HT Bureau
KOKRAJHAR, Nov 16: The United Tribal Organisation of Assam (UTOA) has strongly opposed the Government’s ongoing process to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six developed and populous communities of the state.
In a press statement issued on Sunday, UTOA said the move poses a direct threat to the constitutional rights, land security and cultural survival of the 35 Tribal Plains and Hill Indigenous Communities, who are the legitimate ST stakeholders of Assam.
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The organisation expressed concern that the Government has continued the process without any consultation with UTOA, despite it being a common platform representing 35 tribal communities, a member organisation of the International Land Coalition (ILC), and the only indigenous organisation from India that attended and represented the country at the Global Land Forum for Indigenous Peoples in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2025.
UTOA said the exclusion reflects a deliberate attempt to silence the voices of indigenous peoples whose rights stand to be harmed. It reiterated that granting ST status to the six communities will reduce access to land, employment, education and political representation for the existing Scheduled Tribe communities.
The organisation added that the decision would violate constitutional safeguards, threaten tribal belts and blocks, and accelerate demographic and cultural erosion in Bodoland and across the state.
The organisation warned that if the Government continues the process without involving UTOA in formal discussions or addressing the concerns of the 35 indigenous communities, it will initiate legal proceedings in the High Court and Supreme Court, and raise the issue at international platforms, including the ILC, UN mechanisms and other global indigenous rights forums.
UTOA urged the Government to immediately halt the process, uphold constitutional protections and begin meaningful dialogue with legitimate indigenous representative bodies before proceeding further.
