ST status to six communities under political dictation not acceptable

Our Correspondent

KOKRAJHAR: Former Lok Sabha MP Sansuma Khunggur Bwiswmuthiary on Monday strongly reacted to the move of the Government of India to accord ST status to six advanced and heterogeneous with a large population of Assam and said that under no circumstances, the proposal would be accepted. He said the move would signal a dangerous future for the existing tribal communities of Assam.

Talking to this reporter, the former MP said the Government of India led by BJP had put pressure on the Registrar General of India (RGI) and National Council for Schedule Tribe (NCST) at the political dictation for obtaining no objection certificate for inclusion of the six communities. He alleged that the BJP-led government had been adopting anti-tribal policies to derive political mileage.

“The six communities-Ahom, Chutia, Moran, Motok, Rajbongshi and Adivasis do not fulfill the criteria required for being included in the ST list and most of the communities are advanced and comprise of huge population that will grab all constitutional and political benefits of the existing tribal communities,” he said adding that these communities had no tribal character and they were a conglomeration group of people who lacked distinctiveness.

“Napam bomb was used in Vietnam and hydrogen bomb was dropped in Nagasaki and Hirosima in Japan that killed hundreds of thousands of people but granting ST status to six communities could be a more perilous bomb for the existing tribal communities in Assam as they will lose every constitutional right and privilege in the hands of advanced and heterogeneous communities,” said Bwiswmuthiary.

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