HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Dec 3: The Dimasa Students’ Union (DSU), supported by multiple tribal student bodies, community groups and civil society organisations, launched a massive protest rally in Haflong against the Assam Cabinet’s recommendation to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six communities — Tai-Ahom, Chutia, Moran, Matak, Koch-Rajbongshi and Tea & Ex-Tea Garden Tribes.
Terming the move “undemocratic” and a “deliberate act of dispossession,” the DSU warned that the decision would dilute the reservation rights and constitutional safeguards of existing marginalized tribes, including the Dimasa, Karbi, Bodo, Mising, Rabha, Garo and Tiwa.
With parallel protests already intensifying across Bodoland and other tribal regions, the organisation demanded the immediate withdrawal of the Cabinet proposal, cautioning that the move could have long-term implications on tribal identity, representation and the socio-political balance in the state.






