The Hindu : National : Adivasis set ultimatum to Centre

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 02, 2007
ePaper

National

National

Adivasis set ultimatum to Centre

Sushanta Talukdar

GUWAHATI: Two militant outfits — the Birsa Commando Force (BCF) and the Adivasi Cobra Militants of Assam (ACMA) — on Saturday joined the All Adivasi Students Association of Assam (AASAA), Jharkhand Disam Party of Jharkhand, All India Adivasi Students and Youth Association and Adivasi Mahila Parishad to set an ultimatum to the Centre.

The outfits wanted the Centre to table a bill by December 7 in Parliament for including the Adivasis and tea tribes in the Scheduled Tribes list of Assam, failing which the Adivasis would go on an economic blockade in Jharkhand.

The chief organising secretary of AASAA, Bosco Chermaco, said at a meeting attended by the leaders of the two militant outfits, it was decided to issue an appeal to the people of Jharkhand to launch the blockade if the Centre failed to respond.

The meeting took strong objection to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil’s statement on the issue of ST status to Adivasis and tea tribes in Assam. The blockade would cover coal, uranium and other mines. Among others, the self-styled commander-in-chief of BCF, Birsing Munda, and ACMA commander-in-chief Kanhu Murmu attended.

Both the BCF and the ACMA are currently under a ceasefire agreement with the Assam government and there are about 500 cadres in the designated camps belonging to both the outfits.

ULFA’s charge

The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in a statement alleged that some politicians were trying to ‘separate’ the Adivasis and tea tribes of Assam from the other Assamese. It alleged in its mouthpiece Swadhinata that the November 24 “clash” in Beltol locality of the city was the result of a conspiracy by the “enemies of Assam” who backed the ST status demand of the tea tribes but were also trying to separate them from the mainstream.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National