Hundreds of tribal students on Saturday afternoon stormed the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) Assembly in Kokrajhar — the seat of power of the Sixth Schedule Council — in protest against the Assam cabinet’s decision to approve a group of ministers’ (GoM) report recommending Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for six communities.
Tribal students from Kokrajhar and Chirang districts laid siege to the Assembly complex and vandalised property. Videos showed protesters forcing their way through the main gate and storming the Assembly hall, shouting slogans against the cabinet move, which they fear will “jeopardise” their future. Curtains lay strewn on the floor, and chairs and benches were overturned, while security personnel appeared overwhelmed. The protest ended around 8pm.
This is the second major protest since Wednesday, when the cabinet approved the GoM report backing ST status for six communities. Bodoland University students and tribal groups had staged rallies the next day, forcing cancellation of the university’s third-semester exams.
A Kokrajhar resident said around 2,000 students marched nearly 8km from Bodoland University to the BTC Assembly, carrying placards and chanting slogans. Most protesters were students from Kokrajhar, with some from Chirang. As the Assembly was not in session, only a few officials and security personnel were present. “The protest was unprecedented,” he said.
The students are demanding that BTC chief Hagrama Mohilary withdraw the no-objection given by the BTC administration in 2016 supporting ST status for the six groups — Tai Ahom, Chutia, Moran, Muttack, Koch-Rajbongshi and Tea Tribes-Adivasis.
In a letter to Mohilary, whose BPF swept the BTC polls in September, the students said they were “deeply concerned” that the cabinet move would “adversely affect” existing ST communities by reducing opportunities, resources and constitutional safeguards. They urged him to “cancel the proposed declaration” and also submitted a memorandum to the Assam chief minister.
The students have further demanded that all tribal leaders from the BTC area clearly state their stand on the ST issue, saying those supporting the cabinet move must explain how it will not harm existing Scheduled Tribes. Assam has 14 ST communities with a combined population of around 45 lakh, while the six communities seeking ST status number over one crore.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said on Friday that the GoM report would be tabled in the state Assembly before being forwarded to the Union home ministry, and claimed existing STs would not be affected.
The Coordination Committee of the Tribal Organisations of Assam (CCTOA), representing 26 tribal bodies, reiterated that existing STs would lose out if the list is expanded because there would be “no differentiation” between old and new STs at the central level.