Reservation of Kokrajhar & Udalguri seats for tribal people demanded

Our Correspondent

KOKRAJHAR: Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Mancha (BJSM) on Monday demanded that Kokrajhar and Udalguri HPC should be made reserved seats for ST communities to provide protection and political rights for the tribal people. In a press statement, BJSM president Janaklal Basumatary said that large part of lands of the tribal belts and blocks of Kokrajhar and Udalguri districts had been being illegally occupied by suspected nationalities and non-tribals who had virtually outnumbered the aboriginal tribal people of the region. He also said that the government should evict all the illegal encroachers who possessed voter cards from the tribal belts and blocks to retain tribal seat and to ensure political rights of the tribal people living in the Sixth Schedule areas.

Basumatary said the proposed de-reservation of Kokrajhar ST reserved constituency was not acceptable because this constituency represented the tribal people of BTC 6th schedule administration. He also said that the special provision in delimitation act could be applied to uphold the constitutional safeguard of political rights of ST people under Article 330 of the Constitution to provide protection of tribal people from large number of non-tribal encroachers in notified tribal belts and block.

“The creation of Udalguri parliamentary constituency is also to represent the tribal people in tribal belts and blocks land and now in BTC 6th schedule administration area. So this constituency in the 6th schedule area should be ST reserved constituency,” he said, adding that the tribal population of BTC area was more than three times the tribal population in Diphu ST reserved constituency comprising Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts. So there was no question of de-reserving ST reserved constituency in 6th schedule administration.

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