Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Mancha (BJSM) demands reservation of CM’s post for tribal people

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Mancha (BJSM) on Friday demanded that the post of the Chief Minister of the state be reserved for the tribals so that the state was ruled by its own people. The working president of the BJSM, DD Narzary, said that Assam, a land rooted in tribal heritage, continued to be deprived of leadership by its original inhabitants. He said that the Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Manch strongly asserted that the Chief Minister’s berth in Assam should be reserved for the aboriginal tribal communities, allowing the state to be governed by its own sons rather than outsiders who have historically imposed alien cultures, languages, and systems.

“Assam is constitutionally home to 14 recognized tribal communities. Among them, the Bodos are the earliest known settlers and most aboriginal people of the region. Historical and cultural evidence clearly establishes that many tribal groups of Assam have their origin in the Bodo community. It was only after the 16th century, under the religious and cultural impositions led by Hindu Brahmins and Vaishnavite preacher Sankardev, that these communities were separated linguistically and religiously,” he said, adding that Sankardev’s forefathers themselves were brought to Assam from Kannauj around 1350 AD by the then Bodo-Mech King Durlab Narayan. He said that from this period onward, tribal disintegration began and these separated communities were later recognized as Scheduled Tribes by the Indian Constitution but the root remained Bodo.

 Narzary said that today, Assam was no longer ruled by its aboriginal sons but instead, it was governed by descendants of those outsiders who came centuries ago. Narzary added, “This shift in power has led to systemic marginalization of tribal communities, their languages, cultures, and traditions.” Narzary said that the current Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma was one such descendant of Brahmin settlers and his governance has displayed a consistent bias against tribal people and their heritage. He said that the imposition of the Assamese language over Boro and other tribal languages was a clear example of this cultural dominance. Boro, being an indigenous language of Assam, deserves official status, unlike Assamese which has historical roots outside the state, he added. He said that to safeguard tribal interests, tribal belts and blocks were created under the Assam Land Revenue Regulation of 1886 (amended in 1947) and these laws prohibit non-tribal and non-protected class individuals from purchasing or occupying land in these protected areas. However, lakhs of bighas of tribal land have been illegally encroached upon by outsiders, leaving original tribal people landless and displaced, he said.

“Under the banner of Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Manch, we have persistently demanded eviction of these illegal encroachers and the restoration of tribal land. Sadly, the Assam Government not only ignores this demand but is also actively evicting tribals under false allegations of encroachment. Furthermore, vast areas of land are being handed over to corporate entities like Adani, thereby displacing indigenous communities further,” Narzary said, adding, “This continuing injustice proves that as long as the state is ruled by outsiders, the rights of the original sons of the soil will remain under threat. Cultural, linguistic, economic, and political justice can only be ensured if the state leadership comes from among the aboriginal tribal communities and therefore, we demand that the Assam Legislative Assembly pass a resolution or enact a law to reserve the Chief Ministerial post for a member of the tribal community.” Narzary said that only through such a step could true justice, equity, and representation be restored in Assam.

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