Kalitas demand ST status along with 6 other communities

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, April 22: The Kalita community of Assam is highly offended with the Government for the latter having set in motion the process of according Scheduled Tribe status to six ethnic communities of the State, while ignoring its claim for the same.

Addressing a press meet in Guwahati today, All Assam Kalita Chatra Santha (AAKCS) president Jnanyandra Barman said that since long the Santha has been demanding for inclusion of the community in the ST list, but its claim for the same  has always been ignored by the powers that be.

Barman has alleged that for long the community has been suppressed and neglected while pointing out that during the Assam Movement a large number of Kalita people laid down their lives.

The AAKCS  president was clear on the issue that the Santha has no objection in the matter of the government according ST status to one or many communities of Assam. However, he has unequivocally asserted that the same must be accorded to the Kalita community also, along with others.

Hence that Santha has demanded that within one month from now the government should begin the process of according ST status to the Kalitas.  AAKCS has warned that if other communities sans the Kalitas are accorded ST status, the State government will have to face a volatile situation.

The Santha has further warned that if 6 communities are accorded ST status and the Kalitas are left in the dark, a divisive scenario, as is being witnessed in the Bodo heartland among the Bodos and the non-Bodos, will surface in Assam.