HT Correspondent
DIBRUGARH, Aug 3: All Assam Muttock Yuba Chatra Parishad (AAMYCP) on Saturday staged a sit-in protest near Chowkidingee field in Dibrugarh seeking Schedule Tribe (ST) status for their community.
The sit in protest was held for only 2 hours and the members holding placards and banners raised slogans against the BJP-led government in the Centre over the delay in granting ST status to the muttock community of the state.
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During the protest, they also criticised Union tribal affairs minister for keeping mum on the issue of ST.
Besides this, AAMYCP leaders also submitted a memorandum to chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma via Dibrugarh district commissioner Bikram Kairi.
“ST status is a long pending demand of our community and for last several decades, we are raising our voice and launched several protest programmes but after assurance by the central government nothing has been moved in the right directions,” Ujjal Baruah, general secretary of AAMYCP said.
“We have been betrayed by the Narendra Modi led BJP government. We warned the government that before 2026 state election if ST status would not be given to our community then we will show them their way. During every election they give us ‘lolipop’ but after elections was over nothing has happen,” he added.
The Muttock community, along with five other ethnic groups including the Tai Ahoms, Moran Koch Rajbongshis, Sooteas and Tea Tribes, has been waiting for the fulfillment of the BJP’s promise made during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and subsequent elections. The promise to grant ST tag to these communities had garnered significant support for the BJP at the time.
However, the delay in implementation has led to growing frustration and discontent among the six communities, who are currently classified as Other Backward Classes (OBC).
