People Residing in 18 Hills to Boycott the Upcoming GMC Election
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Claiming to be betrayed with a false commitment by the government and tired of expecting a positive result for getting a land lease for last 18 years, Bhumi Adhikar Sangram Samittee, Assam (BSSA) and Guwahati Maati Pattakaran Sangram Samittee (GMPSS) throws a hint of boycotting the next GMC election.
President of BSSA Prabin Jyoti Kalita claimed, “More than 85 thousand indigenous people residing in a total of 18 hills of Guwahati City as well as in many plain areas have been living betrayed with the false commitment by the government. The government always speaks of keeping its land and tribes intact. However, the words mismatch to the action that we’re witnessing. Hence, the government itself fails to materialize the words given to the public.”
Kalita further added, “We’ve been fighting for the last 18 years to get our land lease with no positive outcome. In the year 2018, on November 13, the government promised of providing land lease to the people. More than 2 lakh people in different parts of the city are living without land lease. Now we’re tired of promises that are just words without implementation. So, on July 27, president and secretaries of a total 80 subcommittee had decided to organize a democratic protest by hiking against the government and to make public aware of their rights. The protest will starts from Sonaram playground on September 8 and will be continued till September 14. If we don’t receive any positive outcome we’ll be boycotting the next GMC election”.
Decrying for the rights that the people deserve, Kalita said, “We strongly feel that we’ve been used just for the purpose of vote bank. It’s tragic that our people had to go to an extreme level for getting our rights and some had to sacrifice their lives too. We don’t want the repetition of the same and it’s not our weakness. Taking agitation is not our goal and we are not looking for promotion to fulfill any kind of political desire. Once we get what we deserve the existence of our organization will no more be there. I request people to come and join us for our right”.