Assam: All Bodo Students Union urges Dispur to Protect Tribal Lands

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: Expressing grave concern over the Karbi Anglong incident, the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) on Wednesday criticized the Government of Assam (GoA) for the turmoil in Kheroni and Dongkamukam of West Karbi Anglong where two persons lost their lives in protest and arson.

In a press meet held at Bodofa House in Kokrajhar, the president of the ABSU, Dipen Boro, said that the incident was very unfortunate and unwanted. He said that the student organizations had organized a peaceful protest demanding protection of PGR and VGR from illegal encroachments for nearly two weeks but there had been no initiative from the government to hear them. He said that instead of giving due response to the democratic protest, the police personnel took away some of the protesters at 3 am to Guwahati on December 22 resulting in the subsequent arson at the residence of CEM of KAAC and leading to the current volatile situation. He said that if the government was serious about the health conditions of protesters in the hunger strike, doctors and medical staff could have been sent to the venue to check them. He added that there was no credible requirement of bringing them to GMCH at 3 am to examine their health as claimed by Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma or they could have been brought to Diphu Medical College and Hospital or Nagaon Medical College and Hospital, or other nearby civil hospitals.

Boro said that the Sixth Schedule administration was created for safeguarding of indigenous tribal people, their land, cultural heritage, economy, education, and political rights and that the State Government had responsibilities to protect them but instead of doing this, the government had been playing politics to gain political mileage. He questioned the meaning of creating autonomous councils under Sixth Schedule if the lands and other constitutional rights of the indigenous tribal people were not protected by the government. He also said that due to lack of protection of land and other constitutional rights, the existence of indigenous communities of Assam were now threatened in a serious manner.

The ABSU President urged the Government of Assam to focus on the necessity of protection of indigenous tribal people of Assam. He also asked the outsiders who were encroaching upon the tribal lands to stop doing so. He also appealed to the protesters not to resort to the violent way of protest.

On the distribution of land pattas, the ABSU President said that they had nothing to say if the government allotted or distributed land pattas to landless indigenous communities of Assam or to the protected class of people but that the ABSU would never compromise on giving land pattas to the unqualified.

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