In the recent Assam strike called by the state's six communities (Koch Rajbongshi, Moran, Matak, Tai Ahom, Chutia and Adivasi), where they demanded Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for themselves, there was a slogan of “No ST, no rest”.
Supporting the protest, the president of the Tinsukia unit of All Tai Ahom Students Union, told The Telegraph, “This is just the start. The BJP governments in the state and the Centre have betrayed us and we will not stop short of anything but an ST status even if Assam has to burn. The governments shall be responsible for the consequences of their betrayal.”
To grant ST status to the six communities in Assam, the Modi government has set up a Committee, to be headed by Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Home Ministry, which is to consult the Assam government and suggest the modalities for the required reservations and shifting the existing reservation for these communities from the OBC category to the ST category.
It is to be noted that the six different communities are in OBC category of Assam at present. The Committee will also look into the modality to protect the interests of existing tribals and frame a mechanism to ensure fairness of reservations within these six communities and related security considerations, a Home Ministry official said.
The said Committee was formed in February 2016 and it was expected to submit its report by 31 May 2016.
The Politics and the Delays
In 2004, the then Assam Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution to accept and press the then Union Government for the inclusion of the said six communities in ST List of India.
In 2014’s Lok Sabha election, the then BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, during a rally in Bongaigaon, in Assam, acknowledged and promised the inclusion of the six communities in the ST List of India.
The Committee, or the ST panel on Assam – which was later headed by Rina Mitra after the retirement of Mahesh Kumar Singla – missed the deadline to submit its report. Both Mitra and Singla chaired the Committee at the rank of Special Secretary (Internal Security), Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Committee was formed as a result of a meeting held with the Union Cabinet Home Minister of India, after a meeting attended by the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, India.
All three political parties (the Congress, the BJP, the AGP) have supported the granting of the ST status to the six communities in their 2014 Lok Sabha and 2016 Assembly election manifestos in Assam.
The Singla Committee, set up by the Modi government on 1 March 2016 was to originally submit its report in three months, by 31 May 2016, but was given time until 15 October 2016.
What’s the Current Situation?
The issue today is: Why should the question – whether PM Modi will betray Assam his promise made in 2014 over the matter of granting ST status to the six OBC communities in Assam – not be raised?
If the Narendra Modi government fails to grant ST status to different communities of Assam in 2017, the people of Assam will never forgive the Prime Minister, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and the party to which both belong, because of the following reasons:
(1) Prime Minister of India is from BJP;
(2) Chief Minister of Assam is from BJP;
(3) The largest party in terms of number of MPs in both Lok Sabha (where the Constitutional Amendment for inclusion in/exclusion from ST List of India is to get passed) and Rajya Sabha is BJP;
(4) The then BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi and his party's manifesto in 2014 Lok Sabha election have promised for granting ST (Scheduled Tribe) status to the 6 different communities in Assam;
(5) Both the Government of India and the Government of Assam have expressed their commitment to granting the ST status to the 6 different communities in Assam in April 2017.
It’s Time for Modi to Deliver on His Promises
Time has come for both the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister of Assam to convert their promises on the said matter into action, so that the same issue is again not repeated in 2019 Lok Sabha election by none other than the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister of the state concerned and the party to which both belong to.
Unlike Assam, in Manipur, neither the Manipur Legislative Assembly (though, constitutionally the recommendation – on the advice or know of the state’s Cabinet – of the state’s Governor on the said matter to the Centre would suffice) has unanimously passed the ST status for Meitei/Meetei nor have the political parties (like the Congress or the BJP) in Manipur mentioned their support for ST status to Meitei/Meetei in their election manifestos published in 2017’s state assembly election. Their manifestos are available in Manipur’s CEO website.
The larger question for both Manipur and Assam is: when will the state governments of Manipur and Assam and the Union Government of India led by PM Narendra Modi have constitutional safeguards for Meitei/Meetei community and the 6 different communities of Assam?
The reply to this question will justify the commitment of the party that is, currently, ruling in Manipur, Assam and India.
The future of the history of Manipur, Assam and India will decide the destiny of the BJP, and that destiny will be the result of the litmus test – whether BJP governments in New Delhi, Imphal and Dispur can constitutionally safeguard people’s sentiments by granting them ST status, the Meitei/Meetei community of Manipur and 6 communities of Assam in 2017.
(The writer is an author, poet and orator. This is a personal blog and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
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