The Matak Youth Students’ Council and Students’ Union have staged protest on Thursday for not including communities from Assam in the Centre’s revised lists of Scheduled Tribe (ST) in Dibrugarh district.

According to sources, the protestors blocked National Highway No 37 in Chabua.

They protested for depriving six tribes from the state in the ST list.

The effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and many other union ministers were burnt by the protestors.  

Clashes broke out between the protestors and police.

Regarding the matter, Chief of Raijor Dal MLA Akhil Gogoi held a press conference wherein he claimed the centre has betrayed the tribes of Assam.

He urged everyone in the state to raise voice against this betrayal.

Gogoi said, “The Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha in 2018 itself. If the Centre wishes, they can include tribes from Assam in a day. Even after passing the bill in the cabinet, they are deceiving us.”

“The Centre has formed secret alliance with several ministers and this is the reason for not including the tribes in ST list,” he alleged.

He further said that the ethnic group leaders from the six tribes should move away from collusion and if they wish to be included in the list then there should be strong agitation.

Gogoi has demanded the inclusion of six tribes from Assam in the ST list.

Notably, the Central Government on Wednesday approved the inclusion of various communities in the lists of Scheduled Tribes (ST) of five states namely Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was welcomed warmly by the states concerned.