A CORRESPONDENT
DHEKIAJULI: The All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA) intensified its agitation on Sunday with a protest demonstration in Dhekiajuli, where activists burned effigies of the Prime Minister and the Assam Chief Minister and raised slogans against the ruling BJP government over a set of long-pending demands concerning tea tribe and Adivasi communities.
The protest was jointly organized by AASAA’s Sonitpur district committee and Dhekiajuli Anchalik committee. Demonstrators gathered along National Highway 15 in front of New Bikaner Hotel around 11:30 am and staged a symbolic effigy burning programme, drawing the attention of passersby and local residents.
The organization reiterated its core demands, including grant of Scheduled Tribe status to tea tribe and Adivasi communities, raising the daily wage of tea garden workers to Rs 551, and issuing land pattas to eligible families. Protesters alleged that despite repeated assurances, these issues remain unresolved.
Addressing the media during the programme, District President Amarjit Kerketta and Working President Narayan Singh Gourh said that the government had earlier made commitments to the Adivasi community but had failed to translate those promises into action. They claimed that assurances given earlier regarding substantial progress on Adivasi issues had not materialized on the ground.
The AASAA leaders criticized what they described as ‘scheme-centric politics’ and asserted that the community was seeking permanent and structural solutions to identity, land, and livelihood concerns rather than temporary benefits.
Issuing a political warning ahead of the state polls, the student body declared that if their demands were not fulfilled before the 2026 Assam Assembly election, they would prevent BJP leaders and workers from entering tea garden areas for campaign activities.
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