HT Correspondent
DIBRUGARH, Nov 11: The 12-hour dawn-to-dusk bandh called by the All Moran Students’ Union (AMSU) and the All Assam Mottock Yuba Chatra Sanmilan (AAMYCS) in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts on Monday brought normal life to a standstill.
The bandh was called to protest the delay in granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Moran and Mottock communities in Assam and saw widespread support from residents in both districts.
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Despite prohibitory orders from Tinsukia District Commissioner (DC) Swapneel Paul and Dibrugarh District Commissioner (DC) Bikram Kairi against bandhs and demonstrations, supporters turned out in large numbers to enforce the shutdown.
Shops and businesses remained closed, and vehicles stayed off the roads. Bandh supporters visited various marketplaces, where they reportedly forced shops to close and raised slogans demanding ST status for their communities.
Tyres were burned in multiple locations along National Highway-37, causing significant traffic disruptions.
In Dibrugarh, protesters vandalised a vehicle on the bypass, despite the presence of police protection. In Tinsukia district, police resorted to blank firing to disperse protesters, and there were minor skirmishes between the police and bandh supporters in Dibrugarh as well.
Joykanta Moran, general secretary of AMSU, expressed satisfaction with the bandh’s success and thanked the public for their support.
“The bandh was a last resort to draw the attention of the Central and state governments to the longstanding demand for ST status for the Moran and Mottock communities,” he said.
Moran also emphasised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 campaign promise to grant ST recognition to Assam’s six indigenous communities remains unfulfilled.
Later, he criticised Union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram for inaction on the issue and urged the government to expedite the ST status process for the Moran and Mottock communities.
