STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI, Jan 17: With hardly two months left for the Assembly elections 2021 slated in April, the All Rabha Students' Union (ARSU) has demanded that the BJP-led coalition government in Assam must fulfill all the promises that it had assured to the community before the ensuing polls across the State. The students' body further warned that if the government fails to do so, the community will be compelled to think of an alternative political force. This was stated by the ARSU president Nripen Khanda.
Mentionably, the Rabha community supported the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) during both the 2016 Assembly elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Prior to these polls, the BJP had assured the Rabhas that it will fulfil the various demands of this community.
Talking to The Sentinel here on Sunday, the chief of this influential Rabha youth organization further said, "We will not at all support the BJP if it fails to live up to the expectations of the community this time. We also urge the party not to use the people of smaller indigenous communities of the State just for their political purposes."
Khanda pointed out, "So far, the BJP has failed to fulfil even the main demands of our community. Two of our prime demands are to include the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India; and to also set up a 'Development Council' for the socio-economic uplift of our Rabha brothers and sisters dwelling outside the jurisdiction of Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council.
"The government should fulfil these two prime demands so that the rights, identity and culture of the Rabhas. Why hasn't the State government addressed these and other vital issues of the Rabha community till date? We demand that at least the two main issues are addressed by the BJP-led State government before the model poll conduct comes into force. We hope that the State government will not force the Rabha community to think of an alternative political force."
The Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council was constituted by the Government of Assam in 1995. The jurisdiction of this Council extends up to the Rabha-dominated areas of Kamrup district and embraces almost the entire district of Goalpara. The Council head office is located at Dudhnoi in Goalpara district. The Council was constituted for the all-round development in the areas of economic, educational, socio-cultural and ethnic identity of the Rabha people residing within the Council area. The present Chief Executive Member (CEM) is Tankeswar Rabha, who was a former president of ARSU.
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