A Correspondent
DIBRUGARH: The 12-hour dawn-to-dusk bandh called by the All Moran Students’ Union (AMSU) and the All Assam Mottock Yuba Chatra Sanmilan (AAMYCS) in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts on Monday brought normal life to a standstill. The bandh, which was called to protest against the delay in granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Moran and Mottock communities in Assam, witnessed widespread support from the people of both districts.
Despite prohibitory orders issued by the Tinsukia District Commissioner Swapneel Paul and Dibrugarh District Commissioner Bikram Kairi against bandhs and demonstrations, the bandh supporters came out in large numbers to enforce the bandh. Shops and business establishments remained closed, and vehicles stayed off the roads. The supporters of the bandh went to various market places and forcefully shut down shops, raising slogans demanding ST status for their communities.
During the bandh, tyres were burnt in various places along the National Highway-37 in both districts, causing disruptions in traffic flow.
In Dibrugarh, there were instances of minor skirmishes between the police and the bandh supporters. Joykanta Moran, the general secretary of All Moran Students’ Union, expressed his satisfaction with the success of the bandh and thanked the people for their overwhelming support.
He stated that the bandh was a last resort to draw the attention of the Central and State governments towards the long-standing demand for ST status for the Moran and Mottock communities. Moran highlighted that the promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign of granting ST recognition to the six indigenous communities of Assam is yet to be fulfilled. He criticized Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram for his inaction on the issue and urged the government to expedite the process of granting ST status to their communities.
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