Assam: BJSM calls upon all Bodo and tribal people to quit BJP

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: As the BJP continues to offer equal land rights to all communities in the tribal lands in Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao, and Bodoland to garner support, the Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Manch (BJSM) strongly condemned the recent ‘anti-tribal’ and ‘anti-Bodoland’ statements made by Assam State BJP President and sitting MP of Darrang-Udalguri Parliamentary constituency, Dilip Saikia, and called upon all Bodo and other tribal people working with the saffron party to quit the BJP for the interest of safeguarding tribal lands.

Working President of the BJSM DD Narzary in a statement said that the remarks by MP Saikia suggested that there cannot be simultaneous existence of two land laws in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) under the sixth schedule and the tribal belts and blocks, and questioned the constitutional land rights of tribal people in BTC, Karbi Anglong, and Dima Hasao Autonomous Councils.

He said that Saikia even promised to the people that they would revoke all land ownership restrictions protecting tribals under the sixth schedule if BJP came to power in BTC. Such a statement has caused massive outrage and hurt the sentiments of the Bodo and other tribal communities, he said, adding that Saikia’s statement proved his deep-rooted anti-tribal mindset and BJP’s long-term agenda to dismantle constitutional safeguards for indigenous people. He also said that the sixth schedule status of BTC was achieved through the supreme sacrifice of over 5,000 martyrs of Bodos and decades of democratic struggle and that BTC had played a vital role in uplifting the Bodo community in the areas of language, culture, economy, and self-governance but instead of respecting this progress, Saikia and the Assam BJP appeared to be jealous and intolerant, hatching conspiracies to destroy BTC and tribal protection laws.

Narzary said that the tribal belts and blocks, established under the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation Act of 1886, and amended as chapter- X in 1947, were created by the British to protect indigenous communities from becoming landless in their own homeland but despite these laws, over 4 lakh bighas of tribal lands remained under illegal occupation, yet, Parliamentarian Saikia and the BJP government had not evicted the illegal encroachers or implemented the Gauhati High Court’s order dated December 9, 2019, directing the protection and restoration of tribal lands. He also said that Saikia’s statements indicated a dangerous plan to demolish protective mechanisms for tribals, which he said deserved the strongest condemnation. The Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Manch urged him to immediately withdraw his statement and refrain from further anti-tribal remarks.

“If the Chief Minister of the state Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma continues to offer land rights to all communities in every election campaign meeting, then how will the tribal people believe his assurance to protect tribal lands from illegal encroachers?” Narzary questioned. He also said that it was unfair that a Chief Minister of a state can play such dirty and communal politics with the emotion and sentiment of the tribal people.

The BJSM questioned the silence of the ABSU President Dipen Boro, who actively campaigned for MP Dilip Saikia in the last Lok Sabha elections, even flying in an aircraft arranged by the BJP. He said that Boro must take full responsibility for enabling Saikia’s election and must explain his silence on this critical issue. His inaction makes him complicit in BJP’s anti-tribal agenda, he added.

The BJSM called upon all Bodo and tribal people of Assam to quit the BJP and all its affiliates immediately, to hold accountable all those supporting anti-tribal conspiracies and asked the nationalist Bodo and tribal organizations to raise a united voice against real enemies of the tribal people. The BJSM also appealed to all tribal organizations, civil society groups, and democratic forces to unite and resist the BJP’s agenda to dismantle tribal rights and the Sixth Schedule institutions.

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