Guwahati, Nov. 7: A day-long convention held here today resolved to hold discussions among the six communities demanding Scheduled Tribes status and those opposing it for a mutual resolution of their differences while the Biswajit Ray faction of the All Koch Rajbongshi Students' Union called a 12-hour rail blockade in Kokrajhar district in lower Assam tomorrow.

The convention on granting ST status to the six communities - Moran, Muttock, Tai Ahom, tea tribes, Chutia and Koch Rajbongshi - was organised by the Janagusthiyo Oikya Mancha, a forum of organisations from these six communities.

The convention demanded that the Centre bring up the matter in the winter session of the Lok Sabha. It also resolved to continue discussions with the government while carrying on the agitation in support of their demand.

Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya, adviser to All Assam Students' Union, urged the representatives of the six communities not to avoid discussions. "Discussions are a part of a movement. You should not avoid it. Try to make the discussions result-oriented," he said, adding that AASU wants ST status for the six communities without affecting the existing ST communities.

Organisations like the All Assam Tribal Sangha have been opposing ST status to the six communities, apprehending it would affect the benefits they have been enjoying for decades.

Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad and Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti reiterated their support to the Mancha but requested it to take up other issues like the proposed move to grant citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshis as well.

The Mancha, which was formed in 2004 to fight for ST status for the six communities, expressed dissatisfaction over the "dilly-dallying" of the BJP-led government in resolving the ST issue - a promise it said the BJP had made before the 2014 Lok Sabha election and the Assam Assembly election this year.

"Sometimes we feel that the government has no intention of resolving the issue," said Atul Rai, adviser to the Hiteswar Barman faction of the AKRSU. Tarun Barua Moran, adviser to Moran Students' Union and president of Moran Sahitya Sabha, said so-me of these communities have been demanding ST status since before Independence.

The Mancha will organise a protest in New Delhi on November 10, hold a convention the next day and again organise a protest on November 25.

The Biswajit Ray faction of AKRSU, which is not a part of the Mancha and was not invited either, announced the rail blockade demanding ST status for the community and Kamtapur state. Ray said they met chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal this afternoon with their demands but the meeting did not yield fruitful results.

The Mancha also clarified that Dispur had not appointed police officer Pallab Bhattacharya as "mediator" to resolve the problem but as a "coordinator" to convey to it all developments on the matter.