea tribes of Assam on Friday set a 15-day deadline and asked the Centre as well as the state Government...

Adivasis and tea tribes of Assam on Friday set a 15-day deadline and asked the Centre as well as the state Government to clarify their respective stands on granting Scheduled Tribe status to them, failing which they would go for a vigorous agitation to fulfil their demand.

A resolution adopted in a joint meeting of Adivasi and tea tribe leaders convened by the All Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association (AATTSA) and All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA) here on Friday also demanded unconditional release of several leaders of the AASAA who were arrested following the violence that rocked Guwahati last Saturday.

“The meeting observed with grave concern that the state Government and the Centre have been contradicting each other on the issue of granting of the Scheduled Tribe status to the Adivasis and tea tribes of Assam, and resolved to fix a 15-day deadline for Delhi and Dispur to make their stands clear,” AASAA president Justin Lakra and AATTSA president Prahlad Goala said here.

The meeting, which ran into more than six hours, was attended by several prominent political leaders of the two communities, apart from leaders of AASAA and AATTSA. Prominent political leaders who attended the meeting included former Union minister and former APCC president Paban Singh Ghatowar, state Planning and Development Minister Prithibi Majhi, Asom Gana Parishad vice-president Joseph Toppo and BJP leader Kamakhya Prasad Tasha.

The joint meeting also refused to accept a development council for the Adivasis as proposed by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. “We have not asked for any such thing. Our one-point agenda is to get ST status,” said AASAA president Justin Lakra.

The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) on Friday joined hands with two Adivasi student bodies and made a joint appeal for peace and condemned Saturday’s violence against Adivasis.

Meanwhile, the role of the media came under severe criticism following the release of the Adivasi girl’s picture.

Story continues below this ad

The criticism came from within a section of the media with The Assam Tribune leading the campaign. The daily has also accused a section of the media of portraying the incident as a clash between the Assamese and Adivasis.