Kokrajhar: AATS, AATSU oppose protected class status for non-protected groups

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: All Assam Tribal Sangha (AATS) and All Assam Tribal Students Union (AATSU) vehemently condemned the Cabinet decision of August 18, to include non-protected classes as protected classes, vide notification No. ECF.647686/1/1211667/ 2025 in Tirap tribal belt. As part of the statewide protest, AATS activists of Kokrajhar district joined the protest on Thursday in front of Pragati Bhawan in the heart of Kokrajhar town.

The President of the AATSU, Hareswar Brahma, said that instead of following the High Court’s order to evict all encroachers from tribal belts and blocks, the Assam Government had chosen a path completely contrary to the spirit of that order by granting protected class status to the people of non-protected class including Nepali communities. He said that this decision was a direct assault on the rights, land security, and identity of the indigenous and protected tribal communities. He also said that the Cabinet decision had threatened the very survival of the tribal people in their own ancestral lands.

Brahma said that the AATSU extended its full support to the mass gathering and protest rally against this anti-tribal decision. He urged all tribal communities, irrespective of religion, political affiliation, or background, to join hands at this critical time. This is a call for unity beyond divisions, to protect what rightfully belongs to the tribals, he added. He also called upon tribal leaders within the BJP to take a clear stand with their people.

“Remaining silent or complicit in such anti-tribal policies will only deepen mistrust and weaken tribal unity. The BJP’s actions so far have been anti-tribal and destructive to communal harmony in six schedule areas, tribal belts and blocks, and entire Assam,” he said, adding that in their enthusiasm to appease non-tribal vote banks, they were compromising indigenous rights and constitutional safeguards.

The AATSU strongly condemned and rejected what it called opportunistic policies of the BJP. It also expressed deep disappointment at the silence of tribal leaders who it said had once fought for indigenous rights but now remained quiet after assuming positions of power. It said that leaders such as Pramod Boro, CEM of BTR, Tankeswar Rabha, CEM of Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council, Dr Ranoj Pegu, Tribal Affairs Minister, Biswajit Daimary, Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly, Jayanta Basumatary (MP, Lok Sabha), UG Brahma (Cabinet Minister, Assam), Tuliram Ronghang (CEM, Karbi Anglong), and Debolal Gorlosa (CEM, Dima Hasao), who earlier stood as voices for tribal identity and rights, had failed to oppose this anti-tribal move. The AATSU also said that their silence amounted to betrayal of the very people who trusted and elevated them to these positions. The union reminded the government that it was precisely this kind of upper-caste Brahmin-dominated attitude that had pushed the Northeast into prolonged struggles and armed movements in the past, from the PTCA (Plains Tribal Council of Assam) movement, to the Bodoland Agitation and several tribal assertions across Assam and other Northeast states.

The continuation of such anti-tribal policies would only rekindle those memories of struggle and resistance and the government alone would be responsible if history repeats itself, the union said, adding that the protected class status to six communities was not a party issue but a matter of survival, dignity, and rights of tribal and indigenous people. The AATSU urged all the tribal leaders, particularly within the BJP, to rise above party loyalty and take a stand for their people.

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