AGARTALA:
As many as 2,500 activists of various organisations of the Tiwa community blocked the National Highway-37 at Jagiroad Morigaon district on July 15 disrupting the traffic movement in Morigaon, Kamrup Metro and Karbi Anglong districts.
“We staged the blockade to register our protest against the Assam government’s move to set up Assam State Capital Region (ASCR) which will include tribal areas of Kamrup (M), Kamrup, Nalbari, Darrang and Morigaon. As many as 2,500 activists took part in the protest. The blockade started at 10.30 am and ended at 11.30 am,” said Dipaak Amsong, president of All Tiwa Students Union (ATSU).
Superintendent of police, Morigaon district, Aparna Natarajan said that vehicular movement was affected for 20 minutes during the blockade and police have so far made no arrests,
All Tiwa Students Union (ATSU), representatives of All Morigaon District Students Union (AMDSU), Morigaon District Committee of Asom Jatiyabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), Morigaon unit of Bir Lachit Sena, Morigaon District Tribal Sangha (MDTS), Tiwa Sahitya Sabha, All Tiwa Women Association (ATWA) and All Tiwa Tribal Youth League (ATYL) took part in the protest.
Amsong said that if the state government does not withdraw this move, the organisations will launch intensive movement from August 1.
It may be reminded that on July 7, while distributing relief packages to paper mill workers in Guwahati, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that Guwahati city will be extended till Jagiroad in the east and it will reach up to Palashbari in the west.
The Chief Minister’s statement has triggered widespread protest from the tribal organisations as they feared that in the process of formation of the SCR the tribal belts in the area would be de-reserved which would pose a threat to the existence of the indigenous communities.
The Assam State Capital Region Authority Act 2017 was passed in the Assam Legislative Assembly on September 15, 2017, for the preparation of a plan for the development of the SCR.
“The traditional tribal belts and blocks would be de-reserved if the act is implemented. You see, several lakhs of bighas of land of South Kamrup Tribal belt was de-reserved to set up the state capital when Assam’s capital was shifted from Shillong to Guwahati. This land went to the government’s land bank and there is no chance to get it back by the tribal people,” Amsong added.