In Dibrugarh Assam tea student’s body protest demand ST status

Dibrugarh: Members of the Assam Tea Tribe Students Association (ATTSA) staged a two-hour protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Dibrugarh on Monday, demanding that the state’s tea plantation community be banned from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) rank was demanded.
The protesters raised slogans against the BJP-led government and accused it of not fulfilling its promise to grant ST status to the tea community.

They also threatened that if the government failed to grant them ST status as promised, they would launch a mass agitation across the state.
Giving ST status to Assam’s six ethnic groups, including Adivasis,Mottock, Tai Ahom, Koch Rajbongshi, Sootea, and Moran, was an election promise of the BJP during the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2016 Assam Assembly elections. .
However, the BJP has remained silent on the status of STs during its election campaign for the 2021 Assam Assembly elections.
“The Adivasi community in Assam has been fighting for ST status for the last 76 years. The community fulfills all the criteria required for ST status. There was also a promise.
BJP has been winning several elections with the promise of giving PST status. Many years have passed but till now there is no clarification on this issue. ATTSA Dibrugarh district president Bimal Bagh said that neither the Center nor the Assam government is serious about the matter.
At the end of Monday’s protest, ATTSA members sent a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the deputy commissioner seeking ST status for the tea community.

Other organizations including All Assam Tea Tribes Union (ATTU) and All Assam Tea Workers Union (ATTWU) supported the protest.

ATTSA has called for a statewide bandh on July 15 to press their demands.