Proposal to create ST(O) for eight communities an absurd idea: BJSM

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: Hitting back at minister Naba Kr. Doley's recent statement in the media, the president of the Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Mancha (BJSM), Janaklal Basumatary said that the proposal to create ST (O) for eight communities of Assam was an absurd idea and constitutionally not viable.

Basumatary said minister Doley's statement to create ST (O) was out of provision of the Constitution as there was provision for OBC. He said the OBC could not be made ST (O) because there was no provision of ST (O) in the Constitution and he was totally wrong to say there would be eight communities instead of six communities to get ST recognition. "He does not know that the Government of Assam sent proposal for 41 communities to the Government of India without any justification of the provision of Article 342 (1) (2) of the Constitution of India. How could Garo and Hajong be included in this proposal? They are already included in the list of ST (P) of Assam," he said adding that there was no need to make them ST (O).The president of the BJSM said the Government of Assam wrongly recommended 36 different tea communities of Assam. He said the tea communities were not ethnic communities but a group of individual contractual workers of tea gardens of Assam. This means they are employees of tea garden companies coming from several States outside Assam belonging to various communities like SC, ST, OBC and general caste in their respective States. "None of the 36 communities belong to the community of Assam, they all have migrated from other States," he said adding that the Assam Government's recommendation of 36 migrated communities of tea garden workers was illegal and unconstitutional. "Likewise, there is no ethnic community by the name Koch Rajbongshi as Koch and Rajbongshi are separate castes. Koch is Tibbeto Burman-speaking group of Mongolian race, but Rajbongshis are broken Sanskrit origin speaking group of Dravido Aryan mixed race. There cannot be combined as Koch Rajbongshi community. This was adopted by Khstriya Rajbongshis in 1980s when they started demanding ST status in Assam knowing fully well that no ST can be granted in this name," the tribal leader said. He also said that the Government of Assam wrongly recommended Koch Rajbongshi which was not an ethnic community. He further said the Government of Assam also could not justify the recommendation of Tai Ahom, Moran, Motok and Chutiya communities who were also so intermixed that they were no longer independent ethnic communities. The BJSM president said that under such circumstances, they submitted a memorandum to the Assam Government, requesting to review their recommendation and withdraw it as it was against the basic purpose and provision of the Constitution of India. Unless this issue was settled, no ST recognition bill could be processed, he warned.