Bhupen Sarmah
Thousands of people belonging to six particular communities of Assam - Tai Ahom, Moran, Motok, Chutia, Tea Tribes or Adivasis and Koch-Rajbonggshi - who together constitute nearly thirty percent of the total population of the state, a major chunk of BJP’s support base, are now out on the streets demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. All the six communities, included in the state’s Other Backward Classes (OBCs) list, want to be recognized as Scheduled Tribes, which would mainly ensure them more access to reservations in educational institutions and government employment than the limited opportunities provided by their present status.
Three of the six communities, the Moran, Motok, Chutia, are relatively smaller in numbers, roughly around 10 lakh together, and they are concentrated mainly in the eastern part of Assam. The Tai Ahoms migrated to the Brahmaputra Valley in the early thirteenth century, established the Ahom kingdom which encompassed the larger part of the present state of Assam, and ruled over it till the advent of the British in 1826. They are now concentrated in the upper Assam districts, with a total population of nearly 14 lakh. The Koch-Rajbongshis, with a population of nearly five lakh, are the inhabitants of the western part of the state. Their counterparts living in Meghalaya and West Bengal are considered Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste respectively in their states. The Tea Tribes, broadly characterized as ‘Adivasis’, a mixed bag of more than 95 communities, are politically significant as they constitute nearly 20 per cent of the present population of Assam. They were brought to Assam by the British tea planters mainly during the 19th century and are now spread across about a thousand tea estates and their surrounding areas. The British brought them to the 19th century colonial Assam primarily from the present states of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, to meet the growing demand of labour in the tea estates. The counterparts of these communities are recognized as STs in the states of their origin.
Movement for recognition as ST was first launched by the Koch-Rajbongshis in the late 1960s and their persistent agitation compelled the government of Assam to strongly recommend their immediate inclusion in the list of STs in 1996. Accordingly, the President of India promulgated the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Ordinance in January 1996 to place the community in the category of STs. The Bill required for transforming the Ordinance to an Act was introduced in the tenth Lok Sabha in February 1996, however, it lapsed due to the dissolution of the House. The ordinance was re-promulgated thrice before a Bill was once again introduced in the Lok Sabha in July 1996. The House then referred the Bill to a Select Committee. Though the committee submitted its report in 1997 recommending inclusion of the Koch-Rajbongshi community in the list of STs, the Bill was not placed for voting in the Parliament, which led to its lapse for a second time. Consequently, the community, after being briefly considered ST, reverted to the earlier position of OBC.
As the Koch-Rajbingshis' movement for the status of ST gained momentum, the other five communities, especially the Adivasis, also started politically asserting themselves with a similar concern. Soon, the BJP started trying to fish in troubled waters. In the run-up to the 2014 general elections, the BJP made it a major electoral issue and successfully used the movement to politically alienate the Congress from their strong voter support base provided by the tea tribes or Adivasis since Independence. In the election campaign, Narendra Modi not only recognized the concern of the six communities as genuine but also condemned the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government for not accepting their demand. He assured ST status to the concerned communities within six months of the BJP capturing power at the centre. The hope it generated, naturally, provided momentum to the movement to be used again by the BJP during the state assembly elections in 2016. In November 2015, Kiren Rijiju announced that the proposal to recognize the six communities as ST was with the Prime Minister and was likely to be approved before the state assembly elections. The BJP, in its vision document or the election manifesto, published before the assembly elections, assured that the party would work in “close co-operation with the central government towards providing ST status to the six communities of Assam in a strict time bound manner”.
The BJP had once again feigned concern for the demand of the six communities just a few months before the Lok Sabha elections held in 2019. The BJP government at the Centre announced that a Bill would be moved in the Parliament granting ST status to the six communities of Assam. “Government has waived the requirement of Cabinet approval. A Bill is being introduced in the current session of the Parliament”, declared the Home Minister of India. The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in January 2019 for granting ST status to the six communities. The move, however, was steeply contested by the existing ST communities of Assam, whose political leadership had already become an integral part of the ruling BJP in the state. Different tribal organizations, such as the Coordination Committee of Tribal Organizations of Assam (CCTOA), the All Assam Tribal Students’ Union (AATSU) opposed the move to include the six communities in the list of STs, calling it anti-tribal and unconstitutional. They argued that such inclusion would dilute and destroy the rights, identity, and constitutional safeguards enjoyed by the aboriginal indigenous tribal people of the state. Taking advantage of the chaotic situation, the Union Home Minister shifted the responsibility to the government of Assam to prepare a modality for granting ST status to the six communities without harming the rights of the existing STs. The BJP government in the state accepted the responsibility for retaining the support base of the party till the state assembly elections of 2021. In the guise of resolving the situation, the BJP government in Assam provided autonomous councils for three communities - the Moran, Matak and Koch-Rajbongshi, a typical move to divide the six communities, and their consistent, unified demand for the status of ST.
Political maneuvering had, undoubtedly, helped the BJP in electoral politics. An overwhelming majority of the six communities have been voting in favour of the party in all the elections held in the state since 2014. Demonstrating its appeasement, the BJP got two MPs to the Rajya Sabha and one MP to the Lok Sabha elected from the tea tribes in 2024. In addition, there are seven BJP MLAs in the present state assembly of Assam being elected from the Adivasi majority constituencies.
However, the six communities, who were deeply communalized by the BJP by posing itself as the protector of the indigenous communities and constantly instigating the latter against the religious minority, have started realizing that they are being betrayed by the party in power. The BJP has remained insensitive to their cause all this while, and therefore, they must be given the status of ST before the state assembly elections due in 2026. When they are intensifying their movement to an unprecedented scale, shouting slogans against the BJP governments, both at the Centre and the state, the Chief Minister of Assam is reiterating his concern for finding a “middle path” to resolve the conflict between the six communities striving for the status of ST on one hand, and the existing Scheduled Tribes of the state on the other. He requested the people of the communities to wait for a report to this effect to be placed by a group of ministers in the State Assembly on November 25, this year. This is yet another malicious move just before the State Assembly elections.
