STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: In a powerful show of anger and determination, the All Koch-Rajbongshi Students’ Union (AKRSU) on Thursday launched a sit-in demonstration at Chachal, intensifying pressure on the state and central governments to fulfil the long-pending demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The protest, marked by fiery slogans and sharp political messaging, underscored mounting frustration within the Koch-Rajbongshi community ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.
More than 300 protesters from across the Upper–Middle region took part in the agitation, holding placards and accusing successive governments — particularly the current BJP-led dispensation — of “years of betrayal, deprivation, and calculated delay.”
Speakers at the protest said the government’s repeated assurances of granting ST status to six indigenous communities, including the Koch Rajbongshi, had remained unfulfilled, creating deep resentment. They alleged that despite being one of Assam’s earliest indigenous groups, the community had been pushed to the margins and subjected to systematic neglect and political exploitation.
The agitators warned that patience within the community was wearing thin. If the government failed to take decisive and conclusive action on the ST status issue soon, they said the community would be compelled to explore “alternative and exceptional political steps” in the run-up to the Assembly polls.
Reiterating that the demand for constitutional recognition was “non-negotiable,” the Koch Rajbongshi groups urged the government to initiate immediate and concrete measures instead of issuing what they termed “empty promises and election-season assurances.”
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