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Assam forum of 6 communities sets deadline

GUWAHATI: Janagosthiya Aikyamancha of Assam, a joint forum of organisations of six communities — Tea-tribes, Tai-Ahoms, Morans, Muttocks, Koch-Rajbanshis and Chutias — have set July 14 as deadline to the Assam government to clarify its stand on their demand for inclusion of these communities in the list of Scheduled Tribes.

The joint forum will observe a sit-in-strike at Dispur during the ensuing monsoon session of the State Assembly and vowed to stage demonstrations in Delhi during the monsoon session of Parliament to press for their demand. The decision to revive their joint movement for inclusion of the six communities in the list of Scheduled Tribes was taken at a meeting here on Thursday.

The meeting also decided to convene a broader meeting at Dibrugarh in the last week of July to mobilise all organisations of the six communities on a common platform and to intensify their movement. Prahlad Gowala, president of All Assam Tea Tribe Students’ Union and a convener of the joint forum, said that the meeting had decided to launch a vigorous agitation if the State government failed to clarify its stand on their demand by July 14.

The joint forum accused the Tarun Gogoi-led government of not representing their demand correctly to the Union government despite giving assurances to them earlier. In a separate agitation programme, the All Koch-Rajbanshi Students’ Union (AKRSU), Silrai Sena and All Koch-Rajbanshi Mahila Samiti have called for a 1,000-hour economic blockade to press for their demand for separate Kamatapur State, comprising 11 districts of Assam and five districts of north Bengal.

AKRSU president Biswajit Ray said that apart from the trucks carrying goods, the economic blockade would also be enforced on movement of passenger vehicles between Assam and neighbouring States.

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Assam forum of 6 communities sets deadline

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