Bodo organizations demand reservation of all LACs of BTR for ST

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: Bodo organizations comprising the Bodoland People’s Committee on Delimitation of LAC and HPC, Bodo Writers’ Academy, Bodo National Students’ Union (BONSU), Bodoland Senior Citizens’ Forum, Janajati Suraksha Mancha (BJSM), Ex-Volunteer Force Organization and Ex-NDFB, on Sunday demanded that all Legislative Assembly Constituencies (LACs) of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) should be reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) as per the status of the Sixth Schedule.

Addressing media persons at Nirvana Garden in Kokrajhar, former MP Sansuma Khunggur Bwiswmuthiary, who is leading the Committee on Delimitation of LACs and HPCs, said that the Election Commission of India had violated the 6th Schedule norms in BTC in the delimitation process. He said that the draft delimitation of constituencies had created 15 LACs in BTR, with only six seats reserved for ST. The Kokrajhar HPC was reserved for ST but the Udalguri HPC was not created despite demands by various organizations. He also said that the cabinet decision to change the name of Darrang HPC as Bairabkhanda HPC was nothing but a face wash. The Darrang HPC was created with 6 LACs of BTR and 5 LACs of Assam – a mix of Sixth Schedule LACs and non-Sixth Schedule areas– which is not acceptable, he said, adding that as per the Sixth Schedule norms, all LACs of BTR should have been reserved for ST and Udalguri HPC should have been created with 6 LACs of Udalguri and 4 LACs of Baksa district.

“If 56 seats of total 60 seats of Meghalaya legislative assembly are reserved for ST and 39 seats of total 40 assembly segments of Mizoram are reserved for ST, then why cannot LACs of BTR be reserved for ST?” Bwiswmuthiary questioned. He said that there could be a political conspiracy to destroy the 6th Schedule status of BTR. He said that the democratic Bodo organizations would not tolerate the violation of 6th Schedule status. He also said many Bodo villages of the tribal belt of Porbhotjhora were included in the newly-created Baokhungri constituency and Bodo and Mising villages of Gahpur, Dimoria and Morigaon had been divided. He urged the ECI to look into the genuine demands of tribal people, failing which they would be compelled to start another phase of movement for political rights.

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